Travels with the Snow Queen by Kelly Link

“Travels with the Snow Queen,” written by Kelly Link, is a part of her debut collection Stranger Things Happen, published in 2001. This story is a contemporary reimagining of the classic fairy tale The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen, blending fairy-tale elements with modern emotions and scenarios. Link’s narrative shifts between whimsical fantasy and an exploration of heartbreak, loss, and the quest for identity, all while enveloping the reader in her unique style of slipstream fiction.

Plot Summary

A girl embarks on a journey, driven by the overwhelming need to find her lost lover. He had been taken by the Snow Queen, a woman whose beauty was cold and distant, like the icy landscapes she ruled over. The man had followed her willingly, leaving the warmth of his love behind, his heart now frozen in a world of snow and silence. The girl remembers his name, his touch, and the way his eyes once held affection for her. Now, that love seems distant and unreachable, replaced by the painful emptiness his absence left behind.

Determined, she sets out on a quest to reclaim what was lost. Her path is fraught with strange encounters. She meets women who seem to understand the inevitability of men leaving, who tell her it’s pointless to follow after someone who has chosen coldness over warmth. Others mock her quest, suggesting that no man is worth the effort she’s putting in. Despite their words, the girl presses on. She believes that if she can find him, if she can bring him back, things will return to the way they were before.

One night, her journey takes her to an inn. Inside, there is warmth and laughter, a temporary escape from the cold that has surrounded her for so long. She considers staying, letting herself rest in the comfort of the inn, but the thought of her lover, trapped in the Snow Queen’s domain, pushes her back out into the biting cold. She continues on, the wind and snow driving her forward, never allowing her to forget the emptiness that has settled in her heart.

She is not entirely alone. A talking reindeer becomes her companion for part of the journey. He tells her of the Snow Queen’s palace, far in the north, beyond the reach of most travelers. The reindeer warns her of the dangers, of how few have ever returned from the palace, but her resolve does not waver. Together, they race across frozen rivers, their breath turning to mist in the frigid air, the girl’s hands clutching the reindeer’s fur tightly as they move deeper into the wintry wilderness.

As they near the Snow Queen’s domain, the world around them grows harsher. The snow thickens, and the air becomes even colder. They pass through desolate villages where the people barely notice her. Their faces are hollow, their eyes dull, as though they too have lost something to the never-ending winter. She asks if anyone has seen her lover, but no one can help her. Despite the silence, she feels his presence, feels that he is close.

When the reindeer can travel no farther, she dismounts and continues on foot. Wrapped in furs, the snow falling steadily around her, she pushes through the cold, each step heavier than the last. The cold bites at her skin, and she feels the weight of the journey pressing down on her. But she won’t stop. Her love for him, the memory of what they once shared, is what keeps her moving forward, no matter how painful each step becomes.

Finally, she reaches the Snow Queen’s palace. It stands before her, a towering structure made entirely of ice. The walls shimmer in the pale light, beautiful but utterly uninviting. She hesitates, her heart pounding in her chest, knowing that the Snow Queen is inside with her lover. She pushes open the doors and steps into the icy halls, the sound of her footsteps echoing through the emptiness.

The palace is cold, colder than anything she has ever felt before. Her breath fogs in the air as she walks deeper into its frozen chambers. She finds him sitting on a throne of ice, his face expressionless, his eyes empty. The warmth she once knew is gone, replaced by the same coldness that fills the palace. He does not recognize her, does not seem to remember the love they once shared.

The Snow Queen is there, standing beside him. She is more beautiful than the girl had imagined, her beauty sharp and flawless, her eyes as cold as the ice surrounding them. The Queen smiles, a smile devoid of warmth, and watches as the girl approaches her lover. She speaks of the futility of love, how it fades like snow in the sun. But the girl doesn’t listen.

The girl kneels beside him, taking his cold hands in hers, and whispers his name. She tells him of their memories, the love they once shared. As she speaks, a flicker of recognition passes through his eyes. It is faint at first, but she keeps talking, her words weaving warmth back into his frozen heart. She presses her lips to his forehead, and slowly, the ice begins to melt.

The Snow Queen watches as her palace begins to crack. The ice that holds her domain together is breaking, crumbling under the weight of the girl’s love. For the first time, the Snow Queen’s smile fades. She steps back, realizing that she has lost. The palace shakes, the walls splintering as the warmth grows stronger, breaking through the cold that once held everything in place.

The girl helps her lover to his feet. His eyes, once cold and distant, now shine with the love she remembers. Together, they run from the palace as it collapses around them, the ice shattering into a million pieces. The Snow Queen disappears, swallowed by the ruins of her own creation.

Outside, the world is still cold, but it feels different now. The snow no longer bites at her skin the way it did before. The girl and her lover stand together, their hands clasped, their breath mingling in the air. The journey back is long, but they make it together, side by side. The future remains uncertain, but for now, they have each other. And for now, that is enough.

Main Characters

• The Narrator (Unnamed Protagonist): The protagonist of the story is on a journey that parallels Gerda’s quest in The Snow Queen. She is emotionally raw and heartbroken, searching for her ex-boyfriend, who has been seduced away by the Snow Queen. Her journey is marked by reflections on love, loss, and self-discovery.

• The Snow Queen: A mythical and distant figure who embodies coldness, both literally and emotionally. She is the source of the protagonist’s pain, having taken away her lover. The Snow Queen symbolizes the unattainable and the frozen heart, manipulating people through her allure.

• The Boyfriend (Kay-like Figure): A man who has left the protagonist for the Snow Queen. Like the character Kay from Andersen’s tale, he is depicted as being emotionally frozen and distant, having been enchanted or seduced away by the Snow Queen’s cold beauty.

• Various Fairy Tale Characters: Throughout the journey, the protagonist encounters a host of strange characters drawn from folklore and fairy tales, each offering cryptic advice or strange perspectives on love and relationships.

Theme

• Love and Heartbreak: The central theme of the story is the protagonist’s quest to reclaim her lover. The journey becomes an exploration of the painful emotions tied to romantic love—particularly unrequited or lost love—and the deep sense of longing and heartbreak it causes.

• Fairy Tale Tropes: Link uses traditional fairy-tale motifs, such as the quest, magical creatures, and archetypal settings, but subverts them to create an emotionally charged and modern narrative. The familiar elements of a journey, a distant queen, and enchanted lands are reframed to speak to contemporary struggles with emotional distance and self-worth.

• Self-Discovery: The journey, while focused on recovering the lost lover, gradually transforms into a path of self-reflection for the protagonist. Her emotional growth is one of the key motifs, showing that the search for love is often intertwined with the search for identity and inner strength.

• Coldness and Distance: The Snow Queen represents emotional coldness, and the frozen landscape she inhabits serves as a metaphor for the emotional distance between the protagonist and her lover. The motif of coldness recurs throughout the story, contrasting with the protagonist’s warm and painful emotions.

Writing Style and Tone

Kelly Link’s writing in Travels with the Snow Queen is a seamless blend of fairy-tale simplicity and postmodern complexity. Her narrative voice is conversational yet laced with irony, often breaking the fourth wall to speak directly to the reader in a casual, sometimes sardonic tone. This creates a feeling of both intimacy and detachment, mirroring the emotional struggles of the protagonist. Link employs vivid, dreamlike imagery that hovers between the familiar and the strange, lending the story a surreal, otherworldly quality.

Link’s tone shifts effortlessly between whimsical and poignant, reflecting the protagonist’s oscillating emotions. There’s a bittersweet undercurrent throughout the narrative, with moments of humor juxtaposed against raw emotional truths. The magical elements are treated with the same weight as everyday occurrences, blending the mundane with the fantastical in a way that makes the magical feel accessible, yet deeply mysterious.