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The Wild Swans
"Far away from here, in the lands the swallows fly to when we are having winter, there lived a King who had eleven sons and one daughter, Elisa"..."Ah, those children had a fine time of it, to be sure; but it wasn't to be like that forever."
80 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1963
33 people want to read
About the author
Hans Christian Andersen
7,812 books3,554 followersHans Christian Andersen (often referred to in Scandinavia as H.C. Andersen) was a Danish author and poet. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, Andersen is best remembered for his fairy tales. Andersen's popularity is not limited to children; his stories — called eventyr, or "fairy-tales" — express themes that transcend age and nationality.
Andersen's fairy tales, which have been translated into more than 125 languages, have become culturally embedded in the West's collective consciousness, readily accessible to children, but presenting lessons of virtue and resilience in the face of adversity for mature readers as well. Some of his most famous fairy tales include "The Little Mermaid", "The Ugly Duckling", "The Nightingale", "The Emperor's New Clothes" and many more. His stories have inspired plays, ballets, and both live-action and animated films.
Andersen's fairy tales, which have been translated into more than 125 languages, have become culturally embedded in the West's collective consciousness, readily accessible to children, but presenting lessons of virtue and resilience in the face of adversity for mature readers as well. Some of his most famous fairy tales include "The Little Mermaid", "The Ugly Duckling", "The Nightingale", "The Emperor's New Clothes" and many more. His stories have inspired plays, ballets, and both live-action and animated films.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 9, 2023
“Far away from here, where the swallows fly when we have winter, there lived a king who had eleven sons and one daughter, Elisa.” —Hans Christian Andersen
I love this fairytale! It’s one of my favorites and inspired a story I one day hope to write! <3
I’ve read a few different versions of this story (there are three or four just like this one) and I think this one is my favorite of the versions. I also love that there is (at least in the version I’m reading) Christianity and faith in it which I LOVE.
April 4, 2016
An enchanting, progressive fairytale. A few plot holes are completely swept over by amazing imagery; Andersen is a master story-teller. His protagonist is a phenomenal hero: she persistently follows her dream, reframes the bad into positivity, and completes work against impossible odds.
An excerpt :
"Lonely as it was on the sea-shore, she did not observe it, for the ever-moving sea showed more changes in a few hours than the most varying lake could produce during a whole year. If a black heavy cloud arose, it was as if the sea said, 'I can look dark and angry too'."
An excerpt :
"Lonely as it was on the sea-shore, she did not observe it, for the ever-moving sea showed more changes in a few hours than the most varying lake could produce during a whole year. If a black heavy cloud arose, it was as if the sea said, 'I can look dark and angry too'."
January 22, 2019
The Wild Swans, illustrated by Marcia Brown.
I've been struggling to recall, since beginning this Hans Christian Andersen project of mine, just when it was that I first read The Wild Swans, when it was I decided that it was one of my favorite fairy-tales, and what edition I owned at the time. I do remember that we had a massive, two-volume complete edition of Andersen in the house, from the time I was very young, but I also have this vague memory of a picture-book version. A picture-book with fuzzy black and white illustrations, shot through with pink...
Imagine my delight, lo these many years later, to discover that that edition - long since vanished from my shelves - was in fact this 1963 picture-book, illustrated by Marcia Brown, a celebrated mid-century artist twice awarded the Caldecott Medal, for her version of Cinderella , and for her Once a Mouse... . I cannot say, in looking this over, that either the illustrations, or the translation (done by M.R. James), were quite to my taste, but I am certainly delighted to have run into it again, and to have solved the question of my first exposure to this tale. As for when that happened, I still have no idea...
I've been struggling to recall, since beginning this Hans Christian Andersen project of mine, just when it was that I first read The Wild Swans, when it was I decided that it was one of my favorite fairy-tales, and what edition I owned at the time. I do remember that we had a massive, two-volume complete edition of Andersen in the house, from the time I was very young, but I also have this vague memory of a picture-book version. A picture-book with fuzzy black and white illustrations, shot through with pink...
Imagine my delight, lo these many years later, to discover that that edition - long since vanished from my shelves - was in fact this 1963 picture-book, illustrated by Marcia Brown, a celebrated mid-century artist twice awarded the Caldecott Medal, for her version of Cinderella , and for her Once a Mouse... . I cannot say, in looking this over, that either the illustrations, or the translation (done by M.R. James), were quite to my taste, but I am certainly delighted to have run into it again, and to have solved the question of my first exposure to this tale. As for when that happened, I still have no idea...
November 20, 2025
A (very) belated birthday read aloud.
September 28, 2011
Marcia Brown's illustrations are beautiful in this book. I've looked at several of her picture books for a paper I wrote about her in my children's literature class toward my MLIS. I think I prefer her painting to her woodblock printing. She won a Caldecott medal for Cinderella, but I like her Wild Swans better. Since the illustrations are so poignant and represent the story so well, I was very surprised to find out that it's out of print--it wasn't even on Goodreads and I had to add it.
The king has remarried, and Princess Elisa and her eleven stepbrothers now have a wicked stepmother. The stepmother hates them so much that she transforms the brothers into wild swans and sends Elisa away. Eventually they find each other again when they are older, and the brothers carry Elisa to the new land where they've been living. In a dream, Elisa is told that if she sews eleven shirts of nettles she can break her brothers' curse, but only if she refrains from speaking the entire time she's making them.
This is such a wonderful story, as are many of Andersen's fairy tales, full of both the joy and the sorrow of life. We empathize with Elisa, and she isn't just a stock character living her happily ever after... we see what she has to deal with even after her marriage to a king, how she must continue toward her goal isolated even from her husband. I wonder if this came out of Andersen's feelings about creative endeavor in general--always creating, yet not being able to truly express his soul to the people around him.
The king has remarried, and Princess Elisa and her eleven stepbrothers now have a wicked stepmother. The stepmother hates them so much that she transforms the brothers into wild swans and sends Elisa away. Eventually they find each other again when they are older, and the brothers carry Elisa to the new land where they've been living. In a dream, Elisa is told that if she sews eleven shirts of nettles she can break her brothers' curse, but only if she refrains from speaking the entire time she's making them.
This is such a wonderful story, as are many of Andersen's fairy tales, full of both the joy and the sorrow of life. We empathize with Elisa, and she isn't just a stock character living her happily ever after... we see what she has to deal with even after her marriage to a king, how she must continue toward her goal isolated even from her husband. I wonder if this came out of Andersen's feelings about creative endeavor in general--always creating, yet not being able to truly express his soul to the people around him.
October 13, 2025
Need this girl's perseverance.
May 22, 2020
O.W.L.S Readathon 2020 - Mind Medic
Transfiguration: A book that deals with shapeshifting
Okay, listen.
Being someone that doesn't like fantasy (with a few rare exceptions) this prompt had me in literal tears when I read it.
But then I thought of this story, which has always been one of my favorites ever since I was a child and I used to listen to the audio cassette with the spooky narrator voice.
It had been a while since I read it (well, listened to it) so it was a nice dive in the past.
There is something about this story that will forever be unsettling to me, even if I can't pinpoint it exactly.
Transfiguration: A book that deals with shapeshifting
Okay, listen.
Being someone that doesn't like fantasy (with a few rare exceptions) this prompt had me in literal tears when I read it.
But then I thought of this story, which has always been one of my favorites ever since I was a child and I used to listen to the audio cassette with the spooky narrator voice.
It had been a while since I read it (well, listened to it) so it was a nice dive in the past.
There is something about this story that will forever be unsettling to me, even if I can't pinpoint it exactly.
October 8, 2023
*** 3.5 Stars Rounded Up ***
3yo granddaughter and 5yo grandson weren’t as into this Hans Christian Andersen tale as I thought they might be. They illustrations were beautiful and we did talk about them.
3yo granddaughter and 5yo grandson weren’t as into this Hans Christian Andersen tale as I thought they might be. They illustrations were beautiful and we did talk about them.
April 20, 2021
Familiar fairy tale. Odd artwork.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews