ATU 709: Snow-White

**ATU 709: Snow White** is a wonder tale type in the Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index.

## History

Unlike other fairy tale variants like *Cinderella*, *Donkey Skin* or *Sleeping Beauty* versions of *Snow White* previous to the 19th Century are much rare. Despite that some scholars has attempted to trace its literary origins. Several Medieval Breton texts like the Lai of *Eliduc*, attributed to Marie de France, and the epic poem *Bertha of the Big Foot*, attributed to Adenet Le Roi, have been considered, the first telling the story of Guillandon, a knight's wife that falls into a commatose state similar to death, and the second because the heroine is taken to the woods to be killed but spared by the ones ordered to do it, although they must bring proof of her death. William Shakespeare's late play *Cymbeline* has also been considered as one of the earliest literary versions of *Snow White*. The character of Imogen, the titular character's daughter, is warn by the one sent to kill her to hide, and she does in the woods possing as a man. Latter she takes a drug that puts her in a coma and makes everyone believe she's dead, although she wakes up later.

Other have pointed out that some fairy tales, despite not being able to be considered *Snow White* variants, presents motifs and elements that quickly became part of most variants. *The Young Slave* by Neapolitan writer Giambattista Basile tells the story of a young girl who falls in a coma after her mother her mother stuck a comb on her head, although this is an accident caused by an angry fairy's curse, and is put inside a glass coffin in a chamber only her uncle has access, but her uncle's wife enter the chamber anyway driven by curiosity and wakes the girl, similar to how the heroine is awaken in many oral versions. In *The Ram* by French writer Marie-Catherine d'Aulnoy a princess is taken to the woods by a servant ordered to kill her not by her mother or stepmother, but by her own father. Like in *Snow White* the servant takes pity on the princess and spares her life, but because he still needs to bring the king the princess' heart and tongue as proofs of her death the princess' pet monkey and maid kill themselves so the servant can bring the king their tongues and hearts as if they were the princess', but the monkey's heart and tongue are too small and the maid's tongue is of the wrong color, so the servant ends up killing the princess' pet dog and bringing his heart and tongue to the king.

Finally in 1782 German writer Johann Karl August Musäus published his fairy tale *Richilda*, deemed by many as the real first *Snow White* variant, telling the story of Countess Richilda of Brabante, a vain woman who after her magic mirror tells her her stepdaughter Bianca is prettier than her she attempts to murders her three times. The third time Bianca falls in a sleep-like state and is put in a glass coffin, before she's revived by a young count called Gotfried. After this Gotfried tricks Richilda to sentence herself to dance with red hot iron shoes, although she survives. In 1809 Albert Ludewig Grimm wrote a two-act play that presents some unusual elements like Snow White having an stepsister called Adelheide.

It is known that the brothers Grimm, or at least Jacob, knew of the story of *Snow White* as early as 1806, thanks to a letter he exchanged with his college professor Friederich Karl von Savigny. Jacob credited his brother Ferdinand as the oral source. The most noteworthy difference with the versions published is that Snow White is not awaken by any prince, but by her own father. Also the character of the hunter doesn't exist, with Snow White being abandoned in the forest by her own mother. A new version of the tale was among the stories found in the manuscripts they sent to the Olenberg monastery to Clemens Brentano in 1810, that credited Marie Hassenpflug and Ferdinand Siebert as the oral sources. This version introduces the characters of the hunter who spares Snow White's life disobeying the queen's orders and the prince who falls in love with Snow White while she's still on the glass coffin. Besides some stylistic choices this was the version the brothers Grimm included in the first volume of *Children and Household's Tales* first edition published in 1812. Since the second edition published in 1819 the tales was subjected to several changes, the most well-known being how, unlike the previous version where's never mentioned that the queen died after giving birth to Snow White and her husband remarried implying the evil queen is Snow White's biological mother, the character of the queen is split into two, Snow White's mother who dies after giving birth to her daughter and Snow White's stepmother who tried to kill her stepdaughter because her magic mirror told her she was prettier than her. Another significant change that is less known is how Snow White is awoken. In the version published in 1812 the prince carries the glass coffin with Snow White's body inside to his castle, and because he can separete from it he orders the coffin to be carried with him everywhere he goes. Finally one of the servants who carries the coffin, sick and tired of having to carry it everywhere, in a fit of anger smacks Snow White making ger spit the piece of apple that got stuck on her throath, reviving her. In next editions this is changed. While carrying Snow White to the prince's castle one of the servants carrying the coffin trips over, shaking the coffin and making Snow White spit the piece of apple.

## Variants

In contrast to previous centuries, since the 19th Century a huge nember of variants have been collected, most of them from Europen, Africa, Asia Minor and America, in the last one's case as a result of colonialism.

## Criticism and Studies

Ernst Böklen published in 1910 *Schneewittchen Studien* an inventory that registred almost all the *Snow White* variants collected untill then.