when using asdf to load swank the file swank-loader.lisp is compilied, however this file contains a symbol in the swank package, which is fine when the file is loaded but is an error when the file is compiled before the rest of swank has been loaded, which is what asdf tries to do when loading the swank system.
anyway, attached is a new swank.asd which contains all the dependencies in swank-loader and can be loaded from a non-emacs staret lisp image.
since i'm going to assume swank.asd will be used by programs and not by users (via emacs) this asdf doesn't load the user's init file.
-- Marco Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget the perfect offering. There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in. -Leonard Cohen