- The summary describes a retelling of the story of Rumpelstiltskin. It involves a miller's daughter, Elizabeth, who is locked in a dungeon by the greedy king and told to spin straw into gold. A strange man appears and agrees to help in exchange for her necklace and later her firstborn child. Elizabeth marries the prince but the man returns to claim the child. Elizabeth is given a week to discover his name, which the prince eventually learns by following the man to his camp.