Ronia, the Robber's Daughter recap

Ronia, the daughter of robber chief Matt, grows up in a fort split by lightning and explores the dangerous forest around it. A rival band led by Borka occupies the fort's other half, where Ronia meets Borka's son, Birk. Although their families are enemies, the children repeatedly save each other and become as close as siblings. When Matt takes Birk captive to force Borka out, Ronia makes herself a hostage to secure Birk's release. Matt disowns her, so she and Birk leave both families and live through the summer in Bear's Cave. Their difficult independence deepens their bond and finally drives Matt to seek reconciliation. Back at the fort, the robber bands unite under Matt, but Ronia and Birk both refuse to become robbers. After Noddle-Pete's death, his secret of a silver source offers them another way to live, and they plan a future together beyond their fathers' feud.

During a fierce storm, Lovis gives birth to Ronia in the mountain fort of her husband, the robber chief Matt. The same night, lightning splits the stronghold in two and opens a deep chasm through it. Ronia grows up surrounded by Matt's noisy band, with practical Lovis and elderly Noddle-Pete as steadier influences. When she is old enough to leave the fort alone, Matt warns her about the forest's real dangers and tells her to learn how to avoid them. Ronia begins exploring on her own, testing her courage among cliffs, rivers, wild creatures, and the uncanny inhabitants of the woods. The forest becomes the place where she develops a life and judgment separate from her father's band.

Ronia discovers that the apparently empty half of the fort has been occupied by Borka, the chief of a rival robber band. Borka's son, Birk, is close to her age, and the two children meet across the chasm known as Hell's Gap. They initially repeat their fathers' hostility, competing in daring jumps and refusing to yield to each other. Yet their rivalry begins to change as each sees the other's courage. The presence of Borka's band enrages Matt, and both families treat the children as members of opposing sides, making any friendship between them an act of disobedience.

Ronia and Birk meet secretly in the forest despite the feud. When the wilderness puts one of them in danger, the other gives help rather than taking advantage, and repeated acts of trust replace their earlier competition. They decide to regard each other as sister and brother. Neither child accepts the adults' claim that inherited hostility should determine their relationship, but secrecy is necessary because Matt and Borka remain determined to drive one another from the fort. The friendship gives Ronia companionship in the forest while placing her increasingly at odds with her father's pride and the robber code around her.

Matt captures Birk and uses him as leverage against Borka. Ronia is appalled that her father would mistreat the person she now calls her brother. To break the standoff, she crosses Hell's Gap and deliberately places herself in Borka's power, forcing the fathers to exchange the two children. Matt experiences her action as betrayal and refuses to acknowledge her as his daughter. Unwilling to renounce Birk or remain in a home governed by the feud, Ronia leaves the fort with him. They settle in Bear's Cave and undertake to live by their own labor in the forest through the summer.

Life in Bear's Cave gives Ronia and Birk the freedom they wanted, but food, weather, animals, and their own tempers make independence difficult. They learn practical ways to care for themselves and survive disagreements without abandoning their bond. Lovis maintains contact and brings news from the fort, while Matt suffers from Ronia's absence but remains trapped by pride. As summer ends and the forest can no longer support the children safely, Matt finally comes to Ronia and asks her to return. His willingness to seek her out repairs the break between them, and Ronia agrees to come home without surrendering her relationship with Birk.

Ronia returns to the stronghold, and Birk remains her chosen brother even though the two bands still occupy separate halves. Noddle-Pete dies, leaving Ronia with grief and a secret about a source of silver. Growing pressure from the authorities persuades the rival bands that they cannot survive indefinitely as enemies. Matt defeats Borka in a contest for leadership and becomes chief of the united robbers. The adults expect Birk eventually to inherit that position, but he refuses to become a robber; Ronia also tells Matt that she will not follow his trade. The children plan to return to Bear's Cave in future summers and use Noddle-Pete's silver secret as an honest livelihood. Matt must accept that Ronia will choose her own path, while the end of the feud allows both families to share the fort and lets Ronia and Birk face that future together.

After returning to the fort, Ronia and Birk remain loyal to each other even as their fathers continue the feud. Noddle-Pete dies, leaving Ronia grieving but also carrying his knowledge of a source of silver. Pressure from soldiers makes the two robber bands accept that they must cooperate. Matt defeats Borka in a contest and becomes chief of the combined band, but Birk refuses the expectation that he will one day lead robbers, and Ronia likewise rejects her father's trade. The children intend to spend future summers together in Bear's Cave and support themselves through the silver secret rather than robbery. Matt is distressed that Ronia will not succeed him, yet the feud has ended: the families share the stronghold, and Ronia and Birk face adulthood as chosen brother and sister, determined to make a different life.