Reclaiming Magic: The Secret History of Fairy Tales, a guest post by R. M. Romero

The story of a swan maiden named Hilde who has her magic cloak stolen by a greedy baron who only wants to use her, A Warning About Swans is a fairy tale first and foremost. But it’s not the soft kind, because real fairy tales never are. 

We may associate fairy tales with patriarchy and strict gender roles, but these stories actually are the domain of the marginalized. They are full of oppressed women, youngest sons with no prospects, and unwanted animals. And there is a secret history to them, one that belongs to women and queer writers. 

We have a very romantic idea of the Brothers Grimm and how they supposedly traveled throughout the German countryside in the 19th century listening to the fairy tales that would eventually make up their famous Children’s and Household Tales. But the reality was different. Jacob and Wilhelm were poor young scholars when they began their project of collecting German folktales, and many of their most well-known stories didn’t come from wizened old peasants. They came from Wilhelm Grimm’s future wife, Henriette Dorothea “Dortchen” Wild. The neighbor of the Grimm family, Dortchen began to share stories such as “Rumpelstiltskin”, “Hansel and Gretel”, and “The Six Swans” with the two brothers when she was still just a teenager. 

Dortchen had no doubt heard these tales from others and added her own twists to them. Spinning stories was a way for women to pass the time while doing boring chores, but it was also a way for them to pass on lessons and wisdom to one another. Fairy tales deal with serious issues that range from parental abuse to falling in love to leaving home for the first time. They’re more than just moral instruction; they’re survival guides wrapped up in magic. 

(A first edition of Children’s and Household Tales by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. Photo by R.M. Romero)

Queer people figure into the canon of fairy tales as well. Hans Christian Andersen, author of “The Snow Queen” and “The Little Mermaid,” was attracted to both men and women. In fact, “The Little Mermaid” came from his unrequited love for a male friend. It’s no coincidence that Andersen wrote the story after he learned that his friend was getting married, and the mermaid’s own heartbreak when her prince finds love with another parallels the author’s perfectly. Some adaptations of the story, such as a 2011 ballet, even feature Andersen as character who is a direct mirror of his mermaid. 

(San Francisco Ballet’s production of The Little Mermaid, photo by Erik Tomasson)

When I sat down to write A Warning About Swans, I kept the truth about who first told fairy tales in the forefront of my mind. But I was also very aware of what was happening in the modern world and soon realized that my book was timely.

I wish it wasn’t. 

My heroine is denied the ability to choose how she presents to the world by a manipulative man who wants to control her—a struggle many children and teens are dealing with right now. Between 2021 and 2023, the number of laws regulating the bodies of queer people and anyone who can get pregnant increased alarmingly. Young people aren’t being allowed to be who they really are and live their most authentic lives, the way Hilde isn’t in A Warning About Swans. They have to fight, every step of the way, to have their true selves acknowledged. And they’re often abused along the way.

Hilde too has to fight for herself. But she isn’t alone. She finds an ally in Franz, a non-binary artist who is comfortable with themself and helps Hilde embrace all the different parts of herself too. “We will defeat them,” my heroine declares, acknowledging the power she and Frank have. “We’re fast; we’re clever. We can call on magic whenever we choose.”

(A statue of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm in Kassel, Germany and A Warning About Swans.  Photo by R.M. Romero)

We do have our own magic, each and every single one of us. Dortchen Grimm knew it; Hans Christian Andersen knew it. And I hope that maybe, A Warning About Swans will help remind teens who are struggling that their own magic is waiting for them to claim. 

Meet the author

R. M. Romero is a Jewish Latina and author of fairy tales for children and adults. She lives in Miami Beach with her cat, Henry VIII, and spends her summers helping to maintain Jewish cemeteries in Poland. You can visit her online at RMRomero.com or on Instagram @rmromeroauthor.

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About A Warning About Swans

Swan Lake meets The Last Unicorn by way of the Brothers Grimm in a dreamy, original fairytale by critically acclaimed author R.M. Romero.

Bavaria. 1880. Hilde was dreamed into existence by the god Odin and, along with her five sisters, granted cloaks that transform them into swans. Each sister’s cloak is imbued with a unique gift, but Hilde rejects her gift which allows her to lead the souls of dying creatures to the afterlife.

While guiding the soul of a hawk, Hilde meets the handsome Baron Maximilian von Richter, whose father left him no inheritance. Hilde is intrigued by Richter’s longing for a greater life and strikes a deal with him: She will manifest his dreams of riches, and in return, he will take her to the human world, where the song of souls can’t reach her.

But at the court of King Ludwig II in Munich, Hilde struggles to fit in. After learning that fashionable ladies are sitting for portraits, she hires non-binary Jewish artist Franz Mendelson, and is stunned when Franz renders her with swan wings. The more time she spends with Franz, the more she feels drawn to the artist’s warm, understanding nature, and the more controlling Richter becomes. When Hilde’s swan cloak suddenly goes missing, only Franz’s ability to paint the true nature of souls can help Hilde escape her newfound prison.

ISBN-13: 9781682634837
Publisher: Peachtree Teen
Publication date: 07/11/2023
Age Range: 14 – 17 Years

Filed under: Guest Post