Ice Maiden (radio)

“Ice Maiden” is a radio program from the American radio anthology series Radio Tales. The anthology series adapted classic works of American and world literature for the radio. The series was a recipient of numerous awards, including four Gracie Allen Awards from the Foundation of American Women in Radio and Television (in 2004, [ [http://www.awrt.org/press-releases/2004/Press_Release_%20Announce_Winners.pdf "AWRT Press Release"] AWRT.org. Accessed March 21, 2008.] 2003, [ [http://www.npr.org/about/press/030402.gracie.html "NPR Productions Win Gracie Allen Awards"] NPR.org. Accessed March 21, 2008.] 2001, [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20011126020253/www.awrt.org/awards/2000GracieWinners.html "2001 Gracie Allen Award Winners"] AWRT.org, as indexed by the Internet Archive at Archive.org. Accessed March 21, 2008.] and 1998), a New York Festivals WorldMedal, [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20050207122048/http://www.newyorkfestivals.com/res/pdf/2004RPwinners.pdf "2004 Winners, Radio Programming and Promotion, New York Festivals"] NewYorkFestivals.com, as indexed by the Internet Archive at Archive.org. Accessed March 21, 2008.] and a Golden Reel Merit Award. [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20010802161539/www.nfcb.org/2001reelsinfo.html "NFCB Announces 2001 Golden Reel Award Winners"] NFCB.org, as indexed by the Internet Archive at Archive.org. Accessed March 21, 2008.] The “Ice Maiden" program from the Radio Tales series was an adaptation of the classic short story, “Hilda Silfverling, A Fantasy” by Lydia Maria Child.

Broadcast History

The Radio Tales production of “Ice Maiden” was first broadcast via NPR on September 5, 2000 [National Public Radio: "NPR Quarterly Edition Summer 2000". NPR Marketing, July – Sept. 2000, Vol. VI, No. III] . The program encompassed one half-hour installment that was distributed to NPR member stations as part of the NPR Playhouse cultural series. Since November 28th, 2002, the entire Radio Tales series has aired in reruns on the Sonic Theater channel (163) of the XM Satellite Radio service [ [http://www.xmradio.com/onxm/features/sonictheater.xmc "Sonic Theater"] XMRadio.com. Accessed May 22, 2008.] . The “Ice Maiden” program debuted on XM Satellite Radio on March 29, 2003.

Production Information

The program was produced and script edited by series producer Winnie Waldron, who also served as the on-air host [ [http://www.winifredphillips.com/wp_bio.html "Winifred Phillips Official Site: Biography"] Winifredphillips.com. Accessed May 19, 2008.] . Composer Winifred Phillips created over twenty-eight minutes of music for the program, and also performed as the featured actress [ [http://www.mninter.net/~jstearns/nprPH.html#top "NPR Playhouse - January - March, 2001"] MNinter.net. Accessed March 21, 2008.] . “Ice Maiden” was part of the fifth year of Radio Tales on NPR Playhouse [National Public Radio: "NPR Quarterly Edition Summer 2000". NPR Marketing, July – Sept. 2000, Vol. VI, No. III] .

Media

The Radio Tales production of “Ice Maiden” has been available in numerous formats and venues, including burn-on-demand CDs manufactured and distributed by MP3.com [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20031129193548/artists.mp3s.com/artists/33/npr_radio_tales.html "MP3.com: Radio Tales"] MP3.com, as indexed by the Internet Archive at Archive.org. Accessed July 15, 2008.] and Ampcast.com [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20060212003627/http://www.ampcast.com/music/25229/artist.php "Ampcast.com: Radio Tales"] Ampcast.com, as indexed by the Internet Archive at Archive.org. Accessed July 15, 2008.] . Beginning in 2005, programs from the series, including the “Ice Maiden” program, have been available for download via the Audioville.co.uk web site [ [http://www.audioville.co.uk/store/view_productcategory.php?Id=59 "audioVille | Stor>>Fiction | Radio Tales | Download Audio Books, Podcasts and more in MP3. Comedy, Fiction, sport, news, science, drama."] Audioville.co.uk. Accessed May 24, 2008.] .

Opening narration

Plot Summary

Hilda Silfverling is an unfortunate young woman, orphaned and poor, making her living in Stockholm as a maid and seamstress. After a brief affair with a young sailor (who is soon after lost at sea), Hilda discovers that she is pregnant. Terrified of the shame this will bring upon her, she agrees to entrust the child to an elderly Norwegian woman named Virika Gjetter whom she had recently befriended, and the woman takes Hilda’s baby daughter away with her to Norway soon after the child is born. When an unidenitifed baby is discovered strangled in Stockholm, Hilda is arrested. Since no one can locate the old woman who took Hilda’s child to Norway, there is no evidence that the murdered baby is not Hilda’s. She is convicted of murder, and would have been beheaded had an illustrious chemist not intervened. He proposes that Hilda be frozen instead, and in that state remain for a hundred years, after which she might be resuscitated. In the interests of scientific advancement (and to spare the naïve young woman from a more brutal method of execution) this alternative is condoned by the authorities. Hilda is sedated while lying in a freezing-cold stone chamber, and is thus frozen solid for a hundred years.

When the time has elapsed, Hilda is revived. Her revival causes a sensation in Stockholm, and Hilda finds herself a reluctant celebrity. Desperate to escape the notoriety (and the sorrow of seeing familiar places but not a single familiar face in all of Sweden), Hilda confides in a clergyman that she longs to go to Norway and start her life over again. He arranges for her to stay with a friend there named Eystein Hanson and his wife, who both take her in as though she were their long-lost daughter. While living there, Hilda meets a handsome young man named Alerik, and the two young people are immediately smitten. In time their bond becomes profound, and they begin to speak of marriage during their walks. But at this time Hilda also learns, to her horror, that Alerik’s grandmother was a foundling who had been left at the home of Alerik’s great grandfather by an old peasant woman named Virika Gjetter. This means that Hilda is Alerik’s great grandmother. She tells the entire story to Alerik, despairing that they can not marry, but Alerik answers her with a string of jokes and fanciful stories, making light of the situation. He says that, since science agrees that the human body completely changes every seven years, that even if Hilda were his great grandmother when she was frozen a hundred years ago, she would no longer be so when she awakened. Satisfied with this rationale, the two young people rest in each others arms, completely contented as they watch the sun set over the hills.

References

External Links

* [http://www.audioville.co.uk/store/view.php?Id=522&ProductCategoryId=59 Ice Maiden page on Audioville.co.uk]

* [http://www.radiotales.com/ The Official Radio Tales® Web Site]
* [http://www.audioville.co.uk/store/view_productcategory.php?Id=59 Radio Tales® Full Catalog on AudioVille]
* [http://www.xmradio.com/onxm/channelpage.xmc?ch=163 XM Satellite Radio's Sonic Theater Channel]