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 of "The Snow Maiden" was created by Marius Petipa and is based on the play by Alexander Ostrovsky, which was inspired by a Russian folk tale featuring Snegurochka, as described in the folklore collection by Alexander Afanasyev.