The Stolen Veil

[Tom47]

I like learning about the history of ballets - the original performances and what inspired the story of the ballet.  For a long time I thought that Swan Lake had no originating story, just a general idea in many stories where humans, both male or female, turned themselves into swans or were turned into swans.  I had known about the story “The Stolen Veil,” but did not feel it was similar enough to versions of Swan Lake I have seen.  My information on the story of The Stolen Veil is from a webpage entitled A Retelling of ‘Der Geraubte Schleier’ (‘The Stolen Veil’) here: https://fatvox.com/a-retelling-of-der-geraubte-schleier-the-stolen-veil/.  

However, after reading about the original 1877 story of the ballet in the Marius Petipa Society website, here: https://petipasociety.com/swan-lake/, I have changed my mind.  The most important factor to support the case for “The Stolen Veil” is the name of the character Benno, who is a friend of Siegfried in the original production of the ballet and is also the name of the character who is a friend of Friedbert the character from “The Stolen Veil” who could be identified with Siegfried from the ballet.

According to the Marius Petipa Society website in the 1877 story “[Odette] and her friends are swan maidens who transform themselves into swans during the day and take up their human forms only at night.”  In the story “The Stolen Veil,” Kalliste, the character who could be identified with Odette and her companions were also “Swan Maidens” who could freely transform from human to swans and back by putting on and taking off their veils.  So, unlike the 1895 story, there was no curse that caused the women to turn into swans against their will.  Further, in the 1877 ballet Odette wore a crown that protected her from her evil stepmother, without which the stepmother would kill her.  In “The Stolen Veil” the swan maidens wore crowns and it was by this that they could be distinguished from the real swans.  Odette in the 1877 ballet was the daughter of a good fairy and a knight, while Kalliste and the other swan maidens were descended from Leda (of the Greek myth) and a fairy.  In The Stolen Veil the lake is named Schwanenteich (Swan Pond).  In both stories the swan maiden - Odette or Kalliste - are in the power of either Siegfried or Friedbert.  In Swan Lake it is because Odette needs Siegried to marry her and in The Stolen Veil Friedbert has stolen Kalliste’s veil, which keeps her from being able to fly home with her companions.  While Siegfried is considered to love Odette and Friedbert to love Kalliste, their “love” is somewhat selfish.  According to the Marius Petipa Society website, “Odette is powerless to forgive Siegfried for his betrayal, but Siegfried, determined for them never to be parted, rips the crown from Odette’s head and throws it into the stormy lake.  Odette [now in the power of her stepmother] dies in Siegfried’s arms and the waters of the lake overflow and engulf them.”  In The Stolen Veil Friedbert lies to Kalliste about his having her veil and when Kalliste finds the veil she flys away from him.  The name Siegfried suggests that the ballet is meant to be set in Germany and Schwanenteich in The Stolen Veil is in Germany, near the city of Zwickau.  A reference in the story “The Stolen Veil” shows it takes place in the 15th century.  

There are differences between The Stolen Veil and the original story of the ballet.  For one Friedbert was not a Prince, but instead a simple soldier.  Also, in the original ballet story the main antagonist is Odette’s evil stepmother and Rothbart acts for the stepmother, but in The Stolen Veil there is no evil sorcerer, female or male.  

Tom,

[Fosca]

This is the German text of the fairy tale by Johann Musäus, maybe you can read it by Google Translate

https://www.projekt-gutenberg.org/musaeus/vmd/vmd07.html

(with illustrations, three pages)

 

http://www.zeno.org/Literatur/M/Musäus,+Johann+Karl+August/Märchen/Volksmärchen+der+Deutschen/Der+geraubte+Schleier

(the whole story on one page without illustrations)

[Tom47]

Fosca, thank you for the links.  I was able to read it with google translate and I was happy for the opportunity to view the illustrations.  One thing in the translated story, the one on one page at least, is a description of the veils.  They are “woven from condensed rays of light from the ether, which expands according to the measure of their growth, and not only has all the properties of the purest fire air to overcome the earthly weight of the body and to raise it to the clouds with easy flight, but also communicates the swan shape to the owner as long as she is clothed with it.”  And are “of an unknown fabric, finer than cobweb and whiter than freshly fallen snow. The upper corner of it was drawn through a little golden crown, and above it was folded up in buffers so that they formed a plume, as it were.”  This was not in A Retelling of ‘Der Geraubte Schleier’ (‘The Stolen Veil’).  It is descriptions like this that I like in fairy tales, not always the story itself, so again thank you for the links.  For others there is only a small part of this story that can be applied to the ballet and it is contained in the second half.  In the case of the “Stolen Veil” I don’t care for the story as Friedbert the character from “The Stolen Veil” who could be identified with Siegfried from the ballet, is pretty much a creep as he lies and deceives throughout the story and the story is mostly about the two male characters.  The story of the ballet is much better.

Tom,

[Tom47]

There are many folktales similar to the Stolen Veil.  Some stories contain swan maidens or women who can become some other type of birds.  There are also stories involving seals who can remove their seal skins to become human women, an example is the story “The Silkie Wife.”  Just think we could’ve had Seal Cove instead of Swan Lake.

In the folktale “The Six Swans” six brothers are transformed into swans by an evil stepmother and their sister has to work for six years to break the spell.  During that time she cannot speak or laugh.  This has little to do with the current “Swan Lake” story, except that humans are cursed to become swans and even less to do with the original story of the ballet.  However, I find this story interesting because the sexes are reversed with males becoming swans and a female, their sister, being the protagonist who must heroticly save them.  An animated video (12 minutes) showing this story can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-DHibAdm48.

Tom,

[Tom47]

What about the names of the characters from Swan Lake?

The names Odette and Odile seem to go very well together as when a woman is said to be dancing the role of Odette/Odile.  According to this webpage http://bewitchingnames.blogspot.com/2011/03/odette.html#:~:text=Odette%20and%20Odile%20are%20the,Odalys%2C%20Otilia%2C%20and%20Ottilie, Odette and Odile are both the “same” names as they are both “feminine versions of Otto,” however, Odette is French and Odile is German.  Otte means “prosperous” or “wealthy.”  Another website “BabyNames.com” gives both Odette and Odile as being French and that they both mean Rich or Wealthy or Wealth, while the website “TheBump.com” gives both names as being German.  There are historical Odettes and Odiles.  Odette de Champdivers was born 1390 in France.  She became the mistress of King Charles VI and was known as “la petit reine.”  Books about her were written by French authors Honore de Balzac and Alexandre Dumas and a French rose was named for her, so her name was well known.  There was a Saint Odila also known as Odile.  She was born in France in the 7th century and her father was the Duke of Alsace.  A mountain in Alsace is named Mont Sainte Odile.  Also, there is the Saint Odilia of Cologne who lived during the 4th century.  Both saints are connected with blindness.  Another Odette, although not one who could have had any influence on the ballet, was born in France in 1912.  In 1942, during the Second World War she became a spy for the British Government and was sent back to France.  

Siegfried was a legendary tragic Germainic Hero.  Thus, it seems an appropriate name for the protagonist of Swan Lake.  The name refers to “Victorious Peace”.  (Siegreich = Victorious and Frieden = Peace)  Further, Wager’s full “Ring Cycle” premiered in 1876, one year before the premier of “Swan Lake.”  The opera “Siegfried” is the third part of the larger work. 

Rothbart is a surname that originated in the German state of Bavaria.  It means Red Beard in German.  (Rot = Red, Bart = Beard}  The early Rothbart family was influential in various conflicts in the area. 

The name Benno appears to have come from the story “The Stolen Veil” (see first post).  It is a German name meaning “Bear.”  Prince Siegfried tutor’s name, Wolfgang, is a German name meaning “Traveling Wolf.” 

These names tend to be German, with the somewhat exception of Odette/Odile, which are connected with Germany and France.  I’ve always felt that Swan Lake was set in Germany, because of the name Siegfried.  On the Tchaikovsky Research website, under the Synopsis for “Swan Lake” it is stated that “The action takes place in medieval Germany.”  This supports the idea that the story was inspired by “The Stolen Veil,” which also takes place in Germany.  However, the swan maidens from “The Stolen Veil” are not German or French, but Greek.  I have not found any connection with the names Odette or Odile and swans or any other type of magical birds or other magical beings.  So, basically whoever named the characters in the ballet seems to have primarily picked names that were or could be German.     

I still don’t understand why this ballet is sometimes described as having four acts and sometimes three acts and four scenes.  It makes more sense to me that it would have four acts or if not two acts and four scenes.  Can anyone shed any light on this. 

Tom,