Erlkönig

 

Although inspired by Herder's ballad, Goethe departed significantly from both Herder's rendering of the Erlking and the Scandinavian original. The antagonist in Goethe's "Der Erlkönig" is the Erlking himself rather than his daughter. The Erlkönig appears to a young boy seeing a spirit – his father, however, sees the apparition as a simple streak of fog. Goethe's Erlking differs in other ways as well: his version preys on children, rather than adults of the opposite sex, and the Erlking's motives are never made clear. Goethe's Erlking is much more akin to the Germanic portrayal of elves and valkyries – a force of death and a magical spirit. There is a modern misconception in which they say the boy is fevered, yet, there is no evidence to support this. The boy is capable of rational conversation with his father (as well as the Erlkönig himself), which someone in such a grave fever would not be capable of. Additionally, the so-called “hallucinations” are far too coherent for fevered hallucinations. Furthermore, The Erlkönig kills the boy suddenly and grievously. Fevers do not cause sudden death. Finally, German and other folklores often state that children are more attuned to the supernatural, which would explain why they boy sees it and the father does not.