Erlking

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In European folklore and myth, the Erlking is a sinister elf who lingers in the woods. He stalks children who stay in the woods for too long and kills them with a single touch. The name "Erlking" (German: Erlkönig, lit. 'alder-king'; German: [ˈɛʁlkøːnɪç, -nɪk]) is a name used in German Romanticism for the figure of a spirit or "king of the fairies". It is usually assumed that the name is a derivation from the ellekonge (older elverkonge, i.e. "Elf-king") in Danish folklore. The name was first used by Johann Gottfried Herder in his ballad Erlkönigs Tochter (1778), an adaptation of the Danish folk ballad Hr. Oluf han rider (1739), and was taken up by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in his poem Erlkönig (1782), which was set to music by Schubert and others. Goethe added a new meaning, as "Erl" means not "elf" but "black alder", and the poem about the Erlenkönig is set in the area of an alder quarry in the Saale Valley, in Thuringia. In English translations of Goethe's poem, the name is sometimes rendered as Erl-king.