Thursday, May 30, 2013

On "The Wild Swans" by Hans Christian Anderson (6308 words) ****

The big surprise to me is that this, so far as I know, is not a movie, no not even an animated one. It seems perfect for retelling in that format. As with so many of the tales we know, there is a bad stepmom. This wicked stepmom sends a princess scurrying from her castle, as well as the princesses eleven brothers, who she consigns to being swans during the daylight hours. Luckily, the princess meets her brothers one day in the forest and through this reacquaintance is able to change the lives of them all. But before then, other antics include a flight across the ocean on the wings of the swans, a kidnapping, and a marriage to be consummated against the princess's will (mostly because she's more interested in breaking the spell on her brothers). All comes out well in the end, except Andersen sort of leaves the wicked stepmom in her place. Read the tale here.

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