The Little Match Girl

E630017

fairy tale literary work short story

The Little Match Girl is a poignant fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a poor, freezing girl whose hopeful visions appear as she strikes matches on a cold New Year's Eve.

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All labels observed (11)

Label	Occurrences
The Little Match Girl canonical	4
The Little Matchgirl	4
"The Little Match Girl"	1
La Petite Marchande d’allumettes	1
The Little Match Girl (children's book adaptation)	1
The Little Match Girl (narration)	1
The Little Match Girl Passion	1
The Little Match Seller	1
The Little Matchmakers	1
The Match Girl	1
the little match girl	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T6920288 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: The Little Match Girl
Context triple: [Hans Christian Andersen, notableWork, The Little Match Girl]

A. The Happy Prince
The Happy Prince is a 2018 biographical drama film written, directed by, and starring Rupert Everett, depicting the tragic final years of writer Oscar Wilde.
B. The Happy Prince and Other Tales
The Happy Prince and Other Tales is a collection of literary fairy stories by Oscar Wilde, noted for their blend of fantasy, social criticism, and poignant moral themes.
C. The Snow Queen
The Snow Queen is an 1844 fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a powerful, cold-hearted queen and the perilous journey of a young girl to rescue her friend from the queen’s icy realm.
D. Tine Havelaar
Tine Havelaar is a character in Multatuli’s novel "Max Havelaar," depicted as the devoted and morally upright wife of the protagonist.
E. The Princess and the Pea
The Princess and the Pea is a classic fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a young woman whose royal identity is proven by her sensitivity to a pea hidden beneath many mattresses.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: The Little Match Girl
Target entity description: The Little Match Girl is a poignant fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a poor, freezing girl whose hopeful visions appear as she strikes matches on a cold New Year's Eve.

A. The Happy Prince
The Happy Prince is a 2018 biographical drama film written, directed by, and starring Rupert Everett, depicting the tragic final years of writer Oscar Wilde.
B. The Happy Prince and Other Tales
The Happy Prince and Other Tales is a collection of literary fairy stories by Oscar Wilde, noted for their blend of fantasy, social criticism, and poignant moral themes.
C. The Snow Queen
The Snow Queen is an 1844 fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a powerful, cold-hearted queen and the perilous journey of a young girl to rescue her friend from the queen’s icy realm.
D. Tine Havelaar
Tine Havelaar is a character in Multatuli’s novel "Max Havelaar," depicted as the devoted and morally upright wife of the protagonist.
E. The Princess and the Pea
The Princess and the Pea is a classic fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a young woman whose royal identity is proven by her sensitivity to a pea hidden beneath many mattresses.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (45)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	fairy tale ⓘ literary work ⓘ short story ⓘ
adaptedAs	animated film ⓘ ballet ⓘ opera ⓘ stage play ⓘ television film ⓘ
author	Hans Christian Andersen ⓘ
climax	girl lights all matches and sees her grandmother ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	Denmark ⓘ
endingTone	bittersweet ⓘ
firstPublicationYear	1845 ⓘ
firstPublishedIn	Dansk Folkekalender for 1846 ⓘ
genre	Christmas story ⓘ fairy tale ⓘ tragic fiction ⓘ
hasIllustrationsBy	various illustrators in different editions ⓘ
hasMoral	society should care for the poor and vulnerable ⓘ
includedIn	collections of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales ⓘ
influenced	later Christmas literature ⓘ socially conscious children's stories ⓘ
intendedAudience	children ⓘ general readers ⓘ
literaryMovement	Romanticism ⓘ
literaryPeriod	19th century literature ⓘ
mainCharacter	the little match girl ⓘ linked to: The Little Match Girl
narrativePerspective	third-person narration ⓘ
originalLanguage	Danish ⓘ
originalTitle	Den lille Pige med Svovlstikkerne ⓘ
protagonistStatusAtEnd	dies from cold and hunger ⓘ
publicDomainStatus	public domain in most countries ⓘ
recurringCharacter	the girl's grandmother ⓘ
recurringImage	Christmas tree ⓘ roast goose ⓘ warm stove ⓘ
settingPlace	unnamed city ⓘ
settingTime	New Year's Eve ⓘ
theme	child neglect ⓘ death ⓘ hope and despair ⓘ poverty ⓘ social injustice ⓘ transcendence ⓘ
visionMotif	matches revealing comforting visions ⓘ

How these facts were elicited