Swan maiden
Swan Maiden is called a female mythical figure who can be transformed by throwing over a swan- shirt into a swan. These are on the one hand Valkyries, on the other hand it is also reported by elves.
Tell A motive is that an unmarried young man a swan maiden steals a spring of her shirt and thereby prevents them revert to a swan and get away from him, and so accomplished that she marries him. Most part of the sequel, that she bears him a child of whom she learns one day where the spring is hidden so that they can escape.
The motif of the swan girl was not only inspiring for the music, especially Tchaikovsky, but also for the visual arts. One of the most important masterpieces of Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel addresses the Swan girl.
The Middle High German Nibelungenlied briefly mentioned two swan-maidens, as Hagen of Tronje sunk the treasure in the Rhine. They were a model for the three Rhine maidens in Richard Wagner.
In Wölundslied the Poetic Edda, the motif is expanded, so far there are three brothers swan maidens marry who want to escape their husbands all three after seven years. Wölund who does not make an attempt to find his swan maiden, suffers a similar fate as they. He is forced to the king Nidung to stay with his Lord, and may be released only by the production of wings from this captivity.
In Japan, there is the legend Hagoromo Densetsu (Japanese羽衣 伝 説), which can be traced back to the Ōmi - Fudoki from the 8th century. A man steals the Federrobe ( Hagoromo ) a bathing sky girl ( Tennyo ), without which it can not go back and forces her to marry him. After a few years they get the robe back, flying in the sky and leaves her husband and her children back.
Related Topics
A mixture of motives of the goose girl and the Mermaid can be found in literature elaborated by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué in his tale Undine. In the shape of Melusine often occurs on a body of a snake.
In the fairy tale ( Aath 400) is the flight of the woman often a magical and the man begins a search hike, to help him the miraculous gifts. At the conclusion then is often the fight with a rival to the marriage ( Grimm Children 's and Household Tales 92, 93, 137, 193, 59a).