History Literature / TheErlKing

* ''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]].

* ''Le Roi des aulnes'': a 1970 novel written by Michel Tournier

%%* SupernaturalProofFather %% Zero Context Example

* One episode of ''Series/BoardwalkEmpire'' is titled Erlkönig.

* SupernaturalProofFather: See Its Probably Nothing above.

For a literal translation of the ballad, visit the [[Synopsis/TheErlKing synopsis page.]] A rhyming translation can be found [[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Alder_King on Wikisource.]]

* DeathOfAChild: A young boy dies.

* DiedInYourArmsTonight: What we have to assume to be the pose of father and son at the end.

* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' - A powerful member of TheFairFolk goes by this name and the poem is acknowledge to be about him in universe.

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

* TheFairFolk: The Erl-king and his daughters.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: The poem does not answer the question whether the Erl-King is real or only the dying boy's fever dream.

* DyingInYourArmsTonight: What we have to assume to be the pose of father and son at the end.

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* AdultFear: Having your child dying in your arms
* DownerEnding: By the time the father arrives home, his son has already died.
%% * ChaseScene
* TheFairFolk: The Erl-king and his daughters

* NotNowKiddo: How the father initially disregards the boy's fears

* There is a quite famous SurrealHorror ''{{Film/Labyrinth}}'' DarkFic by [[{{FanficRecs/Labyrinth}} Subtilior]] tiled "Erlkönig". Let's just say the references don't stop at the title.

-> ''"Wer reitet so spät durch Nacht und Wind? Es ist der Vater mit seinem Kind."''[[note]]Who rides there so late through the night dark and drear? The father it is, with his infant so dear.[[/note]]

-> ''Wer reitet so spät durch Nacht und Wind? Es ist der Vater mit seinem Kind.''[[note]]Who rides there so late through the night dark and drear? The father it is, with his infant so dear;[[/note]]

'''"The Erl-King"''' or "The Alder King" ("Erlkönig" in German) is a [[GermanMedia German ballad]] written by Creator/JohannWolfgangVonGoethe in 1782.

%% * TheFairFolk

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%% * DownerEnding

For a literal translation of the ballad, visit the [[Synopsis/TheErlKing synopsis page.]] A rhyming translation (as "The Alder King") can be found [[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Alder_King on Wikisource.]]

* NotSoImaginaryFriend: Inverted -- not so ImaginaryEnemy.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: The poem does not answer the question whether the Erl-King is real or the boy`s fever dream. Goethe himself however ''did'' believe in preternatural beings.

* HavingAGayOldTime / AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Some of the lines ("Ich liebe dich, mich reizt deine schöne Gestalt" -> "I love you, your beautiful form tempts/attracts/entices me") make the Erlkönig seem more like a creepy pedophile for modern readers. However, during Goethe`s lifetime most of these expressions did not have the sexual undertones they have today.

--> '''One of the most famous sentences in the German language.'''

* DownerEnding
* ChaseScene
* TheFairFolk