The following tales are similar to the Six Swans fairy tale, AT-450, The Brothers Who Were Turned Into Birds. I have included the English language tales of this type which have been gathered by title by D. L. Ashliman in his A Guide to Folktales in the English Language.Sometimes I include tales of other classifications when I deem them relevant to the theme. The tales come from many cultures and are similar to the Six Swans story in various ways. I have placed the tales in alphabetical order with bibliographic information and links to texts of the stories if a text is available on the internet.
A web version of this tale is at Basa-Jauna.
This is a Basque tale.
An English language version is available in:
Webster, Wentworth. Basque Legends. London: Griffith and Farran, 1877.
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A web version of this tale does not exist due to copyright restrictions.
This tale is AT-451.
An English language version is available in:
Calvino, Italo. Italian Folktales. George Martin, translator. New York: Pantheon Books, 1980.A web version of this tale is at The Children of Lir.
This tale is not AT-451, but bears many similarities to the tale type.
An English language version is available in:
Young, Ella. Celtic Wonder Tales. Dublin: Maunsel & Company, 1910.
A web version of this tale is at The Curse of the Seven Children.
This tale is AT-451.
An English language version is available in:
Crane, Thomas Frederick. Italian Popular Tales. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1885.
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A web version of this tale does not exist due to copyright restrictions.
This tale is AT-451.
An English language version is available in:
Bushnaq, Inea, ed. and trans. Arab Folktales. New York: Pantheon Books, 1986.
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A web version of this tale does not exist due to copyright restrictions.
This tale is AT-451.
An English language version is available in:
Afanasyev, Aleksandr. Russian Fairy Tales. Norbert Guterman, translator. New York: Pantheon Books, 1945.
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A web version of this tale does not exist due to copyright restrictions.
This tale is AT-451.
An English language version is available in:
Massignon, Genevieve, ed. Folktales of France. Jacqueline Hyland, translator. Folktales of the World. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1968.
A web version of this tale does not exist due to copyright restrictions.
This tale is AT-451.
An English language version is available in:
Briggs, Katherine M., ed. A Dictionary of British Folk-Tales in the English Language. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1970, 1971.
A web version of this tale is at The Seven Doves.
This tale is AT-451.
An English language version is available in:
Basile, Giambattista. The Pentamerone. Benedetto Croce, translator. New York: Dutton, 1932.
Basile, Giambattista. The Pentamerone, or The Story of Stories. John Edward Taylor, translator. London: David Bogue, 1850.
A web version of this tale does not exist due to copyright restrictions.
This tale is AT-451.
An English language version is available in:
Villa, Susie Hoogasian. 100 Armenian Tales. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1966.
A web version of this tale is at The Seven Ravens.
This tale is AT-451.
An English language version is available in:
Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm. The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm. Jack Zipes, translator. New York: Bantam, 1987.
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Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm. Household Tales. Margaret Hunt, translator. London: George Bell, 1884.
A web version of this tale does not exist due to copyright restrictions.
This tale is AT-451.
An English language version is available in:
Megas, Georgios A., ed. Folktales of Greece. Helen Colaclides, translator. Folktales of the World. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970.
A web version of this tale does not exist due to copyright restrictions.
This tale is AT-451.
An English language version is available in:
Calvino, Italo. Italian Folktales. George Martin, translator. New York: Pantheon Books, 1980.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover or paperback.
A web version of this tale is at The Sister and Her Seven Brothers.
This is a Basque tale.
An English language version is available in:
Webster, Wentworth. Basque Legends. London: Griffith and Farran, 1877.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.
A web version of this tale does not exist due to copyright restrictions.
This tale is AT-451.
An English language version is available in:
Ranke, Kurt, ed. Folktales of Germany. Lotte Baumann, translator. Folktales of the World. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1966.
A web version of this tale does not exist due to copyright restrictions.
This tale is AT-451.
An English language version is available in:
Thompson, Stith, ed. One Hundred Favorite Folktales. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1974.
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A web version of this tale is at The Six Swans.
This tale is AT-451.
An English language version is available in:
Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm. The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm. Jack Zipes, translator. New York: Bantam, 1987.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.
Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm. Household Tales. Margaret Hunt, translator. London: George Bell, 1884.
A web version of this tale is the one annotated on this website at The Six Swans.
This tale is AT-451.
An English language version is available in:
Lang, Andrew, ed. The Yellow Fairy Book. New York: Dover, 1966. (Original published 1894.)
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A web version of this tale does not exist due to copyright restrictions.
This tale is AT-451.
An English language version is available in:
Dawkins, R. M., ed. and trans. Modern Greek Folktales. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1953.
No information yet!
A web version of this tale does not exist due to copyright restrictions.
This tale is AT-451.
An English language version is available in:
Campbell, Marie. Tales from the Cloud Walking Country. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1958. (Reprint available from Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1976.)
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A web version of this tale is at Truth's Triumph.
This tale comes from southern India.
An English language version is available in:
Frere, Mary. Old Deccan Days; or, Hindoo Fairy Legends Current in Southern India. London: J. Murray, 1868.
A web version of this tale is at The Twelve Brothers.
This tale is AT-451.
An English language version is available in:
Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm. The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm. Jack Zipes, translator. New York: Bantam, 1987.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.
Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm. Household Tales. Margaret Hunt, translator. London: George Bell, 1884.
A web version of this tale does not exist due to copyright restrictions.
This tale is AT-451.
An English language version is available in:
Calvino, Italo. Italian Folktales. George Martin, translator. New York: Pantheon Books, 1980.A web version of this tale is at The Twelve Wild Ducks.
This tale is AT-451.
An English language version is available in:
Asbjornsen, Peter Christen and Moe, Jorgen. Norwegian Folk Tales. Pat Shaw Iverson and Carl Norman, translators. New York: Pantheon Books, 1960.
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Asbjornsen, Peter Christen and Moe, Jorgen. East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon. George Webbe Dasent, translator. Popular Tales from the Norse. Edinburgh: David Douglass, 1888.
Also available in reprint under:
Dasent, George Webbe. East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon. New York: Dover, 1970.
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A web version of this tale is available at Udea and Her Seven Brothers.
This tale is AT-451.
An English language version is available in:
Lang, Andrew, ed. The Grey Fairy Book. New York: Dover, 1967. (Original published 1900.)
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A web version of this tale is at The Wild Swans.
This tale is AT-451.
An English language version is available in:
Andersen, Hans Christian. The Complete Fairy Tales and Stories. Erik Christian Haugaard, translator. Garden City, New York: Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1983.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.
Andersen, Hans Christian. Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales. Mrs. Henry H. B. Paull, translator. London: Warne & Co., [1875].