#the wild swans

[thefugitivesaint]

L. Kate Deal, 'The Wild Swans', ''Child Library Readers'', Book Four, 1928

[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.

[enchantedbook]

Hans Christian Andersen's 'The Wild Swans' by Svend Otto S.

[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!

[schwarzfee]

[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

[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)

[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.

[dyinggirldied]

My List of Personally Favorite and Great Fairy Tales Fanfics

Yep, you hear right. There are still fanfics being written for fairy tales. While most of them tend to be smut or crossovers with Disney movies, I have found great gems lurking beneath. (Reminder: this list can be updated if I find more)

If you are interested in stories that reminiscent of those dark tales before going to bed while also craving something delightfully nuanced or fresh take with that edge of darkness but not too long to bore you out, here are the fics below:

A Dance in Iron Shoes by Gehayi (Snow White)

All Kinds of Skill by GracefullySeven (Allerleirauh/All-Kinds-Of-Fur)

Three Sisters, Bound by Blythe (Vasilissa the Beautiful, The Death of Koshchei the Deathless, The Frog Princess)

Swanwing by Gehayi (The Wild Swans)

Slow Poison by Gehayi (Diamonds and Toads)

runnin' for a soft place to fall by lady_ragnell (Allerleirauh/All-Kinds-Of-Fur)

Promise of the Sea by Gehayi (The Little Mermaid)

mist behind and light before by cathalin (Cinderella)

Of Oceans and Ondines by Gehayi (The Snow Queen, The Little Mermaid)

A Skin Made of Sorrow by Carenejeanes (Catskin)

The Path of Thorns by Jetamors (Little Red Riding Hood)

tongue-tied i took her in by quadrille (The Six Swans/The Wild Swans)

The Six Swans by Gileonnen (The Six Swans)

faux by perennial (the ballet Swan Lake)

Gehayi wrote beautiful fics that suck you in and make you feel like you were a kid who first began to immerse into stories again. All of the authors here are amazing and if you can, check out their works and give them some love 😊

Not exactly under fairy tales fandom but give it a shot if you would, they are immaculately written.

The Red Country by jibrailis (Alice in Wonderland)

Frame Story by jibrailis (Princess Tutu fic but it is intertwined with the Twelve Dancing Princess fairy tale)

[thefugitivesaint]

'The Wild Swans', ''Baśnie'' by Hans Christian Andersen, 1938

[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

[enchantedbook]

The Wild Swans' illustrated by Anna and Elena Balbusso

[agardenandlibrary]

The Wild Swans by Peg Kerr

Read: November 2024

I do not know how I feel about this one! It is two retellings of the 6 swans fairy tale. 6 brothers cursed by a witch to turn into swans, their sister has to weave them shirts of nettles and not speak until they’re done, she’s almost burned as a witch and as the pyre lights she throws the mostly completed shirts over her swan brothers, turning them back into men, and then her last brother comes back with one swan wing still instead of an arm. You know the one.

The first retelling is a pretty standard version of the story. In the 1600s, Eliza is kicked out of her home by her witch step-mother who turned her 11 brothers into swans, so she and her swan-brothers flee England to America. The town of Puritans nearby take her in, but she can’t speak and is being really weird about weaving shirts made of nettles, so eventually they condemn her as a witch, the story plays out as you’d expect.

The second retelling is the weird one. First off, I know I’m less disposed to like something that doesn’t have any magic in it. I know this. But this second retelling is set in NYC during the AIDS crisis. It follows Elias, who was kicked out of his home for being gay. And there certainly was, and in some cases still is, the perception that being gay is unnatural or that AIDS was a curse from God or some higher power.

I know that’s not what Kerr is trying to say here. In fact she brings this up in the text. The curse of swan-hood or AIDS was not the fault of the people who acquired it. An outside force – a witch, a disease – happened to them. Nevertheless they were vilified, blame placed on the sufferers.

In Eliza’s case, there’s a clearcut solution, something she can do to help her brothers and lift their curse. She must be silent, and she must make them shirts of nettles.

In Elias’ case, there’s no clear solution. And they must speak, speak out about what’s happening to them, make themselves heard by their community, by their doctors, by their families.

The book ends with the unfurling of the AIDS memorial quilt, and Elias seeing the names of so many of his friends laid out in memoriam. It won’t save them, it can’t. Elias sees Eliza in a dream and asks her what was the point of all that suffering?

I think usually I expect my fairy tale retellings to have a fairy tale ending.

[schwarzfee]