| The Frost King | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Real Name |
Frost |
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First appearance |
unknown |
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Original publisher |
unknown |
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Created by |
unknown |
Origin[]
The Frost King, or King Frost, is a personification of autumn hoar frost, or of cold, frosty weather in general, who is portrayed as a king. Beyond this basic description, public domain stories are very inconsistent in their depictions of the character: Sometimes he is artistic and benign (bearing a resemblance to Jack Frost) and other times destructive and even villainous (resembling Old Man Winter). Some stories portray him as having a queen, but most sources don’t mention her.
In L. Frank Baum’s books, he is an immortal who reigns during winter. His birthday is the coldest day of the year. His son, Jack Frost, is mischievous, but the Frost King never reproves him for his pranks.
Public Domain Literary Appearances[]
- “The Frost King,” by Charles Smith (1815)
- “Autumn,” by Lydia H. Sigourney (1834)
- The Frost‐King’s “kiss of dread” makes the rose droop.
- “King Frost,” by Charles Swain (11 Feb. 1837)
- King Frost has a “Palace of Snow” wherefrom he gallops out and freezes bodies of water with his breath, trapping a boat. He carries an “icicle spear,” and the Blast is described as his herald and Snow as his minister.
- “Frost and the Flower Garden,” by Lydia H. Sigourney (30 Dec. 1837)
- Various flowers discuss whether or not King Frost and his legions are approaching.
- “Lyrics by Nemo No. XXV,” The Star (10 Feb. 1838)
- The narrator warns his cousin Charles of cold weather by describing different human reactions to the despotic and easily offended King Frost and his actions, including blowing out cold blasts of wind.
- “The Conquests of King Frost,” by Sarah Carter Edgarton (Jan. 1842)
- King Frost is described in warlike vocabulary as causing death and destruction with his conquest of the landscape.
- “The Frost‐King: or, The Power of Love,” by Louisa May Alcott (1855)
- “The Frost King,” The Eclectic Review (May 1859)
- “The Blue‐Bird’s Complaint,” The Friend of Youth, and Child’s Magazine (Jan. 1861)
- “Frost and Thaw,” Punch (26 Jan. 1861)
- “The Titmouse,” by Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 1862)
- “The Frost‐King,” by Mary Mapes Dodge (1882)
- “The Brook’s Song,” by Mrs. M. F. Butts (July 1884)
- “The Frost King and How the Fairies Conquered Him,” by Louisa May Alcott (1887)
- “The Frost King,” by Rev. M. G. Watkins (Dec. 1897)
- “King Frost,” by Zelia M. Brown (Feb. 1899)
- “A Goal of Hopes,” by Burton L. Collins (1901)
- “A New Theory of Frost: or The Story of the Frost‐King,” by A. E. Brackett (1901)
- “The Frost King,” by John Nagle (1901)
- “The Runaway Shadows or A Trick of Jack Frost,” by L. Frank Baum (5 June 1901)
- The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, by L. Frank Baum (1902)
- “Why the Evergreen Trees Never Lose Their Leaves,” by Florence Holbrook (1902)
- The Wizard of Oz (stage musical), book by L. Frank Baum and Glen MacDonough (1902)
- “Another Santa Claus,” by Emma Bolenius (Dec. 1912)
- “The Rout of the Frost King, Being a Veritable Account of His Overthrow by the Zephyrs,” by Eugène Neustadt (1914)
Note[]
- The various personifications of cold weather or wintertime are often conflated and confused with one another in public domain stories. Jack Frost has at times been depicted as a king and called King Frost, and Ded Moroz is often called King Frost in English translations. Santa Claus has also been portrayed as a king.
Gallery[]
