- Aug 26
- 2 min read
It's pretty rare to find a fairy tale where the woman is the only one who can save the day but the original tale of The Wild Swans (AKA The Six Swans) is exactly that! In this classic story a group of brothers is turned into swans by their evil stepmother and it's up to their sister to save them by knitting shirts of stinging nettles for each of them.
Since this fairy tale is lacking a Disney animated movie or other pop culture adaptation I recommend reading my sarcastic summary of it here to familiarize yourself with this tale.
I was really excited to write my own version of this story because it’s one of the few fairy tales where the girl not only rescues herself, but her brothers as well! It has some dark moments but it also showcases normal people doing amazing and very hard things for the sake of love.
Here is my version:
The Wild Swans - by K. M. Shea - In my version I stayed true to the original with the focus on the power of a loving sacrifice but I always felt like the original story ended too abruptly so if you felt the same way you'll probably like how my version continues on!
Now for the full list books all of which were suggested by my reader community (I asked for no spice and low language but check reviews if you have questions about the book's content). And since these are coming directly from readers like you please think of them as a book rec from a friend!
List of The Wild Swans/Six Swans Retellings:
The Wild Swans by K. M. Shea
Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier (*This one is NOT clean!)
Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim
Spinning Starlight by R. C. Lewis
Princess of the Wild Swans by Diane Zahler
Birdwing by Rafe Martin
Court of Swans by Melanie Dickerson
Kingdom of Feathers by Deborah Grace White
Dearest by Alethea Kontis
The Swan Kingdom by Zoe Marriott
Nettled by Sarah Carlisle
Silenced Beauty by Ashley Mendoza
A Noble Protector by Madisyn Carlin
An Enduring Hope by Jes Drew
Princess of Feathers by Laura Greenwood
The Cousin Curse by Christie Valentine Powell
Six Swans by E.B. Bridenstine
Gryphons' Sister by Kimberly A. Rogers
Lake Locked by S.R. Nulton
This fairy tale isn't as popular so this list is shorter then then my other retelling blog posts. Click here to start reading my other fairy tale lists or use the Book Lists category to filter them.
