Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Wild Swans” has proved to be a door to other tales similar but still unique in their composition. The book Tales, Then and Now by Anna E. Altman and Gail de Vos provided a sound foundation and springboard for my adventure with this tale type. The motifs also provided a base for my literary imagination to fly. I have read several variations of the tale and have chosen two for my Folktale Expert presentation.
Altman and de Vos goal was to inspire people to revisit folktales. They introduced me to a jewel of a book when I came upon the first installment of the Sevenwaters Trilogy written by Juliet Marillier, it is called Daughter of the Forest and I was swept away by it. I have not read the other two books, but the first is a combination of the fairy tale of “The Wild Swans” and the Celtic myth of the “Children of Lir”.
As I am trying to find my zone in tale of the Wild Swans, the Daughter of the Forest has given me insight and a new perspective on expressing the emotions one would experience in the tales of a lost family, a found again family. Although the path is arduous and painful, the heroic journey is worth it when one finds oneself home again. This rings true for us all.
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