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Author
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Comment
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tacomatawanda
Registered User
(4/9/04 8:43 pm)
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The Wild Swans
Have you read the story of the Wild Swans? Was it just me who was touched so deeply by this story (now, for me, over four decades ago) ...
It is one of the most enchanting fairy tales I have ever read -- Hans Christian Anderson's "The Wild Swans." I have seen this retold as "The Twelve Swans" or "The Seven Swans." In the version I grew up with, it is about a princess, Elise, who has twelve brothers, turned into wild swans by the wicked stepmother. Elise is banished from the kingdom, and found by the brothers, who return to their human state at sunset.
The description of her being borne into the sky in a net by the winged brothers is magical, and the scene where they must rest on a rock in the middle of the sea on their passage to safe land always made me cry. They sang hymns all night long to keep up their courage.
Oh, there's so much in this story. Do read it, if you have not already.
If you have, I invite anyone to respond with their own thoughts (remember the scene in the cave where she was weaving the jackets out of stinging nettles, jackets which would turn her brothers back into humans, and her hands were torn and bleeding? She was accused of witchcraft, for that!)
The motifs found in this story are universal -- very common in other fairy tales. They include the need for the heroine to stay silent until she has completed her mission -- a mandate I know I would have an impossible time trying to fulfill!
I look forward to your thoughts.
Elizabeth
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aka
Greensleeves
(4/11/04 11:18 am)
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Re: The Wild Swans
You may be interested in Juliet Marillier's novel Daughter of
the Forest, a retelling of this story set in early-medieval
Ireland.
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darlene1219
Registered User
(4/12/04 1:58 pm)
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Wild Swans
Oh my gosh, do I remember this story!! I loved it as a child! I've been looking for it under 'the swan princess'. It was wonderful! Once again, I wonder what the heck happened to the book I used to have? Something about this story and illustrations have really stuck in my mind. Thanks so much for posting!
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Heidi
Anne Heiner
ezOP
(4/12/04 6:39 pm)
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Re: Wild Swans
If you haven't read it yet, please read the material for The Six Swans available on SurLaLune, too. All of these tales are available under this topic:
www.surlalunefairytales.c...index.html
Heidi
Edited by: Heidi Anne Heiner at: 4/12/04 6:40 pm
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Helen
J Pilinovsky
Registered User
(4/13/04 6:36 am)
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Re: Wild Swans
Regarding retellings, I'd also recommend Peg Kerr's beautiful treatment
of the tale, The Wild Swans, which tells two diasynchronous
versions of the tale, one set in the 16th century which seems close
to the original, and one dealing with the issues of the early eighties,
particularly AIDS. Powerful and moving.
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Terri
Windling
Registered User
(4/13/04 7:55 am)
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Re: Wild Swans
This story is a favorite of mine, too.
There are good YA novels about the brother who is left with one swan wing at the end of the tale:
The Seventh Swan by Nicholas Stuart Gray
Swan's Wing by Ursula Synge
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Celestial
Registered User
(4/13/04 6:36 pm)
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Illustrations
I illustrated the Wild Swans a few years ago and it's very close to my heart. I spent a few months working on an archaeological dig in Cyprus, so I based the story on a lot of what I'd seen in Cyprus ... the colours & motifs (waves & birds) of 14th cent Cypriot pottery, old village costumes in museums (including fabric and button details), Kolossi castle, religious icons (St George & the Dragon), flora, the colours of the earth. The King's crown was based on a marble engraving I saw at Kolossi Castle, and details for his horse (bridle, saddle etc) were based on illuminated manuscripts.
www.picture-book.com/disp...0&seqnum=2
www.picture-book.com/disp...&seqnum=10
www.picture-book.com/disp...0&seqnum=4
www.picture-book.com/disp...0&seqnum=7
www.picture-book.com/disp...0&seqnum=9
www.theillustrators.org/g...l_cg05.htm
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Terri
Windling
Registered User
(4/14/04 8:44 am)
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Re: Illustrations
Lovely pictures, Celeste.
My favorite modern literary re-working of the tale is a short story
by Kelly Link: "Swans" (from the fairy tale anthology
A Wolf at the Door). It's delightful.
There's also a lovely poem by Carrie Miner here: www.endicott-studio.com/cof7swan.html
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inkgypsy
Unregistered User
(4/14/04 5:42 pm)
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7 Swans?
I love this fairytale! - It ranks in my top 5 personal favorites and always has. I grew up knowing the story as "The Princess and the Seven Swans" and it held elements of several variants (including the bath the step-queen makes the princess take with the toads turning into flowers, the trip across the sea held aloft by her brothers and the night on the rock, the jealous priest stealing the children the princess bears, flames transforming to a blooming hedge of roses at the same time the princes are transformed back into humans with the youngest keeping one wing etc) but I haven't been able to find it titled like this since, or including all of the elements I listed, and I cannot remember if it was simply told to me that way or if I read it like that. Has anybody seen this title from about 30 years ago or more?
Interestingly, this is the story I badly wanted to bring to Disney to animate from when I was a little girl. I rewrote the tale as I remembered it (with all the symbolic elements I love) and boarded various sequences as I saw them in my head. The older I got the more I reworked it to reflect my growing understanding of the depth of this tale and how it can be interpreted. This ongoing interest and study of this and other fairy tales fueled my ambition to fly halfway around the world in an attempt to get a job with Disney (which I did). I quickly realized on arriving that there's no way the story would keep it's resonance and symbolism intact. After many years of adding to a file I started as a little girl it's now waiting for a time when I can give it the treatment I believe the tale deserves without too much compromise.
SurLaLune and the people who share on this board have given me reason to believe my project will eventually see the light of day and in the meantime I gladly tune in to be a (mostly silent) member of your community, appreciate the creativity and insights (and here I must say thank you Celeste - the drawings are beautiful) and continue to learn and study. My own life mirrors this tale more and more - though sometimes these years of nettle-shirt weaving seem to stretch endlessly one day I'll get to tell my story (for more than just me)...
PS Anyone who loves this story may also be interested in the essay on Birds as Souls from Kate B's Mirror Mirror on the Wall (my apologies if I have misquoted - I'm away from my library).
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RBrunea
Registered User
(4/17/04 3:46 am)
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Seven Swans
Inkgypsy,
Your comment about the nettle shirt-weaving years struck a chord with me. Amen, sister! They do eventually end, don't they? I can't quite figure out how many shirts I've completed, but it must be getting up there in numbers.
Could anyone recommend a book or article dealing with the story in a Jungian sense - in other words, how this story might assist in teaching the soul what it needs to know? Thanks and blessings to you all.
Rhonda
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Celestial
Registered User
(4/17/04 6:00 pm)
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Stinging Nettles
In weaving, stinging nettles have long been known as a good substitute for flax. Nettle is a bast fibre, that is, the fibre comes from the stem of the plant - the leaves are stripped away and discarded. The common stinging nettle used to be harvested and prepared in much the same manner as flax. The yarn was woven into sheets and other "linen" cloth as a substitute for line flax. There is a revival of this craft by artist individuals wishing to adopt traditional country crafts and skills.
In herbal medicine, nettle leaves may made into a tea which is said to - lessen menstrual flow; increase milk flow from breast feeding mothers; help mothers recuperate after childbirth; be a tonic with many vitamins & minerals.
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Jess
Unregistered User
(4/18/04 7:20 pm)
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That is fascinating
Celestial, wow, I didn't know that about the harvesting of nettles. If anyone wants mine....they irritate for about 2 days.
I always loved this story the most of all the HCA stories I had. My version has toads making the water green and Eliza clearing the water, and sitting on her head, forehead and heart and turning into poppies. She is taken over the sea by her brothers, the Archbishop speaks evil of her, not a priest, but the rest, down to the roses from the sticks for the fire. Iis the same (no flames)....Is this your version?
Jess
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Jess
Unregistered User
(4/18/04 7:22 pm)
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Ack - sorry for typos
J
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Celestial
Registered User
(4/18/04 9:09 pm)
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Harvesting Nettles
Actually making the shirts from the nettles probably wouldn't have been painful. The nettles would not have been simply cut and woven. It would have been more like this ...
* Harvesting - Stems are cut and leaves removed. Stems are bundled and left for several days to dry.
* Retting - Stems are spread out on grass, dampened regularly and occasionally turned over. Takes up to 8 weeks.
* Breaking - breaking/beating the woody exterior of the stems with a wooden paddle, and removing the fibres.
* CrossCombing - the fibres are criss crossed.
* Dressing & Swathing - wound onto a distaff (a pole)
* Spinning - the fibres are spun into yarn using a spinning wheel and small amounts of water.
She would have then had to weave the yarn and sew all the bits together.
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Jess
Unregistered User
(4/19/04 8:13 am)
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it is that first step
Celestial,
Ooh, that first step is the killer. The rest sounds interesting.
My offer holds. I have a great big nettle in my front garden just
waiting to be cut and harvested. It is yours for the taking.
On a serious note, this board is a great place for filling in the blanks on these tales. I had no idea that nettle was actually used that way. It makes the story make so much more sense. Thanks for the information.
Jess
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