Lake of Reason

The Lake of Reason is the frozen centerpiece of the Snow Queen’s palace and the material at the heart of Kay’s test: he is to arrange its ice into the word “Eternity” to become his own master. Its crystalline order appears to promise mastery through reason, but the puzzle remains unsolved until Gerda’s arrival breaks Kay’s isolation and restores their bond.

Form and Naming

At the center of the palace’s empty, endless hall lies a frozen lake, its surface broken into a thousand forms. Each piece resembles another and is described as perfect in itself, like a work of art. When the Snow Queen is at home, she sits at the lake’s center and calls it “The Mirror of Reason,” claiming it is the best—and the only one in the world. The name makes the lake more than part of the palace’s icy architecture: it expresses the value the Snow Queen places on its precise, self-contained forms.

Kay’s Puzzle

Kay drags sharp, flat pieces of ice to and fro, fitting them together as if making a puzzle from small tablets of wood. His fingers are artistic, and he regards the figures he composes as remarkable and immensely important. Yet his judgment is affected by the shard of glass still lodged in his eye. He can form many complete figures and words, but not “Eternity,” however much he wants to do so.

The Snow Queen makes that missing word the condition of Kay’s release: when he can find it, she says, he will be his own master and receive the whole world and a new pair of skates. The offer ties freedom to a task performed with the lake’s pieces, but Kay cannot satisfy it while he sits alone, absorbed in the game. When the Snow Queen leaves for warmer countries, he remains in the vast hall, still studying the ice.

The Word and Its Consequence

Gerda reaches the hall and recognizes Kay. After she throws her arms around him, he bursts into tears; the glass splinter swims out of his eye, and he recognizes her. As he looks around, he notices the coldness and emptiness of the place. His change is registered both in his perception and in the puzzle: when he and Gerda lie down, the pieces of ice form the letters of “Eternity.”

The word now appears without Kay’s solitary effort, and the Snow Queen’s promised condition has been fulfilled: the shining letters stand as his certainty of freedom. Gerda’s kisses restore his health and cheerfulness, and the two leave the palace hand in hand. The lake’s perfectly shaped pieces thus serve first as instruments of Kay’s cold concentration and then, at the moment he is reunited with Gerda, as the visible sign that he is no longer captive to that game.