Along time ago and faraway there lived a king who had twelve children. His Queen had died after the birth of the youngest child, their only daughter. The king lived happily with his children, filling their days with all the good things a caring parent’s love can give.

One day when he was out hunting in the forest, he made his way deeper into the forest than usual. After many twists and turns of the forest path he found that he was hopelessly lost. Night was beginning to fall and he was already preparing to spend a night under the trees when he saw a light winking at him through the branches.

“Ah my luck has changed,” he said, “I’m sure the owner of this small dwelling will soon set me on the right path.”

He went and knocked on the door. Immediately an old woman answered. On hearing that he had lost his way she invited him to come and sit by her fire and share her simple supper. The King was thanked her kindly, but said that he would rather make his way home, and that if she would show him the right path he would trouble her no longer.

“But there is only one way out - one way home!” the old woman hissed in his face

To the King’s alarm the old woman grabbed hold of his arm and pulled him inside her hut. “Marry my daughter, make her your queen, and then she will show you the way home. If you refuse - you will never return home, you will wander forever on the lost paths of this forest.”

The king looked past the old woman and saw a young woman sitting by the fire. The king could see that she was exceedingly beautiful, but as looked up into her face he saw that her eyes were cruel and cold. What a choice now lay before himeither wander the lost paths of the forest or marry the daughter of a witch, for surely the old woman was a witch. And so the king agreed to marry the witch’s daughter .He took her by the hand and led her out of the hut. Immediately he recognised a path leading home.

          Now fortunately for the king, at the time of his adventure his children were away from home and so his new wife was unaware of their existence. Knowing that she would wish them harm the king secretly arranged for the children to stay where they were, warning them to stay hidden, saying that he would visit them as soon as often as he could. But the witch’s daughter grew suspicious that her husband was so often from home and so she decided to follow him.

Once she had discovered his secret she became determined to destroy them, and so employing the dark arts her mother had taught her she set out alone to meet the children. She stood outside the house where the children were staying   and uttered her spell. Slowly the door to the house opened and out came eleven boys. They walked slowly towards the young witch, who touched each one on the forehead. At the touch of her hand each brother fell onto his knees. White feathers started to cover their quivering bodies and each brother was turned into a great white swan. Then with a sudden cry the eleven wild swans stretched out their wings and flew up into the blueness of the sky. With a cry of triumph the witch-queen returned home.

          Meanwhile the king’s youngest child, his only daughter, Elise was unaware of the terrible misfortune that had befallen her older brothers, for she had been gathering flowers from the water meadow. On returning home she quickly grew alarmed on finding the house empty. Where were her brothers? And why were there so many white feathers strewn on the grass outside the house?

Elise spent the night waiting in vain for her brothers to return. So with the return of the morning sun, she decided to go and look for them. She walked all day through the forest giving a cry every now and then as she saw a white feather in the path or caught in the branches of a tree. Then all of a sudden the forest disappeared and before her lay a huge grey expanse of water. She had walked all the way to the sea. It lay tranquil, and still, with a path of gold leading towards the slowly setting sun. Elise walked slowly along the seashore; she was no nearer finding her brothers. In fact she had not seen a single soul the whole day. ‘What shall I do now?’ she sighed, ‘Wherever could my brothers be?’ At that very moment she looked up into the darkening sky. The last rays of the sun were fading, but she could just make out flying fast towards the land a flock of great white birds. As they flew over her head, she could see that they were eleven wild swans, each one wearing a crown of gold. The swans landed on the shore and as Elise saw them her heart was glad and yet full of fear though she knew not why, until as the sun set and dark night fell, she saw the great birds vanish and there standing in their place were her eleven brothers.

At first her cries were all of delight on finding them. They too were delighted to see their young sister. They had been troubled that she too might have fallen under the spell cast by their wicked stepmother. They told her of the witch’s visit to their house and how she had cast the spell on each one of them.

‘During the hours of sunlight we are condemned to live as wild swans. Only once the sun has set are we permitted to regain our human form

‘Oh, we must return home and tell our father and then he will force her to take away this terrible spell,’ cried Elise.

‘It would be of no use,’ replied her oldest brother. ‘For there is only one way the spell can be brokenand the price is too high and therefore will not ask it.’

‘Tell me my dearest brothers; surely I too can help share the pain of your enchantment.’ But none of the brothers could be persuaded to tell her what she desired to know. Instead they spoke of the need to carry her away from there to a place of safety. ‘When our stepmother discovers there was a daughter as well she will seek to do you some mischief. We will take you faraway from here to a land where you can live in safety.’

They decided to carry Elise on a blanket woven from the willow trees that grew close by. When all their preparations were complete they fell asleep.

With the first rays of sun the brothers once again became swans. Elise lay still on the blanket of woven willow as each swan took hold of an edge with its beak. Then suddenly the powerful wings beat the air and they were flying out over the sea, leaving the land of their birth far behind them. As Elise lay on her blanket of willow she listened to the strong regular beat of her brothers’ wings as they flew steadily on. Far away below her came the deep echoing sound of waves. Waves that sang to her those words her brothers could not bring themselves to speak:

‘As wild swans your brothers fly,

High above you in the sky.

If you would this spell to break,

Eleven shirts you must make.

Of nettles green must be their thread,

Their  stings will pain your hands so red.

If you would this spell to break

Not one sound must you make.’

Her brothers heard the words sung to their sister, but they only bowed their heads and beat their wings stronger and faster.

Eventually the grey blue of the sea gave way to the greens and browns of land and so the swans landed near to a small cave that would give them shelter. The day ended as the sun set and the brothers turned back into human form. Immediately Elise turned to her brothers.

‘I heard the song of the sea calling to me. And although I am afraid, how could I refuse to make those shirts for you. What is a little stinging? What is silence if only I can release you from the spell that binds you?’

The brothers tried to dissuade her adding, ‘We have not told you everything. Soon the winter will come and as birds we cannot resist the call to fly to a warmer place. We cannot take you with us, as the journey is too long and hazardous. How can we leave you alone in a strange land, unable to speak and with such a task? Why not wait until the summer months and we return to help you?’

But now that Elise knew she had the means to break the spell nothing could deter her. ‘The sooner I start the sooner I shall finish. I shall live here in this cave. Before you leave we shall make it comfortable, gather stores for the winter. See, there is a ready supply of nettles growing over by the entrance.’ At last the brothers agreed and in the days that followed they prepared the cave for their sister. Elise herself had already begun her task. Already her finger s were red raw from the stings of the nettles, but not one sound passed her lips. Instead there rested on them the saddest, sweetest smile. The brothers themselves could barely speak when they witnessed the pain endured by their sister on their behalf.

              Finally the day came when the brothers could no longer refuse the call to fly to a warmer place. With great sadness in their hearts they told their sister that she would always be in their thoughts and that they would return to find her as soon as they could. Their white wings beat the air and they were gone. Elise watched until they had disappeared then she went to pick nettles for the next shirt. Already she had finished the first three shirts and was eager to start the fourth. She had already used the nettles that grew near her cave and so she had to go into the forest to gather more. She had just picked a large apron full when she heard the sound of dogs barking, and the sound of galloping horses. Unwilling to be discovered she climbed up into a nearby tree, hoping who ever it was would pass her by. The dogs discovered her first; their barking brought the travellers straight to her tree. She could see a group of men .The tallest and most handsome called up to her. ‘Greetings wood nymph, for what else could one of such beauty be. Why are you all alone in my forest?  Do you not have one word for your king? For so I am, although I feel that I am ready to fulfil any command you give me.’

Elise sat silent in the tree. She was perplexed by his words. She could not answer his questions. Why couldn’t he just leave her alone? But the king was not going to leave her alone in the forest. He insisted that she was to return to the palace with him. She could only submit to his orders, although she insisted that she collect her belongings from the cave.

           So began Elise’ life at the palace. It soon became obvious to everyone that the king had fallen desperately in love with the silent girl and no one dared say a word against it (although behind closed doors there was many a muttering against the strange silent beautiful girl from the wood).

How can a sad lonely girl resist such a declaration of love? And so it was that Elise married the king and became his queen. But do not think for one moment that she had forgotten her brothers and her task of making eleven shirts. Every night when the palace was asleep, silent as a ghost Elise would steal from her bed and make her way to a nearby graveyard where the nettles grew in profusion. But the graveyard at night was the abode of witches, who would meet there to perform their unholy ceremonies. Fear would grip her heart as she crept through the shadows picking the stinging weed, silently praying that she would avoid their attention. Then she would return home to spin and weave the nettle thread for the remaining shirts until the lightening of the sky would announce that the day was near. And so passed Elise’s silent life during the cold winter nights and during this time she completed ten of the brothers’ shirts.

              But Elise’s strange night time excursions did not go unnoticed. One night the Bishop was late returning from his night prayer and he saw the silent figure of the Queen walking through the palace. Now the Bishop had long been convinced that Elise had somehow bewitched the young king and so he was curious to know where she might be going so late at night. On following her to the graveyard, he immediately believed her to be a witch meeting with other fiends. He immediately went to the king and told him of what he had witnessed. But the king who genuinely loved Elise could not believe what his bishop told him. ‘She is kind and gentle, how could she be an evil witch.’ But the bishop insisted that he could not disregard the evidence of one of his most trusted advisers. ‘Let me ask you, have you never woken to find your wife gone from your bed? And how can you explain why her hands are red and sore? Your majesty tonight let us keep watch and follow your wife. Then you may judge for yourself.’ Finally, with a heavy heart, the king agreed.

                  Now Elise only needed one more bundle of nettles to finish the last shirt. She could hardly believe her long and painful task was nearly completed. It was the beginning of Spring and soon her brothers would return. The spell would be broken and she would be free to love the king. For the last time she watched as her dear husband drifted in to sleep. She slipped from bed and set off unaware that she was being followed. The King could barely bring himself to look. There was his wife entering the graveyard at the dead of night. What the bishop had told him must be true- His wife was a witch what other reason could she possibly have to come to such a place at the dead of night. Gossip and superstition told him that if he followed her in he would see her with the other witches as they performed their evil rites amidst the tombstones. He turned and fled back to the palace convinced of her guilt although it broke his heart.

Elise returned with her final bundle of nettles. But as she entered the palace she found herself discovered. The Bishop walked towards her holding his cross before him as protection.

‘Witch, you are discovered. Tomorrow you will be tried and when you are found guilty you will be burned at the stake.’ Elise looked around in horror; she had no way of defending herself against the accusations. She ran to the door of her bedroom and beat on it with her fists. Surely her husband would come and defend her. Slowly the door to her room opened. There stood her husband his ash white face stained with tears told her that he too believed her guilty.

                She was taken away to a prison cell, still clutching her last bundle of nettles. No one had taken them from her, as they believed them to be used in her magic spells. And so she set to work on the final shirt- what else could she do. Morning came and with it a verdict - guilty of witchcraft. Elise was bundled into the cart that would take her to the fire. Along with the  completed nettle shirts, ready to be added to the fire. In Elise’s hands was the last shirt awaiting its final sleeve. As the cart made its way along the road Elise continued working on the shirt. The crowds watched her in disbelief. ‘Say your prayers instead witch!

Finally she arrived at the place of execution. In the centre of the square was a huge pile of wood. Elise was tied to the stake and the bundle of shirts was placed around her. The executioner came forward .In his hand he carried a torch. A silence fell over the crowd. Elise looked around. There before her his head bowed down in sorrow was her husband, the king. How she wished she could tell him the truth. Her brothers would return now with the spring and it would be too late. She would be gone. The executioner stepped forward and dropped the torch to the wood. Immediately there came a roar as the flames leapt up around Elise. But then there came a second roar and a cry went up from the crowd. ‘Look swans! Great white swans and they have come to save the queen!’ Elise looked up .Her brothers had returned to save her. She felt her hands released from the rope that held them. Immediately she picked up the bundle of nettle shirts and threw them over her brothers’ heads. Then she felt strong arms pull her out of the fire to safety and standing before her where her brothers each one standing tall and proud before her, all except the youngest brother. The lower part of his right arm was still formed as a swan’s wing, for Elise had been unable to complete the final sleeve of the last shirt.

‘And now I am free to speak and save myself. For I am no witch,” cried Elise “and these are my brothers.”

The crowd had watched the events played out before their eyes in astonishment, but on hearing Elise’ tale their astonishment turned to wonder and joy at the courage of their queen. The king himself stepped forward and fell to his knees. ‘How could I ever have believed that you were anything but a true and loving wife?

The end of the story tells us that Elise lived happily ever after with her king and her brothers, but I like to think that Elise’s father came to know of his children’s adventures and that having brought his witch-wife to justice he too was reunited with his family.