Gerda and the reindeer reach Lapland, where they meet n old woman in a small hut dressing fish, she tells them that the Snow Queen was in Lapland, but has now moved on to Finland. She writes a note on a piece of stockfish for Gerda to deliver to a woman she knows in Finland, and Gerda and the reindeer are off again.
They reach the Finnish woman, who lives in a very hot house. She reads the message and cooks the fish. The reindeer, apparently, recognizes the woman; he says she can tie all the winds together, and asks her to give Gerda the power of twelve men, to face the snow queen. She says this wouldn’t be useful, but does read off a bunch of magic words. The reindeer asks again that she give Gerda strength, and the old woman explains that Kai has enchanted glass in his eyes and heart, and is therefore quite content where he is. She explains that Gerda’s own purity and innocence will be a more powerful tool than any enchantment she could cast, and sends the two of them on their way again.
Gerda forgets her boots and mittens here, and they haven’t
the time to go back for them, so she’s dropped off barefoot in the Snow Queen’s
garden. The reindeer leaves her there, as instructed by the old woman, and
Gerda makes her way from the garden to the palace alone. She’s attacked by the Snow
Queen’s guards, snakes and bears and porcupines made of ice. But she forges
ahead, repeating the Lord’s prayer over and over again as she walks, and each
time she repeats it an angel appears, until she has an army of them, fighting
the ice creatures and rubbing her bare feet and hands to keep them warm.
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