The motif of children turned into swans and its transformation in the “plot of the swan Knight’s birth”

Abstract

The present article concentrates on a part of the plot about the Swan-Knight dedicated to his birth. An epic plot is based on a lost folk tale, in which we could have found a motive about children turning into swans. We conclude that in a fairly tale this transformation resulted in a mother-in-law’s curse. Whereas in a literature example the transformation was caused by chains taken away from the children. This kind of the plot reveals the existence of a motive about wonderful birth of children with chains on their necks. The transformation shows the change in a function of a wonder. It signifies authors’ desire to present literary events as a proof to the divine birth of the Swan-Knight, who was supposed to be an ancestor to Godfrey of Bouillon.