SNOW WHITE ALTERNATIVE TEXTS

Confirmations and Alternatives to the phrase "so she was called "Little Snow-White."

Compiled by: Kay E. Vandergrift

This page provides alternative or confirming translations and interpretations of the above phrase in thirty-six text versions. The various editions used are listed chronologically. For the convenience of the English reader, German editions have not been included although they have been consulted. Since most picture books do not include pagination, I have counted the pages from the beginning picture and/or text to facilitate finding the appropriate passage. The various spellings of particular words that appear in the texts have been retained; these are not misspellings but reflect textual accuracy.

TEXTUAL QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS

  1. Do you think there is any significance in the several versions of the name of Snow White?
  2. Why do you think Puskin did not name the princess but did name the prince?
  3. Is the name used as a connective to the real mother?
  4. How can we reconcile the importance of our literary heritage with the social baggage of images that equate "white" with beauty and purity?

Household Stories from the Collection of the Bros. Grimm. Translated by Lucy Crane. Illus. by Walter Crane. London: Macmillan, 1882, pp. 212--221.

". . . and she was named Snow-white." p. 213.

"Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree," in Celtic Fairy Tales. Written and Edited by Joseph Jacobs. Illus. by John D. Batten. New York and London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, n.d. [c. 1892] pp. 97-101.

". . . there was a king who had a wife, whose name was Silver-Tree, and a daughter whose name was Gold-tree." p. 97.

Favorite Fairy Tales: The Childhood Choice of Representative Men and Women. Illus. by Peter Newell. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1907, pp. 173-192.

"But Snowdrop grew ever taller and fairer,. . ." p. 174.

The Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm. Translated by Mrs. Edgar Lucas. Illus. by Arthur Rackham. London: Constable & Co., 1909, pp.161-170.

". . . so she was called Snowdrop." p. 161.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Illus. by Dinah. London: Raphael Tuck & Sons, [c. 1936] pp. 1-14.

"We will call her Snow White." p. 1.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Freely Translated and Illustrated by Wanda Gag. New York: Coward-McCann, 1938, pp. 9-43.

". . . that she was called Snow White." p.10.

Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Story adapted by Jane Werner. Illus. by the Walt Disney Studio adapted by Campbell Grant. Racine, WI: Golden Press, 1952, pp. 1-20.

"she whispered, "Little Snow White!" p. 2.

Snow White And Other Stories From Grimm. Retold by Jeanne Cappe. Translated by Marie Ponsot. Illus. by J.L. Huens. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1957, pp. 3-18.

"However, Snow White-which was the Princess' name-was growing up. Her white skin, her ebony-black hair, . . ." p. 4.

"Nourie Hadig," in 100 Armenian Tales and Their Folkloristic Relevance. Collected and Edited by Susie Hoogasian-Villa. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 1966, pp. 84-91.

". . . and a beautiful daughter known as Nourie Hadig [tiny piece of pomegranate]." p. 84.

"Myrsina, or Myrtle," in Folktales of Greece. Ed. by Georgios A. Megas. Translated by Helen Colaclides. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1970, pp. 106-113.

". . . but the unhappy youngest, whose name was Myrsina, . . .p. 107.

The Fairy Tale Treasury. Selected by Virginia Haviland. Illus. by Raymond Briggs. New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, 1972, pp. 128-137.

". . . and she was named Snow-white." p. 128.

Snow-White and the Seven Dwarfs: A Tale from the Brothers Grimm. Translated by Randall Jarrell. Illus. by Nancy Ekholm Burkert. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1972, pp. 1-26.

". . .and because of that she was called Snow-White." p. 3.

The Juniper Tree and Other Tales from Grimm: Selected by Lore Segal and Maurice Sendak. Translated by Lore Segal with four tales translated by Randall Jarrell. Illus. by Maurice Sendak. 2 Volumes. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1973, pp. 256-274.
[The translation of "Snow-White and the Seven Dwarfs," is that of Randall Jarrell first published in The Golden Bird and Other Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm New York: Macmillan, 1962.]

". . . and because of that she was called Snow-White." p. 257.

The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights. Alexander Pushkin. Translated by Peter Tempest. Illus. by V. Konashevich. Moscow, USSR: Progress Publishers, 1973.

Not included in this text version. [Referred to as the "Princess" throughout the story]

Snow White By the Brothers Grimm. Freely Translated from the German by Paul Heins. Illus. by Trina Schart Hyman. Boston, MA: Little Brown, 1974, pp. 1-43.

"She was named Snow White." p. 2.

The Classic Fairy Tales. Iona Opie and Peter Opie. London: Oxford University Press, 1974, pp. 175-182.

". . .and she was called Snow-drop." p. 177.

Grimms' Tales for Young and Old: The Complete Stories. Translated by Ralph Manheim. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1977, pp. 184-191. [Translated from the Winkler-Verlag (Munich) edition of the Complete Kinder- und Hausmaerchen (Tales for Young and Old) by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, as first published in 1819.]

"They called her Snow White, . . . " p.183.

"Bella Venezia" [Abruzzo] in Italian Folktales. Selected and Retold by Italo Calvino. Translated by George Martin. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1980, pp. 395-398.

Not included in this text version. [Referred to as Bella Venezia's daughter.]

"Giricoccola," [Bologna] in Italian Folktales. Selected and Retold by Italo Calvino. Translated by George Martin. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1980, pp. 154-156.

"The youngest of the three sisters, whose name was Giricoccola, " p. 154.

Best-Loved Folktales of the World. Selected by Joanna Cole. Illus. by Jill Karla Schwarz. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1982, pp. 53-61.

"and she was named Snow-White." p. 53.

Favorite Tales from Grimm. Text retold by Nancy Garden. Illus. by Mercer Mayer. New York: Four Winds Press, 1982, pp. 5-19.

"But as Little Snow White, which is what the first queen had named her child, grew,. . ." p. 6.

Snow White. Adapted from the Fairy Tales by the Brothers Grimm. Illus. by Bernadette Watts. Winchester, MA: Nord-Sud/Faber & Faber, 1983. Pp. 1-25.

"The Queen named her Snow White." p. 1.

My Pop-Up Book of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Illus. by Anne Grahame Johnstone. London: Deans International, 1983, pp. 1-10.

"She was christened Snow White." p. 1.

The Brothers Grimm Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Translated and adapted by Anthea Bell. Illus. by Chihiro Iwasaki. New York: Picture Book Studio, USA., 1984, pp 1-38.

". . . so she was called Snow White." p. 7.

Snow White in New York. Fiona French. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 1986, pp. 1-30.

" . . . there was a poor little rich girl called Snow White." p. 2.

Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Based on Walt Disney's full-length animated classic. Adapted by Suzanne Weyn. New York: Scholastic, 1987. [original copyright 1937] paperback, pp. 1-73.

"Once upon a time, there lived a lovely little princess names Snow White." p.1.

The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm: Volume I Tales I-100. Translated by Jack Zipes. Illus. by John B. Gruelle. New York: Bantam, 1987, pp.213-222.
[The present translation is based in part on the first of the Kinder und Hausmaerchen published in two volumes in 1812 and 1815. The first 211 tales in this translation are based on the seventh and final edition published in 1857. Illustrations by John B. Gruelle first appeared in Grimm's Fairy Tales, translated by Margaret Hunt in 1914.]

"Accordingly, the child was called Snow White, . . . " p. 213.

The Child's Fairy Tale Book. Illus. by Kay Chorao. New York: Dutton, 1990, pp. 6-19.

"And as it happened, such a daughter was born to the Queen, and she was named Snow White." p. 7.

Snow White. Retold by Josephine Poole. Illus. by Angela Barrett. New York: Knopf, 1991, pp. 1-30.

"She was called Snow White, . . . " p.2.

Snow White by the Brothers Grimm. Retold by Jennifer Greenway. Illus. by Erin Augenstine. Kansas City, MS: Ariel Books, 1991.

"She named her child Snow White. . . " p. 9.

Favorite Fairy Tales. Compiled by Cooper Edens and Harold Darling. San Francisco, CA: Blue Lantern Studio/Chronicle Books, 1991, pp. 30-37.

". . . she had a little daughter named Snowdrop, . . . " p. 31.

Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Adapted from the Film by Jim Razzi. Illus. by Fernando Guell and Fred Martin. New York: Disney Press, 1993.

". . .there once lived a lovely young princess named Snow White." p. 1.

The Rainbow Fairy Book: Classic Fairy Tales. Ed. by Andrew Lang. Illus. by Michael Hague. New York: Books of Wonder/Morrow, 1993, pp. 207-221.

"They called her Snowdrop, . . . " p. 207.

Politically Correct Bedtime Stories: Modern Tales for Our Life & Times. James Finn Garner. New York: Macmillan, 1994, pp. 43-56.

"Her nickname was Snow White, indicative of the discriminatory notions of associating pleasant or attractive qualities with light, and unpleasant or unattractive qualities with darkness." P. 43.

Rimonah of the Flashing Sword: A North African Tale. Adapted by Eric A. Kimmel. Illus. by Omar Rayyan. New York: Holiday House, 1995.

"The queen named her Rimonah, which means "Pomegranate." p. 1.

Snow White: A Tale from the Brothers Grimm. Illus. by Charles Santore. New York: Park Lane Press, 1996, pp. 1-44.

"They named her Snow White." p. 1.
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Created January 6, 1997 and is continuously revised