An unnamed narrator describes a sinister forest. She walks through the woods, drawn by the call of a bird, and encounters the Erl-King: a mythic spirit of the forest. She describes his habits of foraging for mushrooms and herbs; he describes the animals to her and shares their secrets. He lives in a forest home and keeps birds in cages, to the distress of the girl; he also has a broken violin hanging on his wall. At night, she goes to him and lets him make love to her. As the cold season comes, the Erl-King offers feasts to both the birds and the girl, calling them to him. The girl reflects that the Erl-King’s eyes are like a werewolf’s, and she worries she will become trapped in them. She realizes that he intends to put her in a cage as well. She pretends to care for him and combs his hair, planning to strangle him with it. Then she plans to release all the birds and re-string his fiddle.

A count and a countess are riding horses in the snow. The count wishes for a child “as white as snow, […] as red as blood, […] as black as that bird’s feather” (99).