Varvinimed ja varvid vendade Grimmide muinasjutu “Lumivalguke” variantides

The article discusses three versions of the Snow White fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm (1810, 1812, and 1857), delving into the meanings of colours and colour names occurring in them as well as changes in the names and meanings. The analysis proceeds from the structural method of fairy tale study and explores the symbolic meaning oppositions of colours and their names, such as in/out, light/dark, life/death, logical/mythological. The analysis is also based on the differentiation drawing on the theory of primary colours, according to which black, white, and red are the most fundamental colour names. However, the use of colour names (semantics and symbolism) is complicated in the versions of the Snow White fairy tale, as a colour may have several oppositional meanings. It is not just simple binary oppositions. The Brothers Grimm regarded the colours black, white, and red as beautiful. Jacob Grimm depicted them as the three colours of poetry.