My daughter was a school child in the 1980s when she painted this seated princess carried through the air by swans. The picture lives in my office at the library, but I could not really remember the original story. A friend summarized it for me below –"The swans are the girl's brothers, who have been enchanted by the Wicked Queen / Stepmother / Witch. The sister (Elise, I think) has to knit them all sweaters out of nettles, which sting and scratch her fingers, and take a vow of silence in order to break the Wicked Queen's spell. She is almost burnt at the stake, even though a King's son has fallen in love with her, because she can't break her silence to explain why she walks at night through graveyards to collect the nettles. Everyone thinks that must mean she is a witch. Just as they are lighting the fire, she finishes the last sweaters and the swans are released from their spell. The detail I have always remembered is that she hasn't quite finished the sleeve for her youngest brother (the one she is fondest of) and so he is left with part of a swan's wing. And then of course she gets to marry the king's son and they have a wonderful big wedding."