All the Brothers Grimm Winter Fairy Tales [Let it snow!]

Are you looking for winter fairy tales? Here you find all the Brothers Grimm fairy tales which feature the winter in any way.

I love cold. I love snow. I love the winter season. When the sun sparkles on a silent snowy landscape, I feel happy.

Let’s start with the Brothers Grimm winter fairy tales that feature the winter (and lots of snow, please!). Sorry, no Christmas reindeer stories here!

1. Snow White

Once upon a time, in the middle of winter, when the flakes of snow were falling like feathers from the sky, a queen sat at a window sewing. The frame of the window was made of black ebony wood.

While she was sewing and looking out of the window at the snow, she pricked her finger with the needle, and three drops of blood fell upon the snow.

The red looked pretty upon the white snow and she thought to herself, “Would that I had a child as white as snow, as red as blood, and as black as the wood of the window-frame.”

Soon after that she had a little daughter. She was as white as snow, red as blood and her hair was as black as ebony; and they called her Little Snow White. When the child was born, the queen died.

Read the whole fairy tale Snow White…

When you mention the word ‘snow’ and the words ‘fairy tale,’ everybody will think first and foremost of Snow White.

She indeed got her name from the snow, but apart from that initial wintery beginning, there is no winter to be found in the rest of the fairy tale.

2. The Golden Key

It was winter and deep snow lay on the ground. A poor boy was forced to go out on a sledge to fetch wood.

When he had gathered it together and packed it, he wished not to go home at once, because he was so frozen with cold. So he decided to light a fire and warm himself a little.

He scraped away the snow. As he was clearing the ground, he found a tiny, golden key.

Read the whole fairy tale The Golden Key…

In this final fairy tale of the Brothers Grimm collection, we immediately start in a snowy forest. Not just any forest. A forest with a treasure hidden beneath the snow!

3. The Three Little Men in the Woods

Once in the winter, when everything was frozen as hard as a stone, and hill and vale lay covered with snow, the woman made a dress of paper. She called her stepdaughter and said, “Here, put on this dress and go out into the wood. Fetch me a little basket full of strawberries, I really want some.”

“Good heavens!” said the girl, “no strawberries grow in winter! The ground is frozen and besides that the snow has covered everything. And why am I to go in this paper dress? It is so cold outside that one’s very breath freezes! The wind will blow through the dress, and the thorns will tear it off my body.”

Read the whole fairy tale The Three Little Men in the Woods…

Sending your stepdaughter out in the snow. With only a paper dress to keep her warm. And the assignment: get me some strawberries! How cruel!

A fantastic fairy tale image, though. Can you see it when you close your eyes?

4. Mother Holle

But the old woman called out to her, “What are you afraid of, dear child? Stay with me; if you will do all the work in the house properly, you shall be the better for it. Only you must take care to make my bed well and shake it thoroughly till the feathers fly—for then there is snow on the earth. I am Mother Holle.”

Read the whole fairy tale Mother Holle…

Ok, this one does not feature a lot of winter. It does, however, explain where snow comes from. When the pillows of Mother Holle are vigorously shaken up, it snows on earth! Did you know?

Looking for some more-than-Grimm-variety? Here is my international Christmas fairy tales list.

5. The Elves and the Shoemaker

Now it befell that one evening, not long before Christmas, when the man had been cutting out, he said to his wife, before going to bed, “What think you if we were to stay up tonight to see who it is that lends us this helping hand?”

Read the whole fairy tale The Elves and the Shoemaker…

This fairy tale is regarded as a classic Christmas tale. It happens in the winter, but you won’t find the cold or the snow in the text. So is it a winter fairy tale or not? You be the judge!

6. The Juniper Tree

Now there was a courtyard in front of their house. There stood a juniper tree. One day in winter the woman was standing beneath it, paring herself an apple. While she was paring herself the apple she cut her finger and her blood fell on the snow.

“Ah,” she said and sighed heavily, looking at the blood before her and filled with unhappiness. “Ah, if I had but a child as red as blood and as white as snow!”

Read the whole fairy tale The Juniper Tree…

Not only is there a girl as red as blood and white as snow, but there is also a boy. This fairy tale starts with the same kind of wish as Snowwhite. It is much more gruesome, though…

7. Mary’s Child

Roots and wild berries were her only food, and for these she sought as far as she could go. In the autumn she picked up the fallen nuts and leaves, and carried them into the hole. The nuts were her food in winter.

When snow and ice came, she crept among the leaves like a poor little animal to escape the freezing cold. Before long her clothes were all torn, and one bit after another fell off her.

Read the whole fairy tale Mary’s Child…

Snow and ice don’t play a significant role in this fairy tale. However, they add to the misfortune and cruelty that Mother Mary brings down on the main character. The cold can be mean!

More winter fairy tales

I hope you enjoyed these winter fairy tales. Somehow I expected more snow in the Brothers Grimm collection. More fairy tales covered in cold white goodness.

Maybe I have just watched too much Game of Thrones?

💡 You can always turn your favorite story into a Christmas tale!

If you are hungry for more snowy goodness, I can warmly recommend the gorgeous book of Dawn Casey, Winter Tales (link to Amazon). Recommended reading with a cup of cocoa!

Photo credits: Miki from Pixabay