The Wild Swans (Danish: De vilde svaner) is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a princess who rescues her 11 brothers from a spell cast by an evil queen. The tale was first published on 2 October 1838 in Andersen´s Fairy Tales Told for Children. New Collection. First Booklet (Eventyr, fortalte for Børn. Ny Samling. Første Hefte) by C. A. Reitzel in Copenhagen, Denmark. It has been adapted to various media including ballet, television, and film.
It is categorized as an Aarne-Thompson type 451 ("The Brothers Who Were Turned into Birds"). Other type 451 variants include The Twelve Brothers, The Six Swans, The Seven Ravens, The Twelve Wild Ducks and Udea and her Seven Brothers.
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