Category: Swan Lore

In England, all mute swans on the Thames belong either to the Queen or to one of two London livery companies, the Vintners’ Company and the Dyers’ Company. Originally, all swans belonged to the the monarch, but a 15th century charter gave shares to the two livery companies. In the third week of July, when…

In Norse myth, swans were born out of Ginnungagap (”seeming emptiness”) when the fire of Múspellsheimr (”flame-land”) in the south met the cold of Niflheimr (”mist-land”) in the north. Fire and frost were the primary elements of Norse mythology. The frost drops melted and the water poured into the vast chasm of Ginnungagap, out of…

The Buriats of Siberia regarded the eagle as their ancestral father and the swan as their ancestral mother. Kartaga In a Tatar poem, the hero Kartaga struggled with a swan-woman. The contest went on for years, but Kartaga could not defeat her because her soul was not in her body. Instead, her soul inhabited the…

In the ancient world, it was widely believed that swans sing only once in their lifetimes, just before they die. Socrates and Plato both mentioned this belief. Geoffrey Chaucer alluded to it about 1374. Hence, the phrase swan song, meaning a person’s final labor. This belief led to an association between swans and prophecy, because…

In the Orient, swans represent gracefulness, nobility and valor. They are also symbolize music. Stories from Siam and Malaysia mention swan maidens. Li Tzu reported that the Mongols made the Chou Emperor Mu drink swan’s blood. A Chinese idiom refers to someone who demands an undeserved reward: “You are a scoundrel who wants to eat…