Greta, the daughter of a witch, was raised under her mother's indulgent influence, which nurtured an entitled and self-serving nature. Her mother arranged Greta's marriage to King Hildebrand after he became lost in a cursed forest, leveraging his desperation by presenting Greta as his bride. Though physically attractive, she harbored deep jealousy and cruelty.

After marrying the king, Greta discovered his seven children—six princes and a princess—living in a hidden forest castle accessible only via a magical spool of yarn. Resentful of the king's attention toward them, she stole the spool to find their sanctuary. There, she transformed the six princes into swans using enchanted white cloths; only the princess, Elisa, escaped. Upon learning of this betrayal, King Hildebrand expelled Greta from his kingdom.

Banished, Greta returned to her mother seeking help securing another royal marriage. Together, they targeted King Friedrich of a neighboring kingdom. To manipulate him, they poisoned a river near his lands, causing a widespread plague. When King Friedrich brought the mute Elisa—now weaving nettle shirts to break her brothers' curse—to his court, Greta and her mother falsely accused her of witchcraft. They exploited Elisa's silence and nocturnal nettle-gathering as "evidence," demanding she be burned at the stake.

At the execution, Elisa completed the shirts, freeing her brothers who then exposed the witches' deceit. Though King Friedrich sentenced Greta and her mother to death by burning, Elisa intervened, urging exile instead. The pair were permanently banished from the kingdom.