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    Home > Swan Collection > Introducing The Medieval Swan
    Introducing The Medieval Swan

    Introducing The Medieval Swan

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    Description
    What comes to mind when we think of swans? Likely their beauty in domestic settings, their preserved status, their association with royalty, and possibly even the phrase 'swan song'. This book explores the emergence of each of these ideas, starting with an examination of the medieval swan in natural history, exploring classical writings and their medieval interpretations and demonstrating how the idea of a swan's song developed. The book then proceeds to consider literary motifs of swan-to-human transformation, particularly the legend of the Knight of the Swan.

    Although this legend is known today only through Wagner's opera, it was a best-seller in the Middle Ages, and courts throughout Europe strove to be associated as ancestors of this Swan Knight. Consequently, the swan was projected as an icon of courtly and eventual royal status. The book's third chapter looks at the swan as icon of the Lancasters, particularly important during the reign of Richard II and the War of the Roses, and the final chapter examines the swan as an important item of feasting, focusing on cookery and husbandry to argue that over time the right to keep swans became an increasingly restricted right controlled by the English crown.

    Each of the swan's medieval associations are explored as they developed over time to the modern day.
    DELIVERY

    We offer free standard UK delivery on all orders over £50.

    Orders up to £30 are charged a flat fee of £4.95

    Orders between £30.01 and £50 are charged a flat fee of £6.95.

    Usual UK delivery timescale (excluding custom prints) is between 5 and 7 working days from the date of dispatch. Please allow up to 14 working days for delivery. For custom print delivery pricing and timescales see below. These timescales may vary especially when we have online sales and in the weeks before Christmas.

    Delivery Worldwide

    We can also ship most items worldwide. 

    For full details, including prices, click here.

    Custom Prints

    Your prints and frames will be handmade by King & McGaw at their Sussex workshop.

    Unframed orders are shipped within 5 working days (normally shipped next day).

    Framed orders are shipped within 20 working days.

    Further information on delivery timescales for custom prints can be found here.

    RETURNS

    If you are not completely satisfied with your item you may return it within 28 days for a refund.

    For further details on returns click here.

    Unfortunately we cannot offer a refund on custom prints unless they are faulty or we have made a mistake. Custom prints are exempt as they are made to order.

    Code Cracker

    Are you a subscriber to The National Archives mailing list? Sign up now to get our latest news -- and code crackers!

    To mark the publication of Spydle, until the end of the year our e-newsletter will contain monthly taster puzzles – written exclusively for subscribers, with the solution published here.

    Solution - Puzzle #1: Treason and plot

    The words can be unjumbled as follows:

    BLENHEIM + G

    WESTMINSTER + U

    WINDSOR + Y

    RICHMOND + F

    BUCKINGHAM + A

    LAMBETH + W

    KEW + K

    HAMPTON COURT + E

    ST JAMES’S + S

    The name spelled out is GUY FAWKES, a figure involved in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 – which, if successful, would have blown up the Palace of Westminster.

    Solution - Puzzle #2: Continental conundrum

    The European cities are as follows:

    MILAN

    ANTWERP

    TOULOUSE

    ATHENS

    HAMBURG

    AMSTERDAM

    ROME

    ISTANBUL

    The name hidden in the first letters of each city is Mata Hari, who was convicted of spying for Germany during the First World War.

    Manufacturer/Publisher: University of Wales
    Binding: Paperback
    Author: Nathalie Jayne Goodison
    Date Published: 2022
    Pagination: 184p

    SKU: 9781786838391

    Description
    What comes to mind when we think of swans? Likely their beauty in domestic settings, their preserved status, their association with royalty, and possibly even the phrase 'swan song'. This book explores the emergence of each of these ideas, starting with an examination of the medieval swan in natural history, exploring classical writings and their medieval interpretations and demonstrating how the idea of a swan's song developed. The book then proceeds to consider literary motifs of swan-to-human transformation, particularly the legend of the Knight of the Swan.

    Although this legend is known today only through Wagner's opera, it was a best-seller in the Middle Ages, and courts throughout Europe strove to be associated as ancestors of this Swan Knight. Consequently, the swan was projected as an icon of courtly and eventual royal status. The book's third chapter looks at the swan as icon of the Lancasters, particularly important during the reign of Richard II and the War of the Roses, and the final chapter examines the swan as an important item of feasting, focusing on cookery and husbandry to argue that over time the right to keep swans became an increasingly restricted right controlled by the English crown.

    Each of the swan's medieval associations are explored as they developed over time to the modern day.
    DELIVERY

    We offer free standard UK delivery on all orders over £50.

    Orders up to £30 are charged a flat fee of £4.95

    Orders between £30.01 and £50 are charged a flat fee of £6.95.

    Usual UK delivery timescale (excluding custom prints) is between 5 and 7 working days from the date of dispatch. Please allow up to 14 working days for delivery. For custom print delivery pricing and timescales see below. These timescales may vary especially when we have online sales and in the weeks before Christmas.

    Delivery Worldwide

    We can also ship most items worldwide. 

    For full details, including prices, click here.

    Custom Prints

    Your prints and frames will be handmade by King & McGaw at their Sussex workshop.

    Unframed orders are shipped within 5 working days (normally shipped next day).

    Framed orders are shipped within 20 working days.

    Further information on delivery timescales for custom prints can be found here.

    RETURNS

    If you are not completely satisfied with your item you may return it within 28 days for a refund.

    For further details on returns click here.

    Unfortunately we cannot offer a refund on custom prints unless they are faulty or we have made a mistake. Custom prints are exempt as they are made to order.

    Code Cracker

    Are you a subscriber to The National Archives mailing list? Sign up now to get our latest news -- and code crackers!

    To mark the publication of Spydle, until the end of the year our e-newsletter will contain monthly taster puzzles – written exclusively for subscribers, with the solution published here.

    Solution - Puzzle #1: Treason and plot

    The words can be unjumbled as follows:

    BLENHEIM + G

    WESTMINSTER + U

    WINDSOR + Y

    RICHMOND + F

    BUCKINGHAM + A

    LAMBETH + W

    KEW + K

    HAMPTON COURT + E

    ST JAMES’S + S

    The name spelled out is GUY FAWKES, a figure involved in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 – which, if successful, would have blown up the Palace of Westminster.

    Solution - Puzzle #2: Continental conundrum

    The European cities are as follows:

    MILAN

    ANTWERP

    TOULOUSE

    ATHENS

    HAMBURG

    AMSTERDAM

    ROME

    ISTANBUL

    The name hidden in the first letters of each city is Mata Hari, who was convicted of spying for Germany during the First World War.