Today I created a new header image for Princess Portal, a crowned swan with a golden chain about her neck. I think Swans are the most beautiful birds in the animal kingdom, and they are the symbol of our state as well. The white Swan has always been special to me and so I thought I might also do a Princess Profile on Odette, the Swan princess.

Odette is the heroine of the Ballet ‘Swan Lake’ the musical score for which was written by Pyotr Tchaikozsky and it is one of the most well known ballets to this day, as well as being my personal favourite. Swan Lake is the story of young Prince Siegfried who must chose a wife from the many ladies presented to him, however he wishes to marry for love and one day follows a beautiful swan who turns in to a maiden at the touch of moonlight. He begins to proclaim his love to her, which would break the transformation spell but is interrupted by Count Rothbart, the sorcerer who enchanted her. Later, at a magnificent ball held in the palace Rothbart presents his own daughter, Odile, charmed so that she looks like Odette but is wearing black rather than white. The Prince mistakes her for the princess and proclaims his love to the Sorcerer’s daughter, thus trapping Odette in her Swan form forever. There are several endings to the story, some end happily with the Count defeated by their love and in others it is the Prince and Odette who tragically end their lives after realising the deceit.

I have been doing some research in to the origins of Swan Lake, and although it is often stated as being based off a Germanic Fairy Tale, no such tale seems to exist. Rather it is more likely that Tchaikovsky drew inspiration from a number of legends that feature Swan transformations, including the Seven Wild Swans and a tale about a man who steals a Swan Maiden’s feather cloak to make her his wife. Regardless of its origins, Swan Lake is an enchanting and moving story of both love and tragedy.

The image of a Swan Maiden or princess is quite mysterious itself. Swans are beautiful and powerful birds and they take mates for life, making them a symbol of love. White is also associated with purity, Odile the black swan being Odette’s polar opposite, although I have always had a sympathy for the Count’s daughter, especially after reading Mercedes Lackey’s “The Black Swan.”

If you ever get the chance to see the ballet performed, it is really breathtaking. I’ve also seen the Imperial Ice stars production which was an amazing feat, a complete ballet on a stage covered in ice!

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