A mother, her daughter Hilda and stepdaughter Elsa live in a house in the woods. Elsa does all the work as the other two are lazy, but she doesn't mind. She always has a smile on her face and a song on her lips.
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One day her stepmother sends Elsa into the woods to gather berries. Elsa finds herself on an unfamiliar trail leading up into the sky. Full of wonder, Elsa follows the trail to the clouds.
READ: Lora Ley Adventures - Germanic Mythology Fiction Series
On the way she passes an oven. In the oven, loaves of bread cry, "Take us out, take us out, or surely we will burn!" Quickly, Elsa puts down her berry basket and rescues the hot bread from the oven. The loaves are golden and baked to perfection.
As she goes on, Elsa comes to a tree growing from the clouds. Upon the tree's boughs hang so many apples, they weigh down the branches. The tree groaned. "Pick these apples, lest I collapse." And the apples cried, "Pick us, pick us, lest we fall to earth and rot."
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Elsa finds several bushel baskets and fills them with apples. The tree branches reach up and the apples give her thanks. She continues on her way and the trail brightens above the clouds.
She arrives at a neat little cottage. A woman in the garden beckons. Elsa spends many days with the woman, who is the goddess Frau Holle. Elsa acquires skills of spinning and herbology even the most proficient don't know. Every day she learns something new.
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Elsa helps with housekeeping and baking. Frau Holle shows her how to fluff feather pillows and blankets out the window. Feathers softly fall, and Elsa watches in delight as they land as snow down in the mortal realm.
One day, Frau Holle tells her, "Your time with me is done. Return to your stepmother and stepsister now." Elsa wants to protest, as she enjoys helping Frau Holle but she's an obedient girl and merely nods. "You'll receive your reward at the gate," says Frau Holle.
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As Elsa walks through the front gate, a shower of gold and precious stones falls from the sky. Elsa is thankful and overjoyed, for it will bring wealth to her family and perhaps earn the respect of her stepmother and stepsister.
Sadly, her stepmother and stepsister treat Elsa no better. They spend all the money on trinkets and finery. "We need more," says the stepmother to Hilda. "If useless Elsa can get so much, imagine what you can get from this crazy old woman."
Following Elsa's directions, Hilda goes into the forest and up the cloud trail. She came to loaves of bread crying out from an oven. "Help! Take us out or we'll burn!" But Hilda sniffs with disdain and goes on, for she cares not if the bread burns.
Then she comes to the apple tree, weighed down with apples. "Help me," cries the tree. "Pick us," beg the apples. Haughty Hilda turns away from the calls of the tree and apples, for the day is warm and she doesn't want to break a sweat.
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She arrives at a neat cottage and knows this is the home of Frau Holle, who gave Elsa such a rich reward. Frau Holle tries to teach her to spin and weave with excellence, but Hilda is lazy and refuses to work. She prefers to eat apple pie and gaze out the window.
Frau Holle tries to show her the magic of the feather beds, and how they made snow. Hilda lies in them, but refuses make them or shake them. Finally Frau Holle said, "I cannot teach you anything." Hilda thought this a great compliment.
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"Where's my reward?" she says, and is told she'll get it at the garden gate. Hilda strides forward with her hat held out to catch the treasure she imagines falling from the sky. As she passes the gate, a cascade of steaming pitch pours down upon her.
She cries in anger and humiliation, and runs all the way back to her mother. Her mother berates Hilda for her failure, and the girl can never fully remove the pitch from her hair and under her nails.
And so the moral is, the lazy and arrogant are punished. Rewards come to those who are courteous and work hard. In her domestic aspect Frau Holle relates to the hearth, elderberry tree, apples and orchards, baking, spinning, weaving, herbology, healing and nature magic.
Like many ancient deities, Frau Holle has various aspects, including a domestic goddess, a dark side with chthonic connections; an old lady, deific punisher, powerful warrior, weather entity and teacher. The Festival of Frau Holle covers twelve days from December 25.