History Literature / TheErlKing

"Erlkönig" is one the most recognizable of Goethe's works for Germans, thanks to its time-honored status as an inevitable [[UsefulNotes/SchoolStudyMedia school study medium.]] So is Zhukovsky's adaptation (see below) for Russians.

The poem was set to music (for solo voice and piano) by Music/FranzSchubert in 1815. In Germany in the 20th century the word "Erlkönig" came to denote a car prototype on a nightly Autobahn test drive (speeding, like the father in the ballad, "through night and wind" and fog) in an attempt to evade photojournalists.

* DeathOfAChild: The poem is about a farmer riding furiously through the night to get his sick son home. The feverish young boy becomes increasingly distraught, claiming that the Elf King is trying to take him. Whether the Elf King is really there and trying to kidnap the boy or if it's just a fever hallucination is [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane left ambiguous]], but by the time the father reaches their home the boy has died.

* AdultFear: Having your child screaming for help and eventually dying in your arms.

"Erlkönig" is one the most recognizable of Goethe's works for Germans, thanks to its time-honored status as an inevitable [[SchoolStudyMedia school study medium.]] So is Zhukovsky's adaptation (see below) for Russians.

!! Some works and artists that reference the "Erl-King":
* Russian XIX-century poet Vassily Zhukovsky translated (or perhaps adapted, it wasn't a very literal translation) Goethe's ballad into a Russian-language poem "Лесной царь" ("The Forest Tsar") with the same plot.
* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' - A powerful member of TheFairFolk goes by this name and the poem is acknowledge to be about him in-universe.
* Creator/JohnConnolly wrote a short story by this name about a boy who meets and just barely escapes the titular figure. Unfortunately, his infant brother doesn't have the same luck.
* Music/SarahBrightman'' - Her song "Figlio Perduto" uses an Italian adaptation of this poem for lyrics.
* {{Music/Rammstein}} has a song titled "Dalai Lama" which is the Erlkönig [[RecycledInSpace on a plane]].
* ''{{Webcomic/Roommates}}'' - Also has the Erlkönig as character, and a meta webcomic adaptation of the poem, which is his official backstory. He would also [[SchmuckBait love to hear]] about that AlternateCharacterInterpretation mentioned in the main tropes.
* DoomMetal band Pagan Altar's "The Erl King" is an adaptation of the Goethe poem. Also, the Erl King is mentioned in "Armageddon" as being quite pleased with the [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt nuclear war that destroys humanity.]]
* There is a quite famous SurrealHorror ''{{Film/Labyrinth}}'' DarkFic by [[{{FanficRecs/Labyrinth}} Subtilior]] titled "Erlkönig". Let's just say the references don't stop at the title.
* ''Le Roi des aulnes'': a 1970 novel written by Michel Tournier.
* An episode in the fourth season of ''Series/BoardwalkEmpire'' is titled "Erlkönig", and parts of the poem are recited in it.
* Of course pathos begets countless parodies (eased by the fact that the poem is so easily recognized even when parodied). To name just one, "König Erl" by famous German comedy poet Heinz Erhardt.
* The antagonist of ''Literature/TheDarkestPartOfTheForest'' by Creator/HollyBlack named himself the Alderking, after this poem.
* The eighth of Canadian pianist Marc-André Hamelin's 12 Etudes in All the Minor Keys, "Erlkönig", is a purely instrumental "setting" of Goethe's poem.
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For a literal translation of the ballad, visit the [[Recap/TheErlKing recap page.]] A rhyming translation can be found [[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Alder_King on Wikisource.]]