Swineherd

Engraving of the Prodigal Son as a swineherd by Hans Sebald Beham, 1538.

A swineherd /ˈswaɪnhɜːrd/ is a person who looks after pigs. The term has fallen out of popular use in favour of pig farmer.

Swineherds in literature

• Hans Christian Andersen wrote a Fairy tale called, "The Swineherd".
• In Greek mythology, Eumaeus (or Eumaios) was Odysseus' swineherd.
• In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, the younger son wastes his inheritance and eventually has to become a swineherd.
• In Lloyd Alexander's books based on Welsh mythology, The Chronicles of Prydain, the hero is a pig keeper, or swineherd.
• The character Gurth, in Sir Walter Scott's book "Ivanhoe" is a swineherd.
• The main character in the Disney movie The Black Cauldron is a swineherd.
• Among Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin's most famous work is the poem "Swineherd".
• The protagonist in H.P. Lovecraft's story, "The Rats In the Wall," has reoccurring nightmares of a bearded daemon swineherd.

See also

• Pig farming

References

• Swineherd, Askoxford.com
• Swineherd, Bartleby.com