The Erlkönig

Here I try my hand at translating a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, as close to the original meter and translation as possible – using metaphorical equivalents, when necessary – while maintaining a rhyme.  A literal translation is found on the English Wikipedia, which is lacking in this feature, while in the same place, we find an elegant Victorian-era translation, but with lines longer than the following ones.

The Poem:

Who rides so late in the night, on the run, 
It's a father, with his only son, 
He has the lad tightly in one arm, 
He holds him s'curely, he keeps him warm.

  My son, oh why hidest thou thy face?
  Oh sir!, the Erlking, seest thou no trace?
The Erlking bedecked with crown and train? 
My son, 'tis mere fog, portending rain.

Dear child, come on! Accompany me! 
Indeed, nice games I will play with thee.
Such nice flowers are found on my strand, 
My mother has golden robes at hand.

Oh father! Oh father, cans't not hear 
What Erlking whispers into my ear? 
  Be still, be quiet, my dearest child, 
  Leaves are rustling in a wind so mild.

Oh, wilt thou not come with me, fine lad? 
My daughters await, they'll be so glad! 
My daughters who in nightly leaping 
Will dance and sing, and get thee sleeping.

Oh father! Oh father, canst not see 
Erlking's daughters by yonder dark tree? 
  My son! My son! Thou mistakenly 
  Seest grey willows, they shine pliantly.

I love thee, thy life thrills me of course! 
If you dare spurn me, I will use force! 
Oh father, father! Now he's grabbed me,
The Erlking's really gone and stabbed me.

The father shudders and races on home, 
Holding his son, who'd started to groan; 
Into his farmyard, weary he sped. 
Too late! In his arms the child was dead!

 

Comments

I have used the old second person singular, as it lent itself better to the desired structure of the poem.  The first line could have been translated even more literally and accurately with an even older English, as:

Who rideth so late through night and wind?

The choice of “in the night, on the run” was felt to be more dynamic, and here I wanted to escape literalism, needing a rhyming word for “sun”.  Bowring also avoided the word “wind”, while context shows, further down in both the original German and the Wikipedia translations, the wind is not that strong.

My original wording had “shores”, and going with an imperfect rhyme, “clothes”. I finally worked out the following, before having decided on “strand”:

Such nice flowers are found on my shore.
Mother's golden robes you'll just adore.

While the wording, in my opinion, seems to fit the type of language the Erlking uses, I find it inappropriate.

This same stanza (the third) mentions quantity of flowers and raiment in the original.  I think the idea is maintained, without its being stressed.

In the fourth stanza, the German used Erlenkönig instead of Erlkönig.  This is a clue as to the true meaning.  Thus we get, as pointed out in the current Wikipedia article, that the literal translation would be “Alder King”, rather than “Elf-King”. My original idea – impossible – was “Earl-King”. “Alder” may well be correct, because of the mention of trees.  “Elf” cannot be ruled out, but then I would like to emphasize the evil nature of this being, by calling it a goblin, yet I find this term too weak.  Were I to try this poem with longer lines, I would probably rename it to “The Alder Forest Ghoul-King”.  The etymology of ghoul fits in admirably with the last two stanzas ideas of “seizing” and “death“.

Where I have “Will dance and sing, and get thee sleeping“, Wikipedia gives what I believe to be an incorrect literal translation as “And rock and dance and sing to bring you in”.  “Rock” is correct, but “bring you in” is propably not, as I will point out in a moment. If we associate “rock” with  I “rock and roll” we get “dance”, so one of the two terms would be redundant.  However, it could also be the idea of rocking a cradle, that is; rocking a child in the cradle to sleep.  This same meaning is found in the word einsingen.  Eintanzen only has the meaning (at least as far as prominence ones) of “getting in the rhthym of dancing correctly”.  This type of use of the prefix ein also gives the most used idea of einsingen – to get one’s voice in the correct tones for singing. However, with two ideas suggesting sleep (verifiable through duden.de, eintanzen would seem to be more a case of poetic licence.  Nevertheless, in keeping with the idea of a sinister being, if we consider, as shown in two cases, that the separable prefix ein could signify getting someone into the swing of the verb to which it is coupled, i.e., into the swing of singing, into the proper moves for dancing, into correctly rocking; then we might have the Erlking attempting to lull  the lad with the sense of his words, while suggesting to the reader or listener of the words the idea of creating a zombie of the child.  We thus tie this in with the idea of the ghoul.

So, having given our idea that the true meaning of the three verbs must be about sleep, I confess I was thinking of the German  verb “einschlafen“.  Although an on-line translator gave, in Spanish, the concept I was looking for, it does not seem to match German grammatical rules, in other words, ich schlafe dich ein does not seem possible. With poetic licence, again, we have a sinister possibility, in that the sleep could be the sleep of death, although with the lie that it would be peacefully attained.

The last two verses are highly emotionally charged. The penultimate one suggests a body-snatcher, the same as a ghoul. In truth, worse is suggested, but this page is not the place for that discussion – it can be found elsewhere on the web.  We can say, however, that the Erlking uses a carrot and stick approach.  The carrot was a very enticing one, the stick is more than a cudgel.  In the versions set to song and music, I find that the best versions have excellent contortions of the face to express the evil of this person.  It’s Adolf Hitler (and not only him) negotiating with the message: “If you’re not willing, I will use force”.

I disagree with Wikipedia‘s summary on two counts:

One: as mentioned before, the wind referred to does not seem to be that strong, and neither does the presence of fog constitute weather which is “unusually inclement”.

Two: The discussion of the varied meanings of the German word “Hof” are irrelevant. If this poem, or Lied was part of a “Singspiel” called “Die Fischerin” (The Woman Fisher), I think it may be safe to say that the actors of the sung play represented common people, and not aristocrats.  This, though, would depend on the frequency with which the lower classes might have access to a horse for riding.  It cannot, however, be ruled out, that we have a pack horse, or a horse-drawn carriage, as is shown in at least one video for the music to this poem. The “literal” version gave the translation “farm”, while Bowring used “courtyard”.  It would seem that the former works best for the simple reason that the inducements held out by the Erlking would make more sense to a poor boy than to an a member of the upper class.  At the same time, the boy has had the necessary upbringing which had him resist being led into temptation.

The Etymology of the Term Erlkönig

Wikipedia has some words to say about the idea that Erlkönig is a mistranslation of the Danish  elverkonge (second paragraph). Where the German literally refers to an alder-king, the Danish to an elf-king. The reason I bring this up is because that encyclopedia makes us believe that this is a question of some debate.  I would say that the debate should long have been laid to rest. My etymological German Woher? puts Erlkönig under Erle, the word for “alder”, but goes on to explain that this was Herder’s mistranslation of the Danish ellerkonge, which should really be elverkonge, both words in effect meaning elf-king.  Let’s go for a second opinion: A work digging even more into the past of words, Das Herkunftswörterbuch (Duden) goes further than Woher? under Erle, giving the Danish for Elf-king as Elle[r]konge.  We notice an optional letter “r”, and this is important in explaining the false etymology.  (Herder is again mentioned as having erred.) Under Eller we note that this is the older, and currently low German form of Erle. Noteworthy is the explanation that the word comes from an indo-european root, “*el-“, meaning shiny or shimmering, while in the Lied here presented, the father, in the original German text, had referred to the willows as shining.  No reconciliation could be made between the willow and the alder, but, well, they both have this quality, either etymological, or poetical, as seen here.

The American Heritage Dictionary, however, gives its closest root to the words under consideration as albho-. No indo-european etymology is given for the alder-tree.

That said, our investigation would not be complete without looking at the Danish. For this purpose, we have use Langenscheidts Taschenwörterbuch Dänisch-Deutsch. Under elledans (elf-dance) we see the word for elves, ellefolk, and elf-king, as seen before, without “r”. The tree is elletræ. Note that the last part is a cognate of the English “tree”. But immediately following that, for “elf” again, we have two choices in one entry, el(le)ve, supposedly a female elf. Going over into the next column, we see elve as synonymous with the just seen elleve, and the prefix elver-(not yet seen in this discussion) as being the same as the prefix elle-. We will leave this discussion with what we find in an old on-line Danish-English dictionary (the specific page is best viewed as a single page, and must be enlarged): Here we see an additional spelling, Elverfolk (already implicit from what was just explained).  If the reader wonders why I stated that the female elf is supposedly an elleve, it is because the old dictionary gives this as the number eleven.  In the German-English section of the Langenscheidt, both eleven and elf are given as translations, but then, in addition to versions already given, adds an alf of Nordic mythology.

If we could speak of a supranational conscience – that is, neither Danish nor German, I could add one more metaphor to what we have in Goethe’s poem.  The Danish language has the expression, i den ellevte time, which has been translated into German as in der zwölfte Stunde, which in one dictionary is given the same meaning as in der elfte Stunde. This comes out meaning either in the twelfth or the eleventh hour, with the weight of the idea going to the former; because, as a metaphor, the expression means “too late”.  The father was out with his son, let us say, in the eleventh hour – at the very last possible moment – but once the Erlkönig was met, his son’s hour was past. The father arrived tardily at his destination, even if it were through no fault of his.

Real and Pseudo-etymological ideas in “The Erlkönig” Click to see full size.

Nasty Business

I strongly suspected that some of Hitler’s words could be comparable, if not the same as the Erlkönig’s final one’s: Und bist du nicht willig, so brauch ich Gewalt. For convenience, we use the royal we. On one occasion, the yet-to-be dictator said:

Es kommt der Tag an dem unsere Ziele verwirklicht werden und dazu brauchen wir Gewalt … https://www.ifz-muenchen.de/heftarchiv/1959_2_4_deuerlein.pdf (Document 21 – NSDAP meeting, May 15, 1920.

(The day will come when our goals will be realized, and for this purpose, we will use force.)

A couple of copyright-free quotes are the following:

… [A]re you prepared to confront Saddam Hussein and directly say to him, “If you do not fully comply we will force you to comply or we will use force?”.  – Senator Robb to Senator Baker, p. 158, Hearings Before the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, Dec. 4 and 5, 1990.

“If you do not get off the base, we will use force.” Mr. Hayes answering Senator Symington, Capehart Military Family Housing; Hearings before the Preparedness Investigating Committee of the Committe on Armed Services, Unites States Senate, 87th Congress, March 10, 14, and 21, 1961.

Going back to the German language, here is one found about so-called regime change, more specifically, about bringing freedom and enlightenment.  Clearly, it was not an American creation!

… jetzt aber sagen die Deutschösterreicher zu den anderer Völker:  „Ihr müßt die selbe Freiheit haben wie wir …“; and after going on for a full column, clarifies, now referring to bringing the inhabitants of the Tyrol out of intellectual darkness: „Die Tiroler müssen  geradeso aufgeklärt sein wie wir, und wenn sie nicht wollen, so brauchen wir Gewalt.“ – Triglav. Zeitschrift für vaterländische Interessen red. von P. von Radics, Laibach, 11. Mai 1869, „Jedem das Seine“

Translation: … but now the German Austrians say to the other peoples (of Austria): “You must have the same freedom that we have, … The Tyrolese need to be just as enlightened as we are, and if they are unwilling, we will use force.”

We may ask, who is more effective here, Shakespeare, in Two Gentlement of Verona, Act I, Scene I: (The third outlaw speaking):

Stand, sir, and throw us that you have about ye:
If not, we’ll make you sit, and rifle you.    – from The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition]

or these words by a German translator:

Halt, Herr, und gebt uns was ihr bei euch habt;
Sonst brauchen wir gewalt und plündern euch. –

– Die beide Edlen von Verona, übersetzt von Alexander Fischer in William Shakespeare Sämtliche Werke, Erster Band, Leipzig: Georg Wigand, 1839. 

The literal translation may lack the bard’s use of language, but can be understand by any modern:

Stop, sir, and give us what you have on you, or we’ll use force, and rob you.

Other results appeared in German, but they were all in literature.  An exception was made for the above, given the importance of the original author.

(I have limited myself to these comments, but the reader would be surprised by the number of results in English by searching for “we will use force” used with the quotation marks.

Lamentably, sometimes, there is no choice in the matter.

Cheering – Up – Recommended youtube Renditions.

These have been listed by country of origin. To avoid an excessive number of links, some sites should be accessed by typing into the search engine youtube (“youtube.com/watch?v=”)and the code following the nationality of the singer or organization. If youtube is entered first, results will be better.  Lack of a link does not imply inferior quality, in fact, the item may be more highly rated than I would agree with. I specify whether the word “Gewalt” is used forcefully, clarity of the video, and whether it is black and white, or lacking; and I am working on showing the number of views.  These do not necessarily reflect the quality of the singing or the music. Some of the names are not found in Wikipedia.  An effort has been made to give a diverse selection.  Number of views are rounded, and may be assumed to be higher.

Jessye Norman, American (U.S.A.), very effective. 500,000 views

Elisabeth Kulman, Austrian. 65,000 views.  My personal favorite, for emphasis on “Gewalt”

Yasmini Vargaz, Brazilian, YI4EaOd1Vs4  high quality video, good emphasis on word “Tod“, 4000 views

OxfordLieder, British, (singer not determined), a cartoonish presentation, but over 5 million views.

Philippe Sly, Canadian, jZxzz-N3oxM Canadian good definition color 600,000 views Gewalt ok

Carol Lin, Chinese: 1y9xTgabJPw Hong Kong 2700 views hi-quality video (in small auditorium)

Podium Witteman, a Dutch group, German, Dutch subtitles., 30,000 views, only the ending disappointed.

Ian Bostridge, English (British) – mmx4MN3xZpMErlkönig, blurred  good on Gewalt, 500,000 views.

David Jerusalem, German, very good video quality, though only over 10,000 visits.

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (German) / Moore (piano), JuG7Y6wiPL8 1.5 million pastiche of various still images of father with child.

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau 5XP5RP6OEJI  2.8 million b&w (epic)

Samuel Hasselhorn, German, JojzWc8duRU, 80,000 visits, hi-quality video.

Lee Jong Eun, Korean, (이종은 – 슈베르트의 마왕), nyXHFltxMyk  63,000 views, good on last word: “tod“.

Francisco Araiza, Mexican (seems like a clandestine film, but good singing, orchestra, 6,500 views.

Teddy Tahu Rhodes New Zealand,  Pid2JyQ5EZU b&w accurate depiction moment of color (36,000 views) and

Teddy Tahu Rhodes New Zealand,  izdLKuLplLw – still art photo only: father, horse, child, Erlking, daughters, trees. 10,000 views (The music is the same in both).

Anne Sofie von Otter, Swede (over 1 million views)

Anne Sofie von Otter, Swede (25,000 views – choose top result!): n8N6a7BScCc subtitles in Portuguese.  with Berlioz Orchestra. effective final.

Taras Shtonda Ukrainian g3E1bFon–Q very expressive face. powerful voice. 9,000 views.

Bryn Terfel, Welsh (no animation, song only). 27,000 views.

All the above are sung in German.

Variations, Song or Instrumental, Other

Ning Feng (Chinese) violin (insufficient volume)

Arkady Leytush, (Soviet Union, Russia), vJKqMq_iWgQ  Orchestral, 2000 views, image not sharp, worthy of many more views, instruments almost seem to sing.

Yuja Wang Chinese, (splendid piano playing, no singing), 56,000 views.

Khatia Buniatishvili Georgian, RJbO_VWX9rQ   piano music only, hi quality video. 43,000 views, medium impression of playing.

(Master’s Project, Animation), German, 6Ggnqr-pnno hi-quality 132,000 animation no relevant music, father, child in arms, on horse.

Der Erlkönig  German excellent animation wusVHokSa98 no music, recital of poem, Effective “Gewalt” part. clr 1.6 million visits (surprising for a mere reading.)

Maybebop – Erlkönig (live) German, H3wa077Uvac  760.000 views. a cappella quartet excellent color, “child” voice excellent

Konstantin Krimmel, German Romanian, 0pQ6ciJwO0c 1,100 views, different singing, different piano. (Did not like)

Valentina Lisitsa, Ukrainian (birth)  _4M6zsspRT4  (be sure to include dash) (in second half, start at 4:38) piano only, enjoyable rendition. but not dressed for concert. 140,000 views

And for something completely different:

Leichenwetter _k – German, heavy metal 688 visits hi quality video, non-conventual music, poem “reworded” Father with authoritarian voice H3wa077Uvac

On condition that the reader likes this kind of music, there should be something satisfactory in the above.

 

January 12 - 21, 2020
© 2020, Paul Karl Moeller

References

Only items which have not been linked are listed.

Duden Band 7: Etymologie, Das Herkunftswörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, Drosdowski, Grebe, et. al., Mannheim: Bibliographisches Institut, 1963.

Farrel, J.S. A Danish English Dictionary, Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 1845. (on-line at archive.org)

Henningsen, Henning. Langenscheidts Taschenwörterbuch Dänisch-Deutsch – Deutsch-Dänisch, 1963

Muret-Sanders Encyclopædic English-German and German-English Dictionary, Part Second, German-English, First Half, A – J., 1905 (for “in der elften Stunde”, under elfte)

Muret-Sanders Encyclopædic English-German and German-English Dictionary, Part Second, German-English, Second Half, K – Z., 1905 (for “in der elften Stunde”, under Stunde) (Murtet-Sanders is on-line at archive.org)

Wasserzieher, Ernst. Woher?   [Bonn: Ferd. Dümmler Verlag, 1974].