The Steadfast Tin Soldier

The Steadfast Tin Soldier

In Hans Christian Andersen’s tale of the “The Steadfast Tin Soldier,” special gifts arise out of limitations, real sufferings, and a longing for the Beloved. In the story, the small one-legged tin soldier persists courageously through many difficulties to become something else, transcendent.

‘O what strange things’ - can happen in the world,’ he thinks, as he experiences a return to his home. He delights in finding himself back in the same house, after perilous adventures with a troll, water rat, and hungry fish, with the same figures, including the paper dancer he dearly loves.

The Tin Soldier transforms or distills his existence and suffering, including the separation from his dearly beloved, into a purified heart. The tale finishes with a careless child throwing him into a stove and a sudden gust of wind blowing his dear paper dancer into the fire as well. Briefly united, the paper dancer combusts and he melts into “the shape of a little tin heart.”

From our friend, Elizabeth F.

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The Steadfast Tin Soldier, Arthur Rackhan (Illustrator)