By Brothers Grimm, translated by Lucy Crane (1886)
Six Swans illustrated by Walter Crane
(Source: Blogspot)
At the beginning of the story we find the King wandering aimlessly through the forest because he is lost. Out of nowhere this witch appears, agreeing to help the hopeless king, but on one condition. The agreement is that he marry her daughter. When we find the daughter sitting at home awaiting their arrival I instantly thought it was a setup and that somehow the witch caused the king to become lost in the woods.
My thoughts occur again after the two are married. The king is afraid of how the new queen will respond to his children, so he is forced to hide them away. This shows me how much the king loved his children, the undeniable love of family. He visits them often. The queen does not like that the king keeps disappearing, and eventually follows him and discovers the children. Here we learn that the queen is wicked. At this point, we are still unsure if the witch and her daughter were scheming all along. I think this would be a fun element to write about.
The queen turns uses her magic to turn the six boys into swans, but misses the young daughter and remains clueless about her identity. This turn of events allows the younger sister to become the major role in the story, but setting out to find her brothers. She's the lone ranger.
