"Erlkönig" (also called "Der Erlkönig") is a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
By wiki I know that the word könig means 'king', but what's the meaning of erl? Is it devil, elf, or genie?
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2wrong translation from danish ellerkonge = Elfenkönig; board.battleknight.de/board119-archive/…– bummiCommented May 29, 2013 at 9:50
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@bummi Honestly, I'm not familiar with German, what's the major content in that post?– PopopoCommented May 29, 2013 at 10:02
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same with my english ;-( The substance of the ballad comes from the danish, there is the Erlkönig Ellerkonge, so elf king.– bummiCommented May 29, 2013 at 10:06
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4As far as I see the this answer to Erklärung der Beugung des Wortes „Erlenkönig“ im Gedicht Goethes does also answer your question.– Em1Commented May 29, 2013 at 10:28
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@Em1,@bummi, I see, thank you.– PopopoCommented May 29, 2013 at 12:46
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1 Answer
The ballad Erlkönig is originally Danish and named there "Ellerkonge"... meaning elf-king. Eller was falsely translated with "Erle" which is a German tree. So the short form of "Erle" is "Erl".
Hope that could answer it :)
