Cambridge professor Emily Wilde begins to document her research on the “Hidden Ones” of Ljosland—a mysterious and elusive species of faerie, previously thought to be myth. She notes to the reader that her handwritten accounts are to aid in compiling her field notes, or alternatively, to leave her research for future scholars if she is kidnapped by the Folk.

Emily travels five days from London to Hrafnsvik, Ljosland, alongside her enormous but docile hound, Shadow. She settles in a small cottage provided by a local farmer, Krystjan Egilson, with the eerie, wintry Karrðarskogur forest and Suðerfjoll Mountains looming behind it. Krystjan seems to her to have a mildly rude demeanor, though she admits in her narration that she has poor social skills and trouble reading others. According to Krystjan, who spoke with others after her arrival, the locals feel a combination of indifference and mild hostility toward her; some villagers mock her for her lofty goals of studying their local faerie Folk and her small size and presumed lack of experience in brutal winter climates elicit skepticism. Krystjan advises that Emily only study the smaller faeries, as “no good will come of [her] provoking the others, for [her]self or for [the townspeople]” (6).