Frau Holle's Feather Bed
Frau Holle's feather bed is the great bedding that the old woman shakes out in the Grimms' fairy tale 'Frau Holle' (KHM 24), causing its feathers to fall to earth as snow. The industrious heroine, after her fall into the well and a period of service shaking the bed each morning, is rewarded with a shower of gold, while the lazy sister earns only pitch. The tale explains the seasons through household labour, the winter snow being nothing more than Frau Holle's feathers flying. Frau Holle herself, a fair, long-toothed old woman who rewards diligence and punishes idleness, is sometimes identified