The Wild Swans

nce upon a time, there was a king who had eleven sons, all of whom were princes, and a daughter named Eliza. The children were very happy until their father married an evil woman who did not love them. Soon after the wedding, this wicked step-mother sent Eliza to live with a peasant family in the countryside. She also filled the king’s head with lies about the princes and cast a spell that turned the boys into swans.

Unaware of her brothers’ fate, Eliza continued to live with the peasants. The years went by. When she was fifteen the girl returned home, but the evil queen saw her beauty and became enraged. She wished to turn her into a swan, too, but could not because the king wanted to see his daughter. Hoping to turn his heart against Eliza, the queen placed three toads in the girl’s bath, casting a spell on them so they would make her stupid, ugly, and evil. Because Eliza was so pure, the scheme failed and the toads were turned into poppies as she entered the bath. Undaunted, the queen rubbed walnut juice on Eliza’s face, tangled her hair and smeared it with grease so the king would not recognize her. Indeed, upon seeing the girl he refused to believe she was his daughter.

Weeping and despondent, Eliza ran from the palace. She walked all day, at last reaching a huge forest. Lost, alone, and missing her brothers, the poor girl lay down, said her evening prayers, and fell asleep. When she awoke, she continued wandering. At the end of another long day, she fell asleep again. The next morning Eliza encountered an old woman. She asked whether the woman had seen eleven princes. She had not, but told the girl she had noticed eleven swans with gold crowns swimming in the river. Eliza found the river and followed its course to the sea.

There were no boats on this seemingly endless body of water and she wondered how to continue her journey. Just before sunset, Eliza spied eleven white swans with golden crowns flying toward the land. She moved closer to them, hiding behind some bushes. When the sun had vanished into the sea the swans’ feathers fell off and there were her eleven brothers! She embraced them and the princes were overjoyed to be reunited with their sister. They all cried and realized what evil their step-mother had done to them.

The oldest brother explained that all the boys were forced to wander as wild swans during the day and could only return to human form after dark. Because of this, they had to search for land before sunset lest they fall into the sea and drown. Worse still, they lived in a faraway land beyond the water. The only place to spend the night was on a small rock jutting out of the sea where the children huddled together until sunrise. The spell only permitted them to visit their birthplace once a year and if the brothers did not take Eliza with them now, they would not see her for another twelve months. How, wondered the eldest brother, could they take her to their new home without a boat or a ship? The princes agreed that the combined strength of their wings would permit them to carry her – so they all wove a willow net and in the morning the boys, now transformed into swans, lifted their sleeping sister into the clouds. They flew all day and reached the small rock in the sea just before darkness fell.

They stood closely all night, holding hands and singing hymns as a storm raged around them. This abated with the dawn and the brothers, swans again, flew away with Eliza in tow. As the sun rose higher, the girl saw a range of ice-capped mountains floating in the air with a huge castle in its center. This was the cloud palace of “Fata Morgana” where no mortal could enter. After this incredible scene, she saw, at last, their final destination with its mountains, forests, cities and palaces. When they landed, the siblings sat on a rock in front of a cave and the youngest brother told Eliza they would await news of her dream from that night – hopefully, with a message from God about how to save them.

Asleep, suddenly Eliza had the sensation of flying towards the palace of “Fata Morgana” where a fairy came out and explained that the brothers could be freed from the spell only with the girl’s courage and persistence. In fact, to break the spell, Eliza was instructed to collect stinging nettles that grow on graves in a churchyard and, using her bare hands, turn them into flax and spin eleven long-sleeved coats. When these were completed, she was to throw them over the swans, returning them to human form. Beyond the pain she would feel from the nettles, Eliza was told not to speak until the job was done – lest her first word pierce the hearts of her brothers like a dagger.

She awoke after the dream and began her work immediately. When her brothers returned at sunset and found her mute, they feared that a new spell had been cast upon her by their wicked step-mother. But seeing her blistered hands, they knew what she was doing for them. Eliza worked diligently all night and finished one coat. When she had begun the second, she heard a huntsman’s horn and was terrified. As the sound came nearer, the girl escaped into the cave pursued by hunting dogs. Soon, hunters stood before the rocky opening. The most handsome of them was the king of the country. He was astonished by Eliza’s beauty and asked how she had come to be there. Of course, she could not speak to him and risk her brothers’ lives.

The king insisted she return to his finest castle promising to honor her with fine clothing, a crown and the power to rule. After they arrived, he announced his intention to make her his bride. The archbishop, however, suspected that Eliza was a witch who had blinded the king’s judgment. Despite the sovereign’s kindness, the girl did not smile and seemed to be filled with grief. But when he led her to a small room filled with nettle flax and the one completed coat, she was overjoyed, kissed the king’s hand in gratitude, and took up her task again.

Try as he might, the archbishop could not convince the king of Eliza’s wickedness and wedding plans continued. Each night, the girl returned to her room and wove more coats, but ran out of flax as she began the seventh garment. It would be necessary to go to the churchyard at night and gather nettles from the graves. She left the castle secretly, and when reaching her destination found a group of ghouls – or Lamias – eating bodies dug up from the graves. She quickly collected the nettles and returned to the castle, not knowing that she had been seen by the archbishop who was now fully convinced she was a witch. He told the king, who refused to believe what the archbishop said. The next night, both men followed Eliza and witnessed the terrible graveyard scene. The king, thinking she was an ally of the ghouls, proclaimed that the people must condemn her to death by fire.

The unfortunate girl was taken to a cell and her captors gave her the coats of mail as covers and nettles for a pillow. Overjoyed, she continued her work and prayed for help. Just before sunrise, Eliza’s brothers came to the castle gate and insisted on seeing the king. They were refused entrance. When the sun rose, eleven wild swans could be seen flying over the castle.

People soon came to see the witch burned, but even in the cart on the way to her execution Eliza kept weaving. Ten coats of mail lay at her feet and as she worked on the last one the mob jeered her. At that exact moment, eleven wild swans flew overhead and landed on the cart. People began to whisper that this was a sign from heaven and the girl was innocent. Just as the executioner took her hand, Eliza threw the mail coats over the swans and they were instantly transformed into eleven handsome princes. Because she was unable to finish the sleeve of the last coat, the youngest brother was left with a swan’s wing instead of an arm.

Freed to speak at last, Eliza proclaimed her innocence. So, too, did her eldest brother, who went on to tell of what had transpired. As he spoke, the air was filled with a perfume like millions of roses because the embers of the pyre had taken root creating a rose-covered hedge topped with a white, shining flower that sparkled like a star. The king picked this and placed it on Eliza’s chest. The girl’s heart was filled with peace and contentment and a marriage procession – the likes of which had never been seen by any king – returned to the castle.

An abbreviated version of the Hans Christian Andersen tale.