A young peasant in the parish of Mellby [in Blekinge], who often amused himself
with hunting, saw one day three swans flying toward him, which settled down
upon the strand of a sound nearby. Approaching the place, he was astonished
at seeing the three swans divest themselves of their feathery attire, which
they threw into the grass, and three maidens of dazzling beauty step forth and
spring into the water. After sporting in the waves awhile they returned to the
land, where they resumed their former garb and shape and flew away in the same
direction from which they came. One of them, the youngest and fairest, had,
in the meantime, so smitten the young hunter that neither night nor day could
he tear his thoughts from the bright image. His mother, noticing that something
was wrong with her son, and that the chase, which had formerly been his favourite
pleasure, had lost its attractions, asked him finally the cause of his melancholy,
whereupon he related to her what he had seen, and declared that there was no
longer any happiness in this life for him if he could not possess the fair swan
maiden. "Nothing is easier," said the mother. "Go at sunset next Thursday evening
to the place where you last saw her. When the three swans come, give attention
to where your chosen one lays her feathery garb, take it, and hasten away."
The young man listened to his mother's instructions, and, betaking himself,
the following Thursday evening, to a convenient hiding place near the sound,
he waited, with impatience, the coming of the swans. The sun was just sinking
behind the trees when the young man's ears were greeted by a whizzing in the
air, and the three swans settled down upon the beach, as on their former visit.
As soon as they had laid off their swan attire they were again transformed into
the most beautiful maidens, and, springing out upon the white sand, they were
soon enjoying themselves in the water. From his hiding place the young hunter
had taken careful note of where his enchantress had laid her swan feathers.
Stealing softly forth, he took them and returned to his place of concealment
in the surrounding foliage. Soon thereafter two of the swans were heard to fly
away, but the third, in search of her clothes, discovered the young man, before
whom, believing him responsible for their disappearance, she fell upon her knees
and prayed that her swan attire might be returned to her. The hunter was, however,
unwilling to yield the beautiful prize, and, casting a cloak around her shoulders,
carried her home. Preparations were soon made for a magnificent wedding, which
took place in due form, and the young couple dwelt lovingly and contentedly
together. One Thursday evening, seven years later, the hunter related to her
how he had sought and won his wife. He brought forth and showed her, also, the
white swan feathers of her former days. No sooner were they placed in her hands
than she was transformed once more into a swan, and instantly took flight through
the open window. In breathless astonishment, the man stared wildly after his
rapidly vanishing wife, and before a year and a day had passed, he was laid,
with his longings and sorrows, in his allotted place in the village churchyard.
Source: Herman Hofberg, Swedish Fairy Tales, translated by W. H. Myers (1895).