The North Pole is the location of the Snow Queen’s strong castle, a remote destination disclosed to Gerda during her search for Kay. The account distinguishes the castle from the Snow Queen’s summer tent in Lapland: the tent is in a land described as perpetually snowy and icy, while the castle stands on an island called Spitzbergen at the North Pole.

Setting and Identification

The Reindeer supplies the location when Gerda asks where the Snow Queen was going. It names the North Pole as the place of her strong castle and identifies Spitzbergen as the island on which it stands. The account thus gives the castle a specific, if distant, geographical setting rather than leaving it as an unspecified place in the winter landscape.

Relation to the Snow Queen

The North Pole is associated with the Snow Queen’s permanent stronghold, while Lapland is the site of her summer tent. The distinction matters: the Reindeer says she was most likely travelling to Lapland, but locates her castle at the North Pole. The reported journey and the castle’s location are related, not interchangeable.

Narrative Significance

This information turns Gerda’s question about the Snow Queen’s whereabouts into a clearer sense of the far-off place connected with Kay’s disappearance. The answer comes from the Reindeer, whose knowledge of the snowy regions gives Gerda a lead, but this passage does not show her reaching the North Pole or the castle. The location functions here as the destination behind the search, defined through a brief exchange and the contrast between a summer tent and a strong castle.