Snow-White and Rose-Red

This article focuses on the story. For the Enchanted Forest characters, see Snow White and Red Riding Hood respectively.

Snow-White and Rose-Red
Story
Background Information
Written by:	The Brothers Grimm
Publication:	1812
Adaptation Information
Featured episode(s):	"Red-Handed" "Child of the Moon" Shadow of the Queen
Relevant Pages

"Snow-White and Rose-Red", also known as "Schneeweißchen und Rosenrot", is a fairytale featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by the German authors Jacob and Wilhelm of the Brothers Grimm and incorporated into the book Grimms' Fairy Tales in 1812.

Traditional Plot

Snow-White and Rose-Red are two little girls living with their mother, a poor widow, in a small cottage. They are very good little girls, they love each other dearly, and their mother is very fond of them. Rose-Red is outspoken and cheerful and loves to play outside. Snow-White is quiet and shy and prefers doing housework and reading. One winter night, there is a knock at the door. Rose Red opens the door to find a bear. At first, she is terrified, but the bear tells her not to be afraid. "I'm half frozen and I merely want to warm up a little at your place," he says. They let the bear in, and he lies down in front of the fire. Snow-White and Rose-Red beat the snow off the bear, and they quickly become quite friendly with him. They play with the bear and roll him around playfully. They let the bear spend the night in front of the fire. In the morning, he leaves trotting out into the woods. The bear comes back every night for the rest of that winter and the family grows used to him. When summer comes, the bear tells them that he must go away for a while to guard his treasure from a wicked dwarf. During the summer, when the girls are walking through the forest, they find a dwarf whose beard is stuck in a tree. The girls rescue him by cutting his beard free, but the dwarf is ungrateful and yells at them for cutting his beautiful beard. The girls encounter the dwarf several times that summer, rescue him from some peril each time and the dwarf is ungrateful each time. Then one day, they meet the dwarf once again. This time, he is terrified because the bear is about to kill him. The dwarf pleads with the bear and begs it to eat the girls. Instead, the bear pays no heed and kills the dwarf with one swipe of his paw. Instantly, the bear turns into a prince. The dwarf had previously put a spell on the prince by stealing his precious stones and turning him into a bear, but the curse is broken with the death of the dwarf. Snow-White marries the prince and Rose-Red marries the prince's brother.

Show Adaptations

• Snow White and Red Riding Hood are only an allusion to the two sisters. They are not biological sisters. However, their eternal friendship and mutual loyalty replace it.
• Red's transformation into a wolf is also an allusion to the Prince transforming into a bear.
• Red is kept in wolf form by a witch, who is also known for turning people into bears.

Trivia

• The fairytale appears in Henry's storybook in "The Thing You Love Most," "What Happened to Frederick", "Hat Trick", "Snow Drifts", "Operation Mongoose Part 2" and "Mother's Little Helper".
  • It appears in the Underworld storybook in "The Brothers Jones" and "Last Rites".

Characters Featured

Original Character	Adapted as	First Featured in
Snow-White	Snow White	"Red-Handed"
Rose-Red	Red Riding Hood	"Red-Handed"
The dwarf	Witch (The Bear King) (allusion)	"The Bear King"
The bear	Red Riding Hood (allusion)	"The Bear King"
Widow	Granny	"Red-Handed"

Locations Featured

Original Location	Adapted as	First Featured in
Widow's cottage	Granny's cottage	"Red-Handed"

References

Stories

A – M The Adventures of Pinocchio | The Adventures of Tom Sawyer | Aesop's Fables | Alice's Adventures in Wonderland | Arthurian legend | "Beauty and the Beast" | Beowulf | The BFG | Carrie | Celtic mythology | "Cinderella" | A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court | The Count of Monte Cristo | The Curse of Capistrano | Don Quixote | The Emerald City of Oz | Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus | "The Frog Prince" | Germanic mythology | "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" | Greek mythology | "Hansel and Gretel" | The Hundred and One Dalmatians | "Jack and the Beanstalk" | "Jack and Jill" | "Jack the Giant Killer" | "Little Bo Peep" | "Jack Sprat" | La Cenerentola | "The Little Mermaid" | "Little Red Riding Hood" | The Lord of the Rings | The Marvelous Land of Oz | Mary Reilly | Moby-Dick | Mulan | The Mysterious Island N – Z Nursery rhymes | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest | One Thousand and One Nights | The Patchwork Girl of Oz | Peter and the Wolf | Peter and Wendy | "Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater" | "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" | Polynesian mythology | Pride and Prejudice | The Prince and the Pauper | "Rapunzel" | "Rip Van Winkle" | Robin Hood | Roman mythology | "Rumpelstiltskin" | The Scarlet Letter | Slavic mythology | "Sleeping Beauty" | "The Snow Queen" | "Snow White" | "Snow-White and Rose-Red" | "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" | Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde | Swan Lake | "Three Billy Goats Gruff" | The Three Musketeers | The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark | Treasure Island | Through the Looking-Glass | Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea | "The Ugly Duckling" | The Wonderful Wizard of Oz