The Six Swans

“A King, hunting alone in a vast forest, pursued his quarry so fiercely that when dusk fell he found himself utterly lost.”

From Grimms' Fairy Tales, by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

This tale is from Kinder- und Hausmärchen (Children's and Household Tales), collected by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm and first published in the early nineteenth century. The Grimms gathered folk stories from oral tradition across German-speaking regions and published them as a resource for scholars and families alike. "The Six Swans" appears in many European traditions, but the Grimms' version is among the most widely known. This text reflects its era; a few period terms have been modernised. The tale is worth a young reader's time because it asks what you are willing to endure for those you love, and whether silence can be a form of strength.

Band

Blue · Independent readers, confidentTypical starting range: ages 12–14

Length

long · about 1095 words in 5 sections · 2 pictures

Source

Grimm's Fairy Stories, Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm

First published

see the About page in the reader

Regions

Canada · United States

Included formats

• · Web reader and PDF
• · EPUB for e-readers
• · Home-print sheet
• · Folded booklet
• · Binder edition (8.5 × 11)
• · Worksheet
• · Quick Check (10 questions) with answer key
• · Read-aloud script
• · Teacher’s Edition (members)

Readers are engineered from the original public-domain text with AI under HummingRead’s published canon and Content Philosophy, checked by automated audit and sampled by a person. Pictures are made with AI to HummingRead’s brief for each story. How a reader is made.

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