Why Did Snow White’s Mother Die?

The story passed on to us by the Grimm brothers never gives us an answer. Natural causes, most likely. Actually, the real reason Snow’s mother died in the version we can all read today is revisionism. I’ll write a whole post about that in the near future, but I want to stay on topic right now. The Grimm version never tells us why she died after giving birth. The fact that, probably, 1 in every 20 women died giving birth during the middle ages is a good enough answer, sure. But I want something more.

Birth Giving in the Middle Ages

As I sat down to write the second chapter of my Snow-white version, I realized I knew nothing about births in the 1500s. Absolutely nothing. This was a problem, since I always imagined Snow’s mom died right after giving birth to her. This meant I had to set the scene, and I had no idea how to even do that.

Research is a big part of writing. So instead of making progress on the story, I took off on another adventure into the internet. Thankfully, long gone are the days where I had to write a research paper and cite my sources. Unfortunately, I still have to make an effort to verify my sources. The internet is a twisting corridor full of misinformation, traps, and false exits. It’s full of ignorance, is what I’m trying to say. I have to admit I sometimes wish all my friends would turn into historians.

Alas, I am historian-friendless. All I can hope is that my narration of the moment in which Snow’s brought into this world is somewhat believable, if not truthful. With that part done, however, I suddenly had a spark of beautiful and elating inspiration.

What if Snow’s mother dies because of the wish she made to have a daughter of white, red, and black? said a voice in my head.

“Ooof,” I said out loud.

Magic in Snow-white’s World

I started making connections in my mind. I’ve read some of the fairy tales collected by the Grimm brothers, and it always struck me as weird that some of them have Christian elements. It’s to be expected, of course, as these tales are mostly based during the middle ages, but the mixture of pagan and Christian aspects is hard to take in stride.

It was this disharmony that gave me an idea in the end. Just as Christianity came to replace older religions, what if there’s a shift happening in the world of my enhanced version of Snow-white? What if people used to believe in certain gods, or powers, but another creed was gaining grounds in the beliefs of the people?

The Ancient Powers, I called them. And that’s what people in this world call them as well. But then came the Queen (of light) to drive away what her adherents are now calling the Dark Powers.

I thought this idea fitting because from the initial planning stages, I wanted magic to have a more prominent part in this world. I didn’t want for the evil queen to be the only one that used it, but the dwarfs as well. The addition of the Ancient Powers was precisely what I needed, and I could introduce the magical part of this world from, practically, the very beginning of the story.

This was still a simple enough project up to this point still. I didn’t have to define, precisely, how the Ancient Powers work. I could keep them as a mysterious force the same way many writers do with their magic systems. I was still workin on a fun, light project.

It wouldn’t last long, unfortunately. Or thankfully, rather. The truth is, I’m excited about everything that came about because of this. And I’ll tell you all about it in future posts.

Until then, fellow, I hope the runes fall in your favor.

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