When the knight Huldbrand finds shelter at an old fisherman's cottage outside a haunted forest, he encounters and falls in love with his host's adopted daughter, the mysterious Undine. As it turns out that his beloved is a mermaid from a royal house and that Huldbrand was already more or less betrothed to Bertalda from the nearest town, the romance is fraught with complications, with tragic consequences. Undeniably the best work of de la Motte Fouque, "Undine" was at one time the most widely read of all German romantic novels. This charming and delicate story has inspired many painters, writers and choreographers.