Tradition / Region: Netherlands (Noord-Holland, Heemskerk)
Alternate Names: —
Category: Swan maiden / nymph
The Myth
In Noord-Holland, people tell of the Zwanenjonkvrouw, a woman of extraordinary beauty who can take the form of a swan. She changes between swan and human shape by means of a magical swan shirt, known as her zwanenhemd. When she wears it, she becomes a swan; when it is removed, she remains human.
In many tales, a man discovers the Zwanenjonkvrouw while she is bathing and steals her swan shirt. Without it, she is unable to return to her true form. The man then forces her to become his wife, and she lives among humans, bound by the loss of her garment rather than by her own will.
For a time, she remains with him, but she never ceases to long for her swan shirt. When she eventually finds it again, she immediately leaves her husband without mercy and disappears, returning to her true nature and her former life.
In a legend from Heemskerk, the story ends more tragically. When the man chooses to abandon her in favor of an ordinary human woman, the Zwanenjonkvrouw falls down dead, her life ending the moment she is rejected.
Thus the Zwanenjonkvrouw is remembered as a swan-maiden bound by theft, marriage, and loss, whose fate is sealed by the recovery of her stolen form or by betrayal.