The mermaid Undine is an elemental spirit, thus neither entirely nature nor entirely spirit. Through her love for a human, the young knight Huldbrand, she gains a soul and with it, immortality. However, with the soul also comes earthly suffering. Fouqué's "Undine" takes place in a fantastical medieval world. Considered one of the most beautiful fairy tales of the Romantic era, it is a piece of world literature that has enchanted readers for two hundred years with the fate of the graceful girl from the intermediary realm.