Hello one and all!
The narrative element of humans transforming into swans had many parallels among tales in Europe. Swan maiden tales, for instance, describe a creature that can shape-shift from swan to human merely by shedding garments, and this motif became so popular that it made an appearance in the ballet Swan Lake. The German tale "The Six Swans" changes the dynamics, putting an interesting twist on the well-known stories.
The Six Swans
Once upon a time there was a king who led a hunting expedition into a dark forest. The monarch became so engrossed in the pursuit of a deer that when he looked around him it had almost become nighttime. He sought an avenue out of the forest, though the more he searched for one the more intense became his confusion. Just as he resigned himself to death, an old woman appeared from the thick undergrowth.
"Good lady," he said, "I'm so relieved to see a fellow human. Do you perhaps know a way out of the woods?"
"You need not even ask, for I know the forest like my own face," she said. "I could guide you out of this predicament, but on one condition. If you do not fulfill this then you would surely die."
"Let me hear this condition then."
She rubbed her thin fingers together. "I have a daughter, whose beauty is unsurpassed in the land. If you would marry her and make her queen, then I'd lead you to safety."
The king was frightened, hungry, desperate and without any other options, and thus he agreed to her plan. The wizened lady led him to her cottage, and seated at the fireplace was the beautiful daughter, but for some reason the king couldn't look into her eyes without shivering. Nonetheless, a deal had been agreed, and so the king helped her up on his steed and took her to his castle.
The king married the raven haired woman, but he already had seven children from a previous - six sons and a girl - and he feared what their new stepmother might do to them; to assuage this fear the the ruler transported his children to a desolate castle, in the middle of a forest. It was so well-hidden that the king himself couldn't find it without the aid of a magic piece of yarn. The stepmother took note of husband's many absences though, and when he would visit his children and she bribed a servant to divulge the secrets of his whereabouts. She learned the location of the magic yarn, and then set to work on knitting magical shirts, a skill she learned from her witch mother. One day the king went away on business and the queen took her finished shirts, and with the aid of the magical yarn she found the remote castle. The children weren't used to visitors, except for their father, and they ran out to greet the person; their stepmother threw the magical shirts over each child that had come out to greet her. Where there once stood boys now there were a bevy of swans that soon took flight and flew over the woods. The queen thought she had dealt with all of the children and returned to the main castle, but the one girl hadn't rushed outside with her brothers and still cowered in her room.
Once again the king came to visit his children but only found the girl present; she told her father what had transpired and showed him the feathers as proof. He hadn't an idea of who had done it but still feared that his daughter may also be taken from him, and so he asked her to come live with him. She had seen how her stepmother had transformed her brothers into swans and feared what she would do to her, but didn't have the heart to tell her father the truth. The girl pleaded with her father to let her stay in the forest castle for one more night and he acquiesced.
That afternoon she looked at her room one last time. "Farewell castle, for I cannot call you home anymore."
The young girl ran into the forest and kept going until she stumbled upon a small hut, which she entered. It was deserted, but there were six beds arranged in the central room and she crept under one of them, and sleep took hold of her. The sun set a hissing noise woke her and she glanced up; six swans trampled the floor and in front of her eyes their skins slid off and young boys stepped forth from the folds.
"My brothers!" she said and crawled out from under the bed.
"You cannot remain here," one of her brothers said. "This is a den for robbers."
"But all six of you could protect me."
"If only. We are transformed into our former selves for only 15 minutes each evening."
Tears started to stain the girl's dress. "Is there no way to fix this?"
"There is only one remedy: you must never speak or laugh for 6 years, create 6 shirts made of aster-flowers and then give us these pieces of clothing when the time has elapsed."
Sure enough, the brothers changed back into swans and they set off into the sky once again. With tears in her eyes, she ran into the middle of the forest and then slept in the crook of a tree's branch.
When morning broke she went about gathering aster-flowers and returned to her tree, to begin work on her brother's shirts. The king of the surrounding country was on a hunt with attendants and passed under her tree.
"Hail, girl!" the king said.
The girl gave no answer and continued with her work.
"You need not fear us! Just come down and talk!"
The girl threw her golden necklace to those below but they persisted. One by one she threw all of her valuables until she only stood in her smock but the king didn't move. Huntsmen of the king climbed the tree and lifted her down, whereupon the king asked her who she was in all of the languages he knew though she remained mute. The king remained patient throughout and treated her with kindness; even though not so much as a sound passed from her lips, their affection for each other grew to such a degree that they married. There was one party displeased with the match - the king's mother, who thought the girl was devoid of reason because she never spoke.
A year passed and the new wife had her first child, but the mother-in-law snuck into their chambers, smeared blood around the young woman's mouth and spirited away the child. The next morning the mother-in-law accused the girl of eating her own children. The king could not believe that his modest wife would behave in such a manner and so he rebuffed these accusations. Then the same sets of circumstances occurred with the second birth. And then the third. The king couldn't deny justice any longer, especially because the accused didn't utter a word in her own defense.
She was sentenced to be burned at the stake but she still diligently toiled on the six shirts. On the day of her execution she had completed all of the shirts, except for the left sleeve of one. Just as she was bound to the stake, the six years elapsed and six swans landed next to the accused, and she threw the shirts over their heads. The giant swans transformed into humans, except for the one brother's left arm, which remained a white wing. The girl, along with her brothers, were able to defend her innocence. Also, the three children, who had been hidden away, were found and the mother-in-law was tied to the stake and burned to ashes. The whole family were reconciled and lived happily for many decades.
Thank you for reading!
The narrative element of humans transforming into swans had many parallels among tales in Europe. Swan maiden tales, for instance, describe a creature that can shape-shift from swan to human merely by shedding garments, and this motif became so popular that it made an appearance in the ballet Swan Lake. The German tale "The Six Swans" changes the dynamics, putting an interesting twist on the well-known stories.
 |
| Illustration: "The Six Swans" by Elenore Abbott. |
The Six Swans
Once upon a time there was a king who led a hunting expedition into a dark forest. The monarch became so engrossed in the pursuit of a deer that when he looked around him it had almost become nighttime. He sought an avenue out of the forest, though the more he searched for one the more intense became his confusion. Just as he resigned himself to death, an old woman appeared from the thick undergrowth.
"Good lady," he said, "I'm so relieved to see a fellow human. Do you perhaps know a way out of the woods?"
"You need not even ask, for I know the forest like my own face," she said. "I could guide you out of this predicament, but on one condition. If you do not fulfill this then you would surely die."
"Let me hear this condition then."
She rubbed her thin fingers together. "I have a daughter, whose beauty is unsurpassed in the land. If you would marry her and make her queen, then I'd lead you to safety."
The king was frightened, hungry, desperate and without any other options, and thus he agreed to her plan. The wizened lady led him to her cottage, and seated at the fireplace was the beautiful daughter, but for some reason the king couldn't look into her eyes without shivering. Nonetheless, a deal had been agreed, and so the king helped her up on his steed and took her to his castle.
 |
| Six Swans illustration by Warwick Goble, for the The Fairy Book (1913). |
The king married the raven haired woman, but he already had seven children from a previous - six sons and a girl - and he feared what their new stepmother might do to them; to assuage this fear the the ruler transported his children to a desolate castle, in the middle of a forest. It was so well-hidden that the king himself couldn't find it without the aid of a magic piece of yarn. The stepmother took note of husband's many absences though, and when he would visit his children and she bribed a servant to divulge the secrets of his whereabouts. She learned the location of the magic yarn, and then set to work on knitting magical shirts, a skill she learned from her witch mother. One day the king went away on business and the queen took her finished shirts, and with the aid of the magical yarn she found the remote castle. The children weren't used to visitors, except for their father, and they ran out to greet the person; their stepmother threw the magical shirts over each child that had come out to greet her. Where there once stood boys now there were a bevy of swans that soon took flight and flew over the woods. The queen thought she had dealt with all of the children and returned to the main castle, but the one girl hadn't rushed outside with her brothers and still cowered in her room.
 |
| "The Six Swans" by H.J. Ford. |
Once again the king came to visit his children but only found the girl present; she told her father what had transpired and showed him the feathers as proof. He hadn't an idea of who had done it but still feared that his daughter may also be taken from him, and so he asked her to come live with him. She had seen how her stepmother had transformed her brothers into swans and feared what she would do to her, but didn't have the heart to tell her father the truth. The girl pleaded with her father to let her stay in the forest castle for one more night and he acquiesced.
That afternoon she looked at her room one last time. "Farewell castle, for I cannot call you home anymore."
The young girl ran into the forest and kept going until she stumbled upon a small hut, which she entered. It was deserted, but there were six beds arranged in the central room and she crept under one of them, and sleep took hold of her. The sun set a hissing noise woke her and she glanced up; six swans trampled the floor and in front of her eyes their skins slid off and young boys stepped forth from the folds.
"My brothers!" she said and crawled out from under the bed.
"You cannot remain here," one of her brothers said. "This is a den for robbers."
"But all six of you could protect me."
"If only. We are transformed into our former selves for only 15 minutes each evening."
Tears started to stain the girl's dress. "Is there no way to fix this?"
"There is only one remedy: you must never speak or laugh for 6 years, create 6 shirts made of aster-flowers and then give us these pieces of clothing when the time has elapsed."
Sure enough, the brothers changed back into swans and they set off into the sky once again. With tears in her eyes, she ran into the middle of the forest and then slept in the crook of a tree's branch.
 |
| "Die sechs Schwäne" by Heinrich Vogeler. |
When morning broke she went about gathering aster-flowers and returned to her tree, to begin work on her brother's shirts. The king of the surrounding country was on a hunt with attendants and passed under her tree.
"Hail, girl!" the king said.
The girl gave no answer and continued with her work.
"You need not fear us! Just come down and talk!"
The girl threw her golden necklace to those below but they persisted. One by one she threw all of her valuables until she only stood in her smock but the king didn't move. Huntsmen of the king climbed the tree and lifted her down, whereupon the king asked her who she was in all of the languages he knew though she remained mute. The king remained patient throughout and treated her with kindness; even though not so much as a sound passed from her lips, their affection for each other grew to such a degree that they married. There was one party displeased with the match - the king's mother, who thought the girl was devoid of reason because she never spoke.
A year passed and the new wife had her first child, but the mother-in-law snuck into their chambers, smeared blood around the young woman's mouth and spirited away the child. The next morning the mother-in-law accused the girl of eating her own children. The king could not believe that his modest wife would behave in such a manner and so he rebuffed these accusations. Then the same sets of circumstances occurred with the second birth. And then the third. The king couldn't deny justice any longer, especially because the accused didn't utter a word in her own defense.
 |
| "The Swan Princes" by Anne Anderson. |
She was sentenced to be burned at the stake but she still diligently toiled on the six shirts. On the day of her execution she had completed all of the shirts, except for the left sleeve of one. Just as she was bound to the stake, the six years elapsed and six swans landed next to the accused, and she threw the shirts over their heads. The giant swans transformed into humans, except for the one brother's left arm, which remained a white wing. The girl, along with her brothers, were able to defend her innocence. Also, the three children, who had been hidden away, were found and the mother-in-law was tied to the stake and burned to ashes. The whole family were reconciled and lived happily for many decades.
Thank you for reading!
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