Snow Maiden her costume, photo and story

The Snow Maiden is the granddaughter of Santa Claus. We have known her since early childhood, when our mothers and grandmothers told us in the evening before the New Year: "Go to bed as soon as possible, you will wake up in the morning, and Santa Claus and Snow Maiden will bring a Christmas tree and gifts." And some of us cleaned our Christmas tree by himself, expecting Santa Claus and Snow Maiden with gifts the next morning. All these memories have remained with us, and they live in a quiet hidden joy in the soul, which, as we grow up, we pass on to our children.

When was the Snow Maiden, this helper and companion of Santa Claus, “born”? Apparently, you will have to start from the deepest antiquity, when in the northern regions of pagan Russia in winter there was a custom to make various fabulous idols out of snow and ice. In the legends of the ancient Slavs, the image of an ice girl who came to life is often found. And then she appeared in Russian folklore under the name Snegurka.

Play and opera The Snow Maiden - Ostrovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov.

In the "Poetic View of the Slavs on Nature" in 1869, A. N. Afanasyev, the author of a collection of Russian fairy tales, published this story. And in 1873, the Russian writer A. N. Ostrovsky wrote the play The Snow Maiden, in which she appears to us as the daughter of Spring-Red and Santa Claus. The Snow Maiden is a young girl, in whose heart there are no emotions inherent in people, so she feels melancholy, because "... the one in whose heart there is no fire, who has lived his life without love, is unhappy ...". She would like to experience vivid emotions, and she begged from her mother - Spring for the ability to love, although she knew that if her heart became hot, she would die, or, more simply, melt. In 1882, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov wrote an opera that was a tremendous success. Educators of those ancient times of the late 19th - early 20th centuries came up with various scenarios for children's New Year's holidays, at which not only Santa Claus and Snegurochka appeared, but also small forest dwellers: bunnies, squirrels, bears and of course snowflakes. The children were happy, and everyone chose a costume for one character or another. Each girl wanted to be a Snow Maiden, but if this did not work out, then there were so many snowflakes on the New Year's holiday, and they were so diverse, and all their airy, flying, fluffy outfits were no less attractive. Although, in addition to snowflakes, they could also come to the holiday princess, and "Cinderella", and fairies, and elves, etc. At this time, they liked to make dramatizations from fairy tales and theatrical plays and operas. Then they loved the theater, and a visit to the theater was a grandiose event, which began with preparations a few days before the visit.
As you can see, the Snow Maiden at this time was not yet the main assistant of Santa Claus.

So what is next,…

Soviet Snow Maiden.

After the revolution, the Christmas tree was banned, and of course, Santa Claus and Snegurochka also went to distant snowy lands with it. And the holiday Christmas was not only considered an ordinary weekday, but, in other words, was outlawed. Even special patrols, mostly members of the Komsomol, walked around the city and looked into the night windows - is there anyone who has a Christmas tree? ... In 1935, the Christmas tree and Santa Claus were rehabilitated, unlike those who faced many decades of testing. Since this year, the Snow Maiden has received the status of an assistant and granddaughter of Santa Claus. It was in 1937, which our grandmothers and great-grandmothers remember even now in a whisper, that Santa Claus and Snegurochka first performed together at a Christmas tree in the Moscow House of Unions. In early Soviet illustrations, in children's books, the Snow Maiden was portrayed as a little girl, and a little later, she matured and became a girl. Santa Claus on the New Year's holiday needed an assistant who could not only give gifts to children, but also start games, and lead round dances with them, and guess and solve riddles and much, much more ...

Usually, in amateur performances, a blonde girl was chosen as the Snow Maiden, but in schools it was, as usual, a “pioneer leader”.

Cinematography - the film The Snow Maiden.

When the film "The Snow Maiden" was filmed in 1968, they chose one of the most beautiful places in Russia - near the Mera River, where the Berendey kingdom was built. It was in these parts, in Shchelykovo, that A.N. Ostrovsky wrote his "Snow Maiden". When the shooting was over, the wooden scenery was moved to the vicinity of Kostroma, where the park "Berendeyevka" arose, and there is also "Terem of the Snow Maiden". Yes, except perhaps we are, she even has a birthday - April 4-5, when it is almost the middle of spring. In the fairy tale Snegurochka was born in winter, but they decided to postpone this date to spring, explaining that “Snegurochka's father is Santa Claus, and her mother is Spring, and therefore she has a birthday in spring”. As you know, Santa Claus's residence is in Veliky Ustyug, and the Snegurochka's residence, so be it, decided to leave the place where she was born, where A.N. Ostrovsky wrote this play.

Snow Maiden - pale-faced blonde beauty, dressed in a blue and white fur coat and a hat with fluffy mittens - this is how she is presented for the first time in the play. This image of the snow girl inspired the masters of art Vasnetsov, Vrubel, Roerich, who represented her in different ways. In the village of Abramtsevo near Moscow, on the stage of Savva Mamontov's home theater, Rimsky-Korsakov's opera was performed for the first time, and here Vasnetsov also created the scenery for the very first theatrical production based on Ostrovsky's play.

And what kind of Snow Maiden is she now? We can find out by looking at the illustrations and visiting the New Year trees.