#the wild swans

[thestuffedalligator]

“Are you the witch who turned eleven princes into swans?”

The old woman stared at the figure on the front step of her cottage and considered her options. It was the kind of question usually backed up by a mob with meaningful torches, and the kind of question she tried to avoid.

Coming from a single dusty, tired housewife, it should’ve held no terrors.

“You a cop?”

The housewife twisted the hem of her apron. “No,” she muttered. “I’m a swan.”

A raven croaked somewhere in the woods. Wind whispered in the autumn leaves.

Then: “I think I can guess,” the old woman said slowly. “Husband stole your swan skin and forced you to marry him?”

A nod.

“And you can’t turn back into a swan until you find your skin again.”

A nod.

“But I reckon he’s hidden it, or burned it, or keeps it locked up so you can’t touch it.”

A tiny, miserable nod.

“And then you hear that old Granny Rothbart who lives out in the woods is really a batty old witch whose father taught her how to turn princes into swans,” the old woman sighed. “And you think, ‘Hey, stuff the old skin, I can just turn into a swan again this way.’

“But even if that was true – which I haven’t said if it is or if it isn’t – I’d say that I can only do it to make people miserable. I’m an awful person. I can’t do it out of the goodness of my heart. I have no goodness. I can’t use magic to make you feel better. I only wish I could.”

Another pause. “If I was a witch,” she added.

The housewife chewed the inside of her cheek. Then she drew herself up and, for the first time, looked the old woman in the eyes.

“Can you do it to make my husband miserable?”

The old woman considered her options. Then she pulled the wand out from the umbrella stand by the door. It was long, and silver, and a tiny glass swan with open wings stood perched on the tip.

“I can work with that,” said the witch.

[leiaham]

You ever think about Hans Christian Anderson's Wild Swans but set in a fantasy historical c-drama where the Empress Dowager curses the 12 imperial princes?

Well apparently I did, so I made a little cover for that hypothetical situation and had a lot of fun with it!

[thefugitivesaint]

Elenore Plaisted Abbott (1875-1935), ''The Wild Swans and Other Stories'' by Hans Christian Andersen, 1922 Source

[lepetitdragonvert]

The Wild Swans / Les cygnes sauvages

Artists : Anna and Elena Balbusso

[artist-ellen]

The Wild Swans

This illustration is inspired by the fairytale "The Wild Swans" (Hans Christian Andersen's version of the tale) which has has a ton of variations like: "Six Swans" or "The Seven Ravens", etc. The basics of the story include a widowed King with 7 to 12 children and an evil stepmother that curses all of the children except the youngest daughter into swans. To save her brothers the youngest is given a terrible task involving nettles. My favorite retelling of this fairytale is easily 'Daughter of the Forest' by Juliet Marillier (I would recommend it for an older teens/adult fiction audience). Have any of you ever read it? Or let me know your favorite version of the fairytale I am always looking for more! :D

I am the artist! Do not post without permission & credit! Thank you! Come visit me over on: instagram.com/ellenartistic or tiktok: @ellenartistic

[enchantedbook]

The Wild Swans' illustrated by Anna and Elena Balbusso

[rabemar]

Я нарисовала коллекцию Царевен Союзмультфильма по аналогии с Принцессами Диснея. Часть третья. В этом посте у меня Царевны из мультфильмов: I drew a collection of Soyuzmultfilm Princesses similar to the Disney Princesses. In this post (Part 3) I have Princesses from cartoons: «Золотое пёрышко» 1960 (Golden Feather) «Капризная принцесса» 1969 (Capricious Princess) «Дикие лебеди» 1962 (The Wild Swans) «Янтарный замок» 1959 (Amber Castle) «Щелкунчик» 1973 (The Nutcracker) «Исполнение желаний» 1957 (Wish Come True)

[a-chorus-of-storytellers]

reading & travelling

[storyofmorewhoa]

The Wild Swans (1984) original Danish by Hans Christian Andersen English by Naomi Lewis illustrated by Angela Barrett

[dommnics]

In your The Wild Swans fanart will Elisa be blonde, albino, black, or brown? Is she the shy princess, the determined princess, the imaginative princess, or the intelligent princess? Like all siblings does her brothers intend to get on her nerves?

Sorry about all the questions🤭

I haven’t fully decided yet, but she’ll definitely be all of the above in terms of personality. I love her character in that story just because of how mentally strong and persistent she is, so I absolutely want to do her justice when designing her.

And yes, like you said, like all siblings, I’m sure they get on her nerves lol.

[millacm]

I was very excited to join the Neverafter zine for d20 zine jam, but I must admit I rushed it a bit in the end.

For this zine I picked The Wild Swans story told by H.C. Anderson to make a character for the Witches, Warriors and Wolves: a d20 Neverafter zine !!

It was fun to imagine how this character would have suffered in a fucked up version of her story (which was already pretty gloomy) and the mistakes she might have made for the worse : P

[adarkrainbow]

Witches in fairytales: The maiden who seeks her brothers

While in terms of popular culture there are mainly three specific witches that dominate the world of European fairytales (Snow-White's queen, Hansel & Gretel's hag, Rapunzel's motherly witch), there is actually a fourth recurring witch when it comes to fairytale adaptations. She is a recurring type and character in fairytale media, even though she isn't as iconic or clear-cut as the three previous witches - because she rather belongs to an entire fairytale type. "The maiden who seeks her brothers".

In a dominating variation of the fairytale-type, the lost brothers were turned into birds by magic: it was the work of this witch, who became their stepmother/the new queen. Some adaptations even expand her role by fusing her with the second antagonist of this fairytale type: the persecuting mother-in-law who hides away the children of the heroine and attempts to have her killed for her so called "crimes". She is mainly present in the two famous stories "The Wild Swans", by Andersen, and "The Six Swans", by the brothers Grimm, though her roots go as far back as legends such as the Irish tale of the sons of Lir...

[thefugitivesaint]

Paul Hey (1867-1952), 'Die Wilden Schwäne' (The Wild Swans), ''Deutsche Märchen'' (German Fairytales), 1939 Source

[lepetitdragonvert]

The Wild Swans and Others Stories

1922

Artist : Elenore Abbott

[artist-ellen]

Process video for my illustration from “The Wild Swans”!

I did a lot of workshopping for this illustration. From the colours to the composition everything changed significantly over time.

I am the artist! Do not post without permission & credit! Thank you! Come visit me over on: instagram.com/ellenartistic or tiktok: @ellenartistic

[agardenandlibrary]

Okay, let's see if we can get anywhere with this today.