'The Legend of the Christmas Rose'
by Selma Lagerlöf
The most beautiful Christmas story I know.
I read it every Christmas - several times...
In this splendid retelling of a traditional Swedish folktale,
an outcast family stops one day at a cloister to admire the
abbot's private garden. Robber Mother tells the abbot of a far
more glorious garden she knows of deep in the forest, one that
blooms each Christmas Eve in remembrance of the Christ Child.
The abbot longs to see it, and promises to ask the bishop for Robber
Father's pardon if she will show it to him. In due course Robber
Mother takes him there, but the young monk he has brought
with him spoils the visit through his jealousy and fear. Though
the Christmas garden never blooms again, each year at holiday
time the Christmas rose sends forth its white blossoms
Purchase it here: UK & US
'The Legend of the Christmas Rose'
by Katherine Cameron (1874-1965)
An illustration for Amy Steedman's
'Legends and Stories of Italy'
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Selma Lagerlöf, 1902
by Carl Larsson (1853-1919)
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Minature Christmas rose plant in a mossy pot
Marianne26, Etsy
Marianne26, Etsy
Original watercolour painting
Dancing Cat Studio, Etsy
Christ rose and snow flake vase
from Daum Frères, Nancy, ca. 1900
linkfrom Daum Frères, Nancy, ca. 1900
19th century illustration of Helleborus niger
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'Hellebore' vase, 1900
by Henri Muller, Daum Frères, Nancy
linkby Henri Muller, Daum Frères, Nancy
Postcard by Catharina Klein, 1907
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Leibig's fleisch-extract, ca. 1900link
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Danish stamp
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