![]() Schubert's "The Erl-King" had various other adaptations on its own, including a piano-only version by Franz Liszt, and a famous violin rendition by Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst, which is considered one of the most technically difficult solo violin pieces of all times, if not the most difficult. 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. The poem has been set to music many times but by far the most famous version was composed (for solo voice and piano) by Franz Schubert in 1815. So is Zhukovsky's adaptation (see below) for Russians. "Erlkönig" is one the most recognizable of Goethe's works for Germans, thanks to its time-honored status as an inevitable school study medium. ![]() The "rational" interpretation is that the boy is hallucinating from fever. It is possible that Goethe went with the "wrong" translation consciously, as the Erl-King does not fit in with what most people of the era would have recognized as an Elf-King in the ballad, he seems to serve as a substitute to the Grim Reaper or Death. However Erlkönig is a mistranslation (by Johann Gottfried Herder) of the Danish "ellerkonge", which actually means "King of the elves" (that would be "Elfenkönig" in German, in case you wondered). ![]() The poem was inspired by a Danish folk tale, which was translated to German as "Erlkönigs Tochter" ("Daughter of the Arlen King"). When he arrives, he realizes that the boy is dead. Even the father is horrified now, and rides the horse as fast as possible. Yet the boy will not be calmed, finally screaming that Erl-King is touching him. The son is convinced that they are being pursued by the Erl-King, who speaks to him to persuade him to come away with him, while the father insists that the Erl-King doesn't exist - what he sees, so he tells the boy, are only trees, bushes and fog. It tells the story of a father who is carrying his sick son, while riding homewards after dark on horseback. "The Erl-King" or "The Alder King" ("Erlkönig" in German) is a German ballad written by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in 1782. "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.
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