An aging, childless king becomes lost in an enchanted forest and is led home by a strange red-haired man after promising to grant any wish. At court the queen soon bears a golden-haired daughter, and the stranger returns to claim the child as his due. The tale follows the moral strain of that bargain, the intrusion of magic into royal life, and themes of parental love, obligation, and unpredictable consequences when promises are made to supernatural beings.