erlking

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See also: erl-king

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Partial calque of German Erlkönig (literally alder-king), a mistranslation of Danish ellerkonge (king of the elves).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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erlking (plural erlkings)

  1. (European folklore) In German literature and modern folklore, a malicious elf or spirit who preys on children.
    • 1962, Charles Kinbote [pseudonym; Vladimir Nabokov], Pale Fire, New York, N.Y.: Berkley Books, published November 1985, →ISBN:
      This line, and indeed the whole passage (lines 653-664), allude to the well-known poem by Goethe about the erlking, hoary enchanter of the elf-haunted alderwood, who falls in love with the delicate little boy of a belated traveler.
    • 2010, Rachel Billington, The Missing Boy[1], Hachette, →ISBN:
      So easy for one young son to be swallowed up in a world teeming with Erlkings, real and imagined.
    • 2012, ミラクルミュージカル (lyrics and music), “Murders”, in Hawaii: Part II:
      He was in the forest looking to see the trees / But none were there / He found a girl / She found the erlking
    • 2018 October 22, Carol Rumens, “Poem of the week: Three Poetesses by Kristín Ómarsdóttir”, in The Guardian[2], →ISSN:
      By now, he seems less a cartoon character than some contemporary Erlking, the malicious spirit made famous by Goethe (and Schubert) but found originally in a Danish ballad.

Translations

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Anagrams

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