Knight of the Swan
Encyclopedia
The story of the Knight of the Swan, or Swan Knight, is a medieval tale about a mysterious rescuer who comes in a swan
-drawn boat to defend a damsel, his only condition being that he must never be asked his name. The earliest variants of the story appear in French chansons de geste attached to the family of Godfrey of Bouillon
, the first ruler of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem
. Later, the German poet Wolfram von Eschenbach
included a version in his Grail epic Parzival
. One of the Old French romances inspired a late-fourteenth century version in Middle English. Wolfram von Eschenbach's version inspired two later romances and the opera Lohengrin
by Richard Wagner
. There is also a German text, written by Konrad von Würzburg in 1257, in which a Swan Knight appears, without any other name.
, where they figure into tales of the ancestry of Godfrey of Bouillon
. As the first ruler of the newly-established Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem
, Godfrey loomed large in the medieval Christian imagination, and his shadowy genealogy became a popular subject for writers of the period. Knight of the Swan stories attached to Godfrey fall into two major versions, identified by Gaston Paris
as "I" and "II". Each version has its own variants.
Version I describes the "Swan-Children", and appears to have been originally separate from the Godfrey cycle and the Swan Knight story generally. Paris identifies four groups of variants, which he classifies usually by the name of the mother of the swan children. In the "Dolopathos" group, named after the oldest variant, a lord finds a mysterious woman – clearly a swan maiden or fairy
– in an enchanted forest
and marries her. She bears seven children, six boys and a girl, with golden chains about their necks, but her evil mother-in-law has them quickly removed and abandoned and replaces them with dogs. The father blames the mother for their disappearance and punishes her; in turn, the boys lose their gold chains and turn into swans. Through the efforts of the sister, after seven years the truth is revealed, the mother is redeemed, and the boys are restored to their human form, with the exception of one whose chain has been melted down. The poet asserts that he becomes the swan in the Swan Knight tale. The "Eloixe" group tells essentially a courtlier version of the same story; here, the mother is less mysterious in origin and dies in childbirth, so she does not suffer before her children are restored. In the "Isomberte" variants, the woman is a princess fleeing a hated marriage. In the "Beatrix" variants, the woman had taunted another woman over her alleged adultery, citing a multiple birth
as proof of it, and was then punished with a multiple birth of her own.
This involves fairy tale
motifs of a woman, and her children, persecuted by her mother-in-law, though in the "Beatrix" versions she is also an avenging justice. This makes the tale resemble not only such chivalric romances as The Man of Law's Tale and Emaré
, but such fairy tales as The Girl Without Hands
. It also bears resemblance to the fairy tale The Six Swans
, where brothers transformed into birds are rescued by the efforts of their sister.
trouvère
Jean Renart
.
In Brabant
the name of the Knight of the Swan is Helias. It has been suggested that this connects him to the Greek solar god, Helios
, but the name is in fact a common variant of the name of the prophet Elijah.
In the early 13th century the German poet Wolfram von Eschenbach
adapted the Swan Knight motif for his epic Parzival
. Here the story is attached to Loherangrin, the son of the protagonist Parzival and the Grail
maiden Condwiramurs. As in other versions Loherangrin is a knight who arrives in a swan-pulled boat to defend a lady, in this case Elsa of Brabant
. They marry, but he must leave when she breaks the taboo of asking his name.
In the late 13th century the poet Nouhusius or Nouhuwius adapted and expanded Wolfram's brief story into the romance Lohengrin
. The poet changed the title character's name slightly and added various new elements to the story, tying the Grail and Swan Knight themes into the history of the Holy Roman Empire
. In the 15th century an anonymous poet again took up the story for the romance Lorengel. This version omits the taboo against asking about the hero's name and origins, allowing the knight and princess a happy ending.
In 1848, Richard Wagner
adapted the tale into his popular opera
Lohengrin
, probably the work through which the Swan Knight story is best known today.
Swan
Swans, genus Cygnus, are birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae...
-drawn boat to defend a damsel, his only condition being that he must never be asked his name. The earliest variants of the story appear in French chansons de geste attached to the family of Godfrey of Bouillon
Godfrey of Bouillon
Godfrey of Bouillon was a medieval Frankish knight who was one of the leaders of the First Crusade from 1096 until his death. He was the Lord of Bouillon, from which he took his byname, from 1076 and the Duke of Lower Lorraine from 1087...
, the first ruler of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem
Kingdom of Jerusalem
The Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Catholic kingdom established in the Levant in 1099 after the First Crusade. The kingdom lasted nearly two hundred years, from 1099 until 1291 when the last remaining possession, Acre, was destroyed by the Mamluks, but its history is divided into two distinct periods....
. Later, the German poet Wolfram von Eschenbach
Wolfram von Eschenbach
Wolfram von Eschenbach was a German knight and poet, regarded as one of the greatest epic poets of his time. As a Minnesinger, he also wrote lyric poetry.-Life:...
included a version in his Grail epic Parzival
Parzival
Parzival is a major medieval German romance by the poet Wolfram von Eschenbach, in the Middle High German language. The poem, commonly dated to the first quarter of the 13th century, is itself largely based on Chrétien de Troyes’s Perceval, the Story of the Grail and mainly centers on the Arthurian...
. One of the Old French romances inspired a late-fourteenth century version in Middle English. Wolfram von Eschenbach's version inspired two later romances and the opera Lohengrin
Lohengrin (opera)
Lohengrin is a romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach and its sequel, Lohengrin, written by a different author, itself...
by Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
. There is also a German text, written by Konrad von Würzburg in 1257, in which a Swan Knight appears, without any other name.
Crusade cycle
The Knight of the Swan story first appears in French chansons de geste of the Crusade cycleCrusade cycle
The Crusade cycle is an Old French cycle of chansons de geste concerning the First Crusade and its aftermath.-History:The cycle contains a number of initially unrelated texts, collated into interconnected narratives by later redactors...
, where they figure into tales of the ancestry of Godfrey of Bouillon
Godfrey of Bouillon
Godfrey of Bouillon was a medieval Frankish knight who was one of the leaders of the First Crusade from 1096 until his death. He was the Lord of Bouillon, from which he took his byname, from 1076 and the Duke of Lower Lorraine from 1087...
. As the first ruler of the newly-established Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem
Kingdom of Jerusalem
The Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Catholic kingdom established in the Levant in 1099 after the First Crusade. The kingdom lasted nearly two hundred years, from 1099 until 1291 when the last remaining possession, Acre, was destroyed by the Mamluks, but its history is divided into two distinct periods....
, Godfrey loomed large in the medieval Christian imagination, and his shadowy genealogy became a popular subject for writers of the period. Knight of the Swan stories attached to Godfrey fall into two major versions, identified by Gaston Paris
Gaston Paris
Bruno Paulin Gaston Paris , known as Gaston Paris, was a French writer and scholar.He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1901, 1902 and 1903.-Biography:Paris was born at Avenay...
as "I" and "II". Each version has its own variants.
Swan Children
Fairy
A fairy is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural.Fairies resemble various beings of other mythologies, though even folklore that uses the term...
– in an enchanted forest
Enchanted forest
In literature, an enchanted forest is a forest under, or containing, enchantments. Such forests are described in the oldest folklore from regions where forests are common, and occur throughout the centuries to modern works of fantasy...
and marries her. She bears seven children, six boys and a girl, with golden chains about their necks, but her evil mother-in-law has them quickly removed and abandoned and replaces them with dogs. The father blames the mother for their disappearance and punishes her; in turn, the boys lose their gold chains and turn into swans. Through the efforts of the sister, after seven years the truth is revealed, the mother is redeemed, and the boys are restored to their human form, with the exception of one whose chain has been melted down. The poet asserts that he becomes the swan in the Swan Knight tale. The "Eloixe" group tells essentially a courtlier version of the same story; here, the mother is less mysterious in origin and dies in childbirth, so she does not suffer before her children are restored. In the "Isomberte" variants, the woman is a princess fleeing a hated marriage. In the "Beatrix" variants, the woman had taunted another woman over her alleged adultery, citing a multiple birth
Multiple birth
A multiple birth occurs when more than one fetus is carried to term in a single pregnancy. Different names for multiple births are used, depending on the number of offspring. Common multiples are two and three, known as twins and triplets...
as proof of it, and was then punished with a multiple birth of her own.
This involves fairy tale
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
motifs of a woman, and her children, persecuted by her mother-in-law, though in the "Beatrix" versions she is also an avenging justice. This makes the tale resemble not only such chivalric romances as The Man of Law's Tale and Emaré
Emaré
Emaré is a middle English Breton lai, a form of Mediaeval Romance poem, told in 1035 lines. The author of Emaré is unknown and exists in only one manuscript, the Cotton Caligula A. ii, which contains ten metrical narratives. Emaré seems to date from the late fourteenth century, possibly written in...
, but such fairy tales as The Girl Without Hands
The Girl Without Hands
The Girl Without Hands or The Handless Maiden or The Girl With Silver Hands or The Armless Maiden is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 31. It is Aarne-Thompson type 706.-Synopsis:...
. It also bears resemblance to the fairy tale The Six Swans
The Six Swans
The Six Swans is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. It is tale number 49. Andrew Lang included a variant in The Yellow Fairy Book. It is Aarne-Thompson type 451: the brothers who were turned into birds...
, where brothers transformed into birds are rescued by the efforts of their sister.
Swan Knight
Version II involves the Swan Knight himself. These stories are sometimes attached to the story of the Swan Children, but sometimes appear independently, in which case no explanation of the swan is given. All of these describe a knight who appears with a swan and rescues a lady; he then disappears after a taboo is broken, but not before becoming the ancestor of an illustrious family. Sometimes this is merely a brief account to introduce a descendant. The second version of this tale is thought to have been written by the NormanNormans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
trouvère
Trouvère
Trouvère , sometimes spelled trouveur , is the Northern French form of the word trobador . It refers to poet-composers who were roughly contemporary with and influenced by the troubadours but who composed their works in the northern dialects of France...
Jean Renart
Jean Renart
Jean Renart, also known as Jean Renaut, was a Norman trouvère or troubadour from the end of the 12th century and the first half of the 13th century to whom three works are ascribed. Nothing else is known of him or his life...
.
In Brabant
Duchy of Brabant
The Duchy of Brabant was a historical region in the Low Countries. Its territory consisted essentially of the three modern-day Belgian provinces of Flemish Brabant, Walloon Brabant and Antwerp, the Brussels-Capital Region and most of the present-day Dutch province of North Brabant.The Flag of...
the name of the Knight of the Swan is Helias. It has been suggested that this connects him to the Greek solar god, Helios
Helios
Helios was the personification of the Sun in Greek mythology. Homer often calls him simply Titan or Hyperion, while Hesiod and the Homeric Hymn separate him as a son of the Titans Hyperion and Theia or Euryphaessa and brother of the goddesses Selene, the moon, and Eos, the dawn...
, but the name is in fact a common variant of the name of the prophet Elijah.
Lohengrin
In the early 13th century the German poet Wolfram von Eschenbach
Wolfram von Eschenbach
Wolfram von Eschenbach was a German knight and poet, regarded as one of the greatest epic poets of his time. As a Minnesinger, he also wrote lyric poetry.-Life:...
adapted the Swan Knight motif for his epic Parzival
Parzival
Parzival is a major medieval German romance by the poet Wolfram von Eschenbach, in the Middle High German language. The poem, commonly dated to the first quarter of the 13th century, is itself largely based on Chrétien de Troyes’s Perceval, the Story of the Grail and mainly centers on the Arthurian...
. Here the story is attached to Loherangrin, the son of the protagonist Parzival and the Grail
Holy Grail
The Holy Grail is a sacred object figuring in literature and certain Christian traditions, most often identified with the dish, plate, or cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper and said to possess miraculous powers...
maiden Condwiramurs. As in other versions Loherangrin is a knight who arrives in a swan-pulled boat to defend a lady, in this case Elsa of Brabant
Duchy of Brabant
The Duchy of Brabant was a historical region in the Low Countries. Its territory consisted essentially of the three modern-day Belgian provinces of Flemish Brabant, Walloon Brabant and Antwerp, the Brussels-Capital Region and most of the present-day Dutch province of North Brabant.The Flag of...
. They marry, but he must leave when she breaks the taboo of asking his name.
In the late 13th century the poet Nouhusius or Nouhuwius adapted and expanded Wolfram's brief story into the romance Lohengrin
Lohengrin
Lohengrin is a character in German Arthurian literature. The son of Parzival , he is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue a maiden who can never ask his identity. His story, which first appears in Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, is a version of the Knight of the...
. The poet changed the title character's name slightly and added various new elements to the story, tying the Grail and Swan Knight themes into the history of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
. In the 15th century an anonymous poet again took up the story for the romance Lorengel. This version omits the taboo against asking about the hero's name and origins, allowing the knight and princess a happy ending.
In 1848, Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
adapted the tale into his popular opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
Lohengrin
Lohengrin (opera)
Lohengrin is a romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach and its sequel, Lohengrin, written by a different author, itself...
, probably the work through which the Swan Knight story is best known today.
External links
- Cheuelere Assigne Middle English from British Library MS Cotton Caligula A ii., Modern English translation