When her wicked stepmother abandons a girl out in the middle of the woods, she comes upon a tree, where she is introduced to the 'elder of the woods', the mysterious old man who freezes people to death when they get lost in the woods. By befriending him, he makes her a magic fur coat. She saves herself and survives the night. When her father arrives the next morning, the stepmother greedily wants a coat, so she waits to meet the elder. But the stepmother is not nearly as polite.