Maid Lena (; ; English: "Maiden Lene from Sondervand") is a Danish folktale collected by author Svend Grundtvig. It features versions of the swan maiden, a mythic female character that alternates between human and animal shapes.
The story is classified in the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as tale type ATU 400, "The Man on a Quest for the Lost Wife", in a form of the narrative that, according to scholars, appears in Northern Europe, namely, in Scandinavia and in the Baltic Sea.
Translations The tale was alternatively translated into English as Maid LenaWiggin, Kate Douglas Smith; Smith, Nora Archibald. Magic Casements: a second fairy book. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Doran & Co.. 1931. pp. 3–13.Grundtvig, Svend, and Jane Mulley. Fairy Tales From Afar. London: Hutchinson & co., 1900. pp. 75-88 (tale nr. 4). and as The Lass of Söndervand, in Danish Fairy Tales.Grundtvig, Svend; and Gustav Hein. Danish Fairy Tales. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell company. 1914. pp. 27–41.
Summary A farmer has three sons: Poul, Peder and Esben, who is considered a fool for spending his days near the fireplace playing in the ashes (thus earning the name Esben Ashenfiest or Askefis; Esben-Ash-rake in Stith Thompson's translation). The family plants wheat in a meadow, but on St. John's Night, they find the fields are completely trampled. This goes on for the next year, and they decide to plant flax and to keep watch on their fields for three nights: Poul and Peder fail in their vigil, but Esben Askefis keeps watch on the third night. Esben finds three white swans coming to the fields, turning into human maidens by their feather cloaks, wings and gossamer veils, and dancing in the meadow. While they are distracted with the dance, Esben steals their clothes. The maidens then try to find their garments and see Esben, begging him to return their clothes, but Esben asks each of them to be his wife. The first two decline, but the third, named Lene, agrees to be his wife, and gives him her ring as a token. She also reveals that Lene and her sisters are princesses, cursed by a witch, and used to live in castle where the field is now located. For their wedding, Esben must build a castle in that same place, and Lene teaches him a spell he can use on a rock. Lene and the others depart. Esben knocks on a rock with a twig, chants the spell, and finds money, gold and ornaments under the rock. He hires carpenters and masons to build him a castle, which is concluded on Walpurgis Night.
Esben invites the whole village to the wedding, but the king invites himself. On the eve of the summer solstice, Esben waits at the castle doors and sees the swans flying towards him. Then a magnificent carriage appears, carrying Lene. Esben goes to greet her, but she notices the king's presence and warns Esben the king desires her. She then tells Esben to find her in her own castle, located "south of the sun, west of the moon and in the middle of the world", and departs. Thus, Esben begins his journey toward the distant castle. On the road, he meets three pairs of goblins fighting over magical objects: a hat of invisibility, seven-league boots, and a Swiss knife that can both revive the dead and kill people. Esben steals the objects for himself.
Later, he finds the huts of three old women: the first rules over the animals of the forest, the second all the fish in the sea and the third all the birds of the air. The first and the second old women summon all her subjects to ask for the location of the castle, but none of the animals of both forest and sea know. In the third woman's home, in Vogelberg ('Bird Mountain'), an old eagle comes late and announces it has come from that exact place, and offers to take Esben there. After a long journey, Esben finally reaches Lene's castle. He sees a maidservant and asks for a cup of wine. The servant brings him a cup, he puts Lene's ring inside and the servant takes the cup back to her mistress. Lene recognizes the ring and rushes to Esben to hug him, but fears for his safety, since a witch lives in the castle and may turn him to stone with but a glare. Esben put on the invisibility hat, enter the witch's quarters and kills her with the Swiss knife. Now free at last, Lene and Esben marry.Grundtvig, Svend. Danske Folkeæventyr, Fundne I Folkemunde Og Gjenfortalte. Ny samling. Kjøbenhavn: C.A. Reitzel, 1878. pp. 19–34.
Analysis Tale type The tale is classified in the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index as type ATU 400, "The Man on a Quest for the Lost Wife":Ashliman, D. L. A Guide to Folktales in the English Language: Based on the Aarne-Thompson Classification System. Bibliographies and Indexes in World Literature, vol. 11. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1987. pp. 79-80. . the hero finds a maiden of supernatural origin (e.g., the swan maiden) or rescues a princess from an enchantment; either way, he marries her, but she disappears to another place. He goes after her on a long quest, often helped by the elements (Sun, Moon and Wind) or by the rulers of animals of the land, sea and air (often in the shape of old men and old women).Aarne, Antti; Thompson, Stith. The types of the folktale: a classification and bibliography. Folklore Fellows Communications FFC no. 184. Helsinki: Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 1973 . pp. 128–129.Pen, Jikke. "De man zoekt zijn verdwenen vrouw". In: Van Aladdin tot Zwaan kleef aan. Lexicon van sprookjes: ontstaan, ontwikkeling, variaties. 1ste druk. Ton Dekker & Jurjen van der Kooi & Theo Meder. Kritak: Sun. 1997. pp. 226-227.
The middle episode of the hero acquiring magic objects that help in his journey is classified as tale type ATU 518, "Men Fight Over Magic Objects": hero tricks or buys magic items from quarreling men (or giants, trolls, etc.).Thompson, Stith (1977). The Folktale. University of California Press. pp. 75-76. .Aarne, Antti; Thompson, Stith. The types of the folktale: a classification and bibliography. Folklore Fellows Communications FFC no. 184. Third printing. Helsinki: Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 1973 . p. 186. Despite its own catalogation, folklorists Stith Thompson and Hans-Jörg Uther argue that this narrative does not exist as an independent tale type, and usually appears in combination with other tale types, especially ATU 400.Thompson, Stith (1977). The Folktale. University of California Press. p. 76. .
Motifs Romanian folklorist Marcu Beza recognized an alternate opening to swan maiden tales: seven white birds steal the golden apples from a tree in the king's garden (an episode similar to German The Golden Bird), or, alternatively, they come and trample the fields. Researcher Barbara Fass Leavy noted a variation of the first opening episode which occurs in Scandinavian tales: a man's third or only son stands guard on his father's fields at night to discover what has been trampling his father's fields, and sees three maidens dancing in a meadow.
Similarly, Swedish scholar also noted that the motif of keeping watch over the fields at night is a "typical development" of Swedish, Nordic and Baltic Sea variants of the story he termed Das Märchen von der Schwanenjungfrau ().
Variants
Den nedtraadte Ager Danish historian Christian Molbech collected another Danish variant titled Den nedtraadte Ager (). In this tale, a farmer has three sons, the two elders help in the fields, while the youngest, Esben, is of a quiet demeanor. The farmer sows all his fields, except one that is always destroyed on Saint John's Eve. The farmer's elder sons promise to keep watch on their fields for the next years, the elder in the first year and the middle son in the second. The elder sits on a rock near an old tree. He falls asleep, but at midnight he hears a thundering roar, and rushes home. His younger brother also fails in the same manner.
When it is Esben's turn in the third year, he sees three flying women coming to the field, taking off their pairs of wings and dancing on the field. Esben sees the beautiful maidens and hides their wings under the rock. The maidens finish dancing and look for the wings. Esben promises to return them, if one of them stays with him and becomes his wife. The maidens try to bargain for the wings with a hidden stash of money under the rock, which Esben accepts, but still wants to marry one of them. The first maiden explains she is a princess and the other her servants, and they lived on castle that stood on that meadow; a witch took them to a land where they never grow old; the witch gives her wings to fly to their former home, but they need the wings back. Esben repeats his proposal and the princess accepts, promising to return in three months, but she warns him not to invite the local king's son. Then they depart.
Esben shows his brothers the money. They become rich and prepare the upcoming wedding. Three months pass, and Esben awaits for his bride: a magnificent carriage brings her. He goes to greet her, and mentions that the king's son is also present. The princess hesitates to join the festivities, and asks him to find her "south of the sun, east of the moon and westward to all the winds", then rides off. Esben begins a quest for her. On the road, he finds two pairs of men fighting over magical objects: a pair of old shoes that walk miles and a knife that opens doors. Esben buys the items and reaches a Glass Mountain. He points the knife to a door and opens it; inside, a troll, whom he asks for directions. The troll summons the animals that creep near the ground, but none know of it. Esben meets the troll's brother, one the ruler of the fishes and animals of the sea, and the other the ruler of the birds. The third troll summons all birds, but the eagle comes late, since it was flying close to the castle south of the sun, east of the moon and westward to all the winds. The eagle promises to carry him there, but make a deal with Esben: the eagle will get its wings back, or Esben's life. The eagle carries Esben over to the castle. Once there, the youth asks a servant for a cup of water to drink and drops her ring in it. The princess and her servants meet Esben by the fountain, but Esben explains his deal with the eagle. The princess agrees to give the bird its wings; the eagle flies down, catches the wings on its beak and flies away. Esben and the princess marry at last.Molbech, Christian. Udvalgte Eventyr og Fortaellinger. En Laesebog. Reitzel, 1843. pp. 264-270.
Det forgyldte Taarn Folklorist Evald Tang Kristensen collected a Danish variant titled Det forgyldte Taarn ved Verdens Ende (). In this tale, a farmer has a wheat field that is trampled every year, on midsummer's night. He orders his three sons, Per, Povl, and Hans to keep watch on the fields. Hans is considered a fool, because he sleeps by the oven. At any rate, Per and Povl are the one to watch first, but abandon their vigil as soon as they hear a loud whistling. When it is his turn, Hans sees three flying maidens coming to the field, taking off their wings and dancing on the field. Hans steals their wings; they beg for them back, but Hans proposes one of them becomes his bride. One of the maidens agrees to be his wife, as long as he prepares everything for their wedding in two months' time, however he may not to invite the king's son. They depart; Hans finds a hidden cache of money under a rock.
Everything is prepared for the wedding and the maiden comes in a carriage. When she sees the king's son, she decides to postpone her wedding, and tells Hans to seek her in "The Golden Tower at the End of the World". Before she departs, the princess gives Hans three tablecloths: one can produce food, the other can build a castle for him to stay the night in a richly furnished bedroom, and the third can create a land bridge with trees and animals for him to cross the sea. The rides back to the Golden Tower, and Hans goes to seek her.