According to German and Danish folklore, the Erlkönig or Erlking ("Elf-King") appears as an omen of death, much like the banshee in Irish mythology. Unlike the banshee, however, the Erlkönig will appear only to the person about to die. His form and expression also tell the person what sort of death they will have: a pained expression means a painful death, a peaceful expression means a peaceful death.
"Der Erlkönig" by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1782)[]
Der Erlkönig, which can be translated to English as "the Elf King" or "the Alder King," is a poem written by German writer and poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe as part of a type of German light opera called a "Singspiel" in 1782. The name of the Singspiel that Der Erlkönig was written for was called "Die Fischerin" or "The Fisherwoman."
In the poem a young boy is riding at night with his father. The boy yells to his father that they are being pursued by the the Elf King. The father looks but cannot see anyone around them and believes that it is just the child's imagination. The fearful child insists that the Elf King is there and that he is getting closer. Eventually the Elf King is close enough to whisper into the boy's ear. The boy screams that he has been harmed by the Elf King, and by the time the father reaches his destination he finds his son is dead. This poem was inspired by a version of an ancient Danish ballad called "Elveskud" or "Elf-Shot" in English. The earliest manuscript of this ballad is dated to be from the 1570's, but the story itself is believed to be much older.[1]
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