The Animal Bride / Swan Maiden Folklore Trope

This thread about the animal bride / swan maiden folklore trope is magical. The new version they wrote for the swan maiden is so much better! ❤️ “your husband fucking WHAT” -the swan LOL

If you’re not familiar, the swan maiden is a mythical creature who shapeshifts from human form to swan form. The key to the transformation is usually a swan skin, or a garment with swan feathers attached. In folktales of this type, the male character spies the maiden, typically by some body of water (usually bathing), then snatches away the feather garment (or some other article of clothing), which prevents her from flying away (or swimming away, or renders her helpless in some other manner), forcing her to become his wife. This animal wife motif and variations of it are common throughout folklore from around the world.

The Animal Bride / Swan Maiden Folklore Trope

The Animal Bride / Swan Maiden Folklore Trope
The Animal Bride / Swan Maiden Folklore Trope

The Animal Bride / Swan Maiden Folklore Trope
The Animal Bride / Swan Maiden Folklore Trope

(via: Austin Buelt)

5 thoughts on “The Animal Bride / Swan Maiden Folklore Trope

  1. I love stuff like this! Something to remember though is there are different kinds of seals… instead of a little harbour seal or a fur seal, what if the selkie was a LEOPARD seal… those things regularly hunt SHARKS with little to no difficulty…

  2. OTOH, Swans also mate for life, which means that if you treat her (or him) right, and are respectful enough to win their heart, you have a ride or die partner for ever.

    1. On the other hand, if you get a swan that’s already mated, you then have a pissed off swan maiden who is going to try to kill you, and their mate, a pissed off angry aggressive bird that is going to try to kill you.

      I don’t say this often, but I’d rather find myself surrounded by Canadian Geese.

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