Meaning of erlking | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Alternative letter-case form of erlking.
   alt-of
2. In German literature and modern folklore, a malicious elf or spirit who preys on children.
   European

Equivalents

Examples

“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.”

“So easy for one young son to be swallowed up in a world teeming with Erlkings, real and imagined.”

“He was in the forest looking to see the trees / But none were there / He found a girl / She found the erlking”

“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.”

CEFR level