The wild swans

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First illustration by Vilhelm Pedersen (1850)

The wild swans is a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen from 1838. It is about a princess who saves her brothers who have turned into swans.

action

A king lives in a kingdom with his daughter Elisa and his eleven sons. One day the king decides to remarry, but his choice falls on a wicked queen who soon turns out to be a witch. With a magic spell she turns the princes into swans, only Elisa, thanks to her pure heart, can withstand the magic. But she has to flee from her wicked stepmother and her brothers take her to a distant land where she is safe from the queen.

From a good fairy she learns how she can transform the swans back into shape: she is supposed to collect nettles in cemeteries and use them to weave shirts for her brothers. However, she must promise that she will not say a word until the task is done; otherwise their brothers would die. One day she is surprised by a hunting party at work. This is led by the king of the country, who falls in love with the supposedly dumb Elisa and wants to make her his wife despite the objections of the archbishop. He takes her to his castle, where she secretly continues her work. When Elisha's supply of nettles ran out one day, she went to the cemetery of a nearby church at night to pick new ones. There she encounters a group of witches, whom she fearlessly approaches. But she is observed by the king's archbishop, who also thinks she is a witch and reports this to the king. The king believes the archbishop and orders a witch trial with a heavy heart. Since Elisa is unable to defend herself because of her promise, she is found guilty and sentenced to death at the stake.

On the way to her execution, she continues to weave the shirts for her brothers, which annoys the onlookers so much that they want to take her shirts away and tear them up. Elisha's brothers appear and save the princess. People think this is a sign of innocence, but the executioner wants to proceed with the execution. Elisa succeeds in throwing the shirts on her brothers and the princes resume their human form, only the youngest brother keeps a wing because his shirt was not quite finished. After people hear the story of Elisha and her brothers, the king asked for her hand again. Elisa agrees and becomes the new queen.

Japanese version

The course of the story is largely the same, but there are some clear differences in the characters involved: The children (here there are six princes) live in a forest castle that can only be found with a magic ball. The stepmother steals the ball and, with her help, reaches the children, who - with the exception of Elisha - transforms them into swans with enchanted towels. The father learns of the crime and banishes the witch. She meets Elisha again at the other king's house, as she has meanwhile been picked up by hunters and brought to him. Since the witch's daughter also wants to marry the king, she again seeks the life of the princess. She burns the stinging nettle ball and slanders Elisha as a witch to the king. In the following trial, she was able to prove this accusation, because although she stabbed Elisa several times in the foot, she dared not scream for fear for the lives of her brothers. When she is about to be burned at the stake, her brothers fly over and Elisa is able to throw them their shirts. The brothers transform back and their falling feathers put out the fire. The princes clear up the story, the king banishes the two witches and marries Elisa.

Irish version

Probably the most original and also the oldest version of the myth of the stepchildren who are turned into swans by the stepmother is the Irish legend of the children of Lir, Oidheadh ​​Chlainne Lir . Lady Gregory made this myth understandable for today's readers. There are three boys and a sister protecting the boys. But the children of Lir must always remain in their swan form. There is no redemption. A certain guilt must also be ascribed to the weak father.

English version

In William Butler Yeats “The Twelve Wild Geese” the sister redeems the twelve brothers who have been turned into swans by the evil stepmother, as in “The Wild Swans” by Hans Christian Andersen. It is not the archbishop who wants to condemn the young woman, but the mother-in-law. The father is not only weak, he is violent. As in “ The Twelve Brothers ” by the Brothers Grimm , he wants to kill the sons when the next child becomes a girl, “that the kingdom should fall to him alone.” In both stories the brothers decide to kill the first girl they meet , but then refrain from doing so at the request of the youngest brother, who wants to protect the innocent sister.

German versions

In “ The Six Swans ” by the Brothers Grimm , like in Japanese fairy tales, the yarn is found that shows the way. The loving but weak father cannot help the wicked stepmother. In “ The Seven Ravens ” by the Brothers Grimm or von Bechstein, the brothers are not transformed into swans, but into ravens. The father is not weak, but clumsy: annoyed by the clumsiness of his sons, he recklessly curses them. There is neither a stepmother nor a mother-in-law.

General interpretation of the wild swans

In all fairy tales in which the brothers are redeemed, the youngest brother is left with a bird's wing because the girl cannot cope with the nettle shirts, which are a prerequisite for redemption, before the execution of the death penalty. The fear of what violence against us internally or externally is deeply rooted in us. In fairy tales this is expressed in the wicked stepmother and the wicked mother-in-law.

Film adaptations

supporting documents

  1. ↑ [1]  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.parforce-soft.de Version of the Swan legend by Lady Gregory.
  2. ↑ In: Yeats, William Butler: "Fairy and Folk Tales of Ireland" Colin Smythe Gerrards Cross 1973.
  3. ↑ The Wild Swans in the Internet Movie Database.

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