The Swan Maiden
A young peasant in the parish of Mellby [in Blekinge], who often amused himself with
hunting, saw one day three swans flying toward him, which settled down upon the strand of
a sound nearby. Approaching the place, he was astonished at seeing the three swans divest
themselves of their feathery attire, which they threw into the grass, and three maidens of
dazzling beauty step forth and spring into the water. After sporting in the waves awhile
they returned to the land, where they resumed their former garb and shape and flew away in
the same direction from which they came.
One of them, the youngest and fairest, had, in the meantime, so smitten the young
hunter that neither night nor day could he tear his thoughts from the bright image. His
mother, noticing that something was wrong with her son, and that the chase, which had
formerly been his favorite pleasure, had lost its attractions, asked him finally the cause
of his melancholy, whereupon he related to her what he had seen, and declared that there
was no longer any happiness in this life for him if he could not possess the fair swan
maiden.
"Nothing is easier," said the mother. "Go at sunset next Thursday
evening to the place where you last saw her. When the three swans come, give attention to
where your chosen one lays her feathery garb, take it, and hasten away."
The young man listened to his mother's instructions, and, betaking himself, the
following Thursday evening, to a convenient hiding place near the sound, he waited, with
impatience, the coming of the swans. The sun was just sinking behind the trees when the
young man's ears were greeted by a whizzing in the air, and the three swans settled down
upon the beach, as on their former visit.
As soon as they had laid off their swan attire they were again transformed into the
most beautiful maidens, and, springing out upon the white sand, they were soon enjoying
themselves in the water. From his hiding place the young hunter had taken careful note of
where his enchantress had laid her swan feathers. Stealing softly forth, he took them and
returned to his place of concealment in the surrounding foliage.
Soon thereafter two of the swans were heard to fly away, but the third, in search of
her clothes, discovered the young man, before whom, believing him responsible for their
disappearance, she fell upon her knees and prayed that her swan attire might be returned
to her. The hunter was, however, unwilling to yield the beautiful prize, and, casting a
cloak around her shoulders, carried her home.
Preparations were soon made for a magnificent wedding, which took place in due form,
and the young couple dwelt lovingly and contentedly together.
One Thursday evening, seven years later, the hunter related to her how he had sought
and won his wife. He brought forth and showed her, also, the white swan feathers of her
former days. No sooner were they placed in her hands than she was transformed once more
into a swan, and instantly took flight through the open window. In breathless
astonishment, the man stared wildly after his rapidly vanishing wife, and before a year
and a day had passed, he was laid, with his longings and sorrows, in his allotted place in
the village churchyard.
Herman Hofberg: Swedish Fairy Tales. Chicago 1893, p. 35 ff. (AT 400, AT 400*,
Schweden, Blekinge)
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