Sabella was a young princess whose heart was stolen by an evil fairy, she was forced to live at the North Pole. She was saved by Mannikan, who married her.
Background[]
The princess' heart was stolen by an evil fairy and hidden away in the center of an ice mountain. With no heart, the girl knew nothing of love. A young boy, who lived with Genesta, named Mannikin fell in love with the princess. He vowed to overcome her other suitors and recover the girl's heart, thereby winning her hand. This he was finally able to do, and when he returned to the North Pole with the girl's heart encased in a diamond, she handed it back to him saying that her heart truly belonged to him.
Sabella gave a fur coat to Mannikan to wear; in gratitude and love for her, he named the animal whose fur he wore after his bride-to-be. That is why today there are animals that are called sables.
Behind the scenes[]
She is a character from the fairy tale, the Heart of Ice in Andrew Lang's Green Fairy Book. The story is original source of the character Genesta, where Roberta William's got the name for the character.
This character may have also inspired the character of Icebella which shares a similar name and backstory (however with elements of Hans Christian Andersen's Ice Queen, Narnia, and other fairy tales with snow queens).