Category: Swan Lore

In India swans appear both as the hamsa and as apsaras. Brahma’s consort Saraswati, goddess of wisdom, learning, and music, is also depicted riding on a swan (hamsa), as is Varuna, god of the sky and rain. The Hamsa In Hindu lore, the hamsa (a pair of divine birds) can be either swans or geese. The two…

The word swan has descended unchanged from the Old Saxon word swan or suan. The Old English and Middle English forms were also swan. The Old Saxon form derived from the proto-Germanic *swanaz. The Old High German forms were swan, swan(a) and swon, the Old Norse form was svanr, and the Middle Dutch form was…

One of the medieval courts in England was called a swanimote. It was held to try offenses against vert and venison, that is, against the vegetation and game of the forest. The court also heard grievances against officers of the forest. In England, a forest was an area set aside as a hunting monopoly. It…

Leda and the Swan, by Kotsonis The swan was a recurring motif in Greek and Roman mythology, generally as a bird associated with the sun. Each Greek tribe had its own favorite myths, and additional stories were being constantly imported into religion from foreign sources. The swan was the bird of the Muses. It was…

Germanic swan myths, preserved in fairy tales, are similar to those of the Norse and Celtic. In many stories women who take the shape of swans can be prevented from doing so if their plumage is taken. In other household tales a wicked step-mother throws white skirts over her step-children, and they are at once…