The Six Swans' Shirts
The six shirts of the Grimms' fairy tale 'The Six Swans' (KHM 49) are woven by the princess from stinging nettles to break the enchantment that has turned her six brothers into swans. For years she must gather the nettles, spin and sew the shirts in complete silence, and her vow costs her dearly when her children are taken from her and she is condemned rather than speak. When the shirts are at last finished and thrown over the swans, her brothers become men again, though the youngest is left with a wing instead of an arm because one shirt was not finished. The tale belongs to the family of swa