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Paper long abstract

This poster examines how the Swan Maiden tale type (ATU 400) is adapted in the Faroese Kópakonan legend. Using motif classification and comparative narrative analysis, it shows how a widely distributed narrative pattern changes function when placed in a coastal island environment. While the international folktale typically centers on marriage and the loss of a supernatural wife, the Faroese version emphasizes kinship taboo, ecological boundaries, and collective consequence. The seal woman’s transformation, escape, and curse shift the narrative from a domestic plot to an etiological and moral narrative explaining environmental danger and social norms. The study argues that the legend does not simply preserve a folktale motif but reorganizes it according to local conditions. By adapting inherited narrative structure to landscape, livelihood, and social concerns, the Kópakonan legend demonstrates how oral traditions actively reshape shared narrative material rather than merely transmitting it.