Editing Swan (section)

==In culture==
{{See also|Black swan emblems and popular culture|Swan upping|Swan maiden}}

===European motifs===
Many of the cultural aspects refer to the mute swan of Europe. Perhaps the best-known story about a swan is the fairy tale "[[The Ugly Duckling]]". Swans are often a symbol of love or fidelity because of their long-lasting, apparently monogamous relationships. See [[Richard Wagner|Wagner]]'s famous swan-related operas ''[[Lohengrin (opera)|Lohengrin]]''<ref>{{cite news |title=The opera novice: Wagner's Lohengrin |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/opera/10098850/The-opera-novice-Wagners-Lohengrin.html |website=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=2 December 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203124010/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/opera/10098850/The-opera-novice-Wagners-Lohengrin.html |archive-date=3 December 2016 |date=4 June 2013 |last1=Rahim |first1=Sameer }}</ref> and ''[[Parsifal]]''.<ref>{{cite news |title=The opera novice: Parsifal by Richard Wagner |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/opera/9908198/The-opera-novice-Parsifal-by-Richard-Wagner.html |website=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=2 December 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220161837/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/opera/9908198/The-opera-novice-Parsifal-by-Richard-Wagner.html |archive-date=20 December 2016 |date=5 March 2013 |last1=Rahim |first1=Sameer }}</ref>

===As food===
Swan meat was regarded as a luxury food in England during the reign of [[Elizabeth I]]. A recipe for baked swan survives from that time: "To bake a Swan Scald it and take out the bones, and parboil it, then season it very well with Pepper, Salt and Ginger, then lard it, and put it in a deep Coffin of Rye Paste with store of Butter, close it and bake it very well, and when it is baked, fill up the Vent-hole with melted Butter, and so keep it; serve it in as you do the Beef-Pie."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/bake-swan-old-recipe.htm |title=Baked Swan. Old Elizabethan Recipe |publisher=elizabethan-era.org.uk |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101027032709/http://elizabethan-era.org.uk/bake-swan-old-recipe.htm |archive-date=27 October 2010 }}</ref> Swans being raised for food were sometimes kept in [[swan pit]]s.

The ''[[Illustrious Brotherhood of Our Blessed Lady]]'', a religious [[confraternity]] which existed in [['s-Hertogenbosch]] in the late Middle Ages, had "sworn members", also called "swan-brethren" because they used to donate a swan for the yearly banquet.

Based on a mistaken belief that the British monarch owns all the swans in Britain, it is popularly believed the British monarch is the only person allowed to eat swans in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cleaver |first=Emily |date=July 31, 2017 |title=The Fascinating, Regal History Behind Britain's Swans |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/fascinating-history-british-thrones-swans-180964249/ |access-date=June 24, 2024 |work=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=September 2, 2017 |title=Little girl asks to borrow swan, Queen responds |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/little-girl-asks-to-borrow-swan-queen-responds/QRQ5RVSL6ZMWS2VGYMSTXVRWNQ/ |access-date=June 24, 2024 |work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]}}</ref>

===Heraldics===
{{gallery
|mode=packed
|height=160
|Accession of ten new countries to the European Union Reverse.jpg|A swan depicted on an [[Euro gold and silver commemorative coins (Ireland)|Irish commemorative coin]] in celebration of its [[Presidency of the Council of the European Union|EU Council presidency]].
|Joutseno.vaakuna.svg|A swan pictured in the coat of arms of [[Joutseno]], a former municipality of [[South Karelia]], [[Finland]].
|Herb Łabędź 1.svg|Coat-of-arms of writer [[Henryk Sienkiewicz]]'s family, a variant of the [[Polish heraldry|Polish–Lithuanian coat of arms]] "[[Łabędź coat of arms|Łabędź]]" ([[Polish language|Polish]] for "Swan").
|Horgen-blazon.svg|The flag of the [[Switzerland|Swiss]] municipality of [[Horgen]]. The swan symbolizes the town's location at [[Lake Zurich]] and Horgen's political status as administrative capital of [[Horgen District]].
|File:DEU Kreis Stormarn COA.svg|The [[Districts of Germany|District]] of [[Stormarn (district)|Stormarn]], in [[Schleswig-Holstein]], [[Germany]].
|File:Arms of Buckinghamshire County Council.svg|The [[Ceremonial counties of England|Ceremonial county]] of [[Buckinghamshire]] in [[England]], [[United Kingdom]].
}}

===Ancient Greece and Rome===
Swans feature strongly in [[mythology]]. In [[Greek mythology]], the story of [[Leda and the Swan]] recounts that [[Helen of Troy]] was conceived in a union of [[Zeus]] disguised as a swan and [[Leda (mythology)|Leda]], Queen of [[Sparta]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Young |first1=Peter |title=Swan |date=2008 |publisher=Reaktion |location=London |isbn=978-1-86189-349-9 |page=70}}</ref>

Other references in classical literature include the belief that, upon death, the mute swan would sing beautifully—hence the phrase [[swan song]].<ref>{{cite web |title=What is the origin of the phrase 'Swan song'? |url=http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/swan-song.html |publisher=phrases.org.uk |access-date=2 December 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161205093619/http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/swan-song.html |archive-date=5 December 2016 }}</ref>

The mute swan is also one of the sacred birds of [[Apollo]], whose associations stem both from the nature of the bird as a symbol of light, as well as the notion of a "swan song". The god is often depicted riding a chariot pulled by or composed of swans in his ascension from [[Delos]].

In the second century, the Roman poet [[Juvenal]] made a sarcastic reference to a good woman being a "rare bird, as rare on earth as a black swan" (black swans being completely unknown in the Northern Hemisphere until Dutch explorers reached Australia in the 1600s), from which comes the Latin phrase ''{{Wikt-lang|la|rara avis}}'' (rare bird).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Young |first1=Peter |title=Swan |date=2008 |publisher=Reaktion |location=London |isbn=978-1-86189-349-9 |page=27}}</ref>

===Irish lore and poetry===
The Irish legend of the [[Children of Lir]] is about a stepmother who transformed her children into swans for 900 years.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Fate of the Children of Lir |url=http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/celtic/ctexts/lir.html |website=ancienttexts.org |access-date=2 December 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160904192107/http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/celtic/ctexts/lir.html |archive-date=4 September 2016 }}</ref>

In the legend ''[[Tochmarc Étaíne|The Wooing of Etain]]'' the king of the [[Sidhe]] (subterranean-dwelling, supernatural beings) transforms himself and the most beautiful woman in Ireland, Etain, into swans to escape from the king of Ireland and Ireland's armies. The swan has recently been depicted on an [[Euro gold and silver commemorative coins (Ireland)#2004 coinage|Irish commemorative coin]].

Swans are also present in Irish literature in the poetry of [[W. B. Yeats]]. [[The Wild Swans at Coole (poem)|"The Wild Swans at Coole"]] has a heavy focus on the mesmerising characteristics of the swan. Yeats also recounts the myth of Leda and the Swan in [[Leda and the Swan#In poetry|the poem of the same name]].

===Nordic lore===
In [[Norse mythology]], two swans drink from the sacred [[Well of Urd]] in the realm of [[Asgard]], home of the [[Aesir|gods]]. According to the [[Prose Edda]], the water of this well is so pure and holy that all things that touch it turn white, including this original pair of swans and all others descended from them. The poem ''[[Volundarkvida]]'', or the ''Lay of Volund'', part of the [[Poetic Edda]], also features swan maidens.

In the Finnish epic ''[[Kalevala]]'', a swan lives in the Tuoni River located in [[Tuonela]], the underworld realm of the dead. According to the story, whoever killed a swan would perish as well. [[Jean Sibelius]] composed the ''[[Lemminkäinen Suite]]'' based on the ''Kalevala'', with the second piece entitled ''[[Swan of Tuonela]]'' ''(Tuonelan joutsen)''. Today, five flying swans are the symbol of the [[Nordic countries]]; the whooper swan (''Cygnus cygnus'') is the national bird of Finland;<ref>{{cite web |title=Whooper Swan |url=http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/teacher_resources/best_place_species/current_top_10/whooper_swan.cfm |website=wwf.panda.org |access-date=2 December 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203060741/http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/teacher_resources/best_place_species/current_top_10/whooper_swan.cfm |archive-date=3 December 2016  }}</ref> and the mute swan is the national bird of Denmark.<ref>{{cite web |title=BIRDS OF DENMARK |url=http://www.birdlist.org/denmark.htm |website=birdlist.org |access-date=2 December 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170305001210/http://www.birdlist.org/denmark.htm |archive-date=5 March 2017 }}</ref>

===''Swan Lake'' ballet===
The ballet ''[[Swan Lake]]'' is among the most canonic of classical ballets. Based on the 1875–76 score by [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky]], the most promulgated choreographic version was created by [[Marius Petipa]] and [[Lev Ivanov]] (1895), the premiere of which was danced by the Imperial Ballet at the [[Mariinsky Theater]] in St. Petersburg. The ballet's lead dual roles of Odette (white swan)/Odile (black swan) represent good and evil<ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/12/arts/dance/odette-odile-in-swan-lake.html|title = All About Odette, Tchaikovsky's Swan Queen|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 12 June 2018|last1 = MacAulay|first1 = Alastair|access-date = 31 July 2019|archive-date = 31 July 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190731233300/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/12/arts/dance/odette-odile-in-swan-lake.html|url-status = live}}</ref> and are among the most challenging roles<ref>The ballet ''[[Swan Lake]]'' is among the most canonic of classical ballets. Based on the 1875-76 score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the most promulgated choreographic version was created by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov (1895), the premiere of which was danced by the Imperial Ballet at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. The ballet's lead dual roles of Odette/Odile represent good and evil, and are among the most challenging roles created in Romantic classical ballet.</ref> created in Romantic classical ballet. The ballet is in the repertories<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephanrabimov/2017/04/16/the-swan-is-really-a-phoenix/#44ef6e663959|title = Inside Swan Lake: Why the Classic Ballet is Truly Timeless|website = [[Forbes]]|access-date = 2019-07-31|archive-date = 2019-07-31|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190731233321/https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephanrabimov/2017/04/16/the-swan-is-really-a-phoenix/#44ef6e663959|url-status = live}}</ref> of ballet companies around the world.

===Christianity===
[[File:Hug-lin-pi.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|St [[Hugh of Lincoln]] with swan]]
A swan is one of the attributes of St. [[Hugh of Lincoln]], based on the story of a swan who was devoted to him.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Young |first1=Peter |title=Swan |date=2008 |publisher=Reaktion |location=London |isbn=978-1-86189-349-9 |page=97}}</ref>

===Spanish language literature===
In [[Latin American literature]], the Nicaraguan poet [[Rubén Darío]] (1867–1916) consecrated the swan as a symbol of artistic inspiration by drawing attention to the constancy of swan imagery in [[Western culture]], beginning with the rape of Leda and ending with [[Richard Wagner|Wagner]]'s ''Lohengrin''. Darío's most famous poem in this regard is ''Blasón – "Coat of Arms"'' (1896), and his use of the swan made it a symbol for the [[Modernismo]] poetic movement that dominated Spanish language poetry from the 1880s until the First World War. Such was the dominance of Modernismo in Spanish language poetry that the Mexican poet [[Enrique González Martínez]] attempted to announce the end of Modernismo with a [[sonnet]] provocatively entitled, ''Tuércele el cuello al cisne – "Wring the Swan's Neck"'' (1910).

===Hinduism===
{{See also|Hamsa (bird)}}
Swans are revered in [[Hinduism]] and are compared to saintly persons whose chief characteristic is to be in the world without getting attached to it, just as a swan's feather does not get wet although it is in water. The [[Sanskrit]] word for swan is ''hamsa'' and the "Raja Hamsam" or the Royal Swan is the vehicle of Devi [[Saraswati]], which symbolises the ''Sattva Guna'' or purity par excellence. The swan, if offered a mixture of milk and water, is said to be able to drink the milk alone. Therefore, Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge, is seen riding the swan because the swan thus symbolizes ''Viveka'', i.e. prudence and discrimination between the good and the bad or between the eternal and the transient. This is seen as a great quality, as shown by this [[Sanskrit]] verse:

{| style="width=100%;"
|width=50% valign=top|
:{{lang|sa-Latn|haṁsaḥ śveto bakaḥ śvetaḥ ko bhedo bakahaṁsayoḥ ।}}
:{{lang|sa-Latn|kṣīranīraviveke tu haṁso haṁsaḥ bako bakaḥ ॥}}
|width=50% valign=top|
:The swan is white, the crane is white, what is the difference between the swan and the crane?
:During discriminating between water and milk, the swan is a swan while the crane is a crane!
|}
It is mentioned several times in the [[Vedas|Vedic]] literature, and persons who have attained great spiritual capabilities are sometimes called [[Paramahamsa]] ("Supreme Swan") on account of their [[Divine grace|spiritual grace]] and ability to travel between various spiritual worlds. In the Vedas, swans are said to reside in the summer on [[Lake Manasarovar]] and migrate to Indian lakes for the winter. They are believed to possess some powers, such as the ability to eat pearls.

===Indo-European religions===
Swans are intimately associated with the [[divine twins]] in Indo-European religions, and it is thought that in [[Proto-Indo-European religion|Proto-Indo-European times]], swans were a solar symbol associated with the divine twins and the original Indo-European [[sun goddess]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=O'Brien |first=Steven |title=Dioscuric Elements in Celtic and Germanic Mythology |journal=Journal of Indo-European Studies |volume=10 |issue=1 & 2 |year=1982 |pages=117–136 }}</ref>