The libretto by Marius Petipa is based on the play The Snow Maiden by Alexander Ostrovsky, inspired by a Russian folk fairy tale about Snegurochka from the folklore collection by Alexander Afanasyev.
The libretto for "The Snow Maiden" is derived from the play "The Snow Maiden" by Alexander Ostrovsky, which draws inspiration from a Russian folk tale about Snegurochka, as documented in the folklore collection of Alexander Afanasyev.