The Elfking | Who rides so late through wind and night?

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by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)

Translation © by Knut W. Barde

Wer reitet so spät durch Nacht und Wind?

Language: German (Deutsch)

Available translation(s): CAT DUT DUT ENG ENG ENG FIN FRE FRI ITA ITA LIT

Wer reitet so spät durch Nacht und Wind?
Es ist der Vater mit seinem Kind;
Er [hat]¹ den Knaben wohl in dem Arm,
Er [faßt]¹ ihn sicher, er hält ihn warm.
 
Mein Sohn, was birgst du so [bang]² dein Gesicht? -
Siehst, Vater, du den Erlkönig nicht?
Den Erlenkönig mit Kron' und Schweif?
Mein Sohn, es ist ein Nebelstreif. -
 
»Du liebes Kind, komm, geh mit mir!
Gar schöne Spiele spiel' ich mit dir;
[Manch' bunte Blumen sind an dem Strand]³;
[Meine]⁴ Mutter hat manch' [gülden]⁵ Gewand.«
 
Mein Vater, mein Vater, und [hörest]⁶ du nicht,
Was Erlenkönig mir [leise]⁷ verspricht? -
Sey ruhig, bleibe ruhig, mein Kind;
In dürren Blättern säuselt der Wind. -
 
»Willst, feiner Knabe, du mit mir gehn?
Meine Töchter sollen dich warten schön;
Meine Töchter führen den nächtlichen Reihn,
[Und]⁸ [wiegen und tanzen und singen]⁹ dich ein.«
 
Mein Vater, mein Vater, und siehst du nicht dort
Erlkönigs Töchter am [düstern Ort]¹⁰? -
Mein Sohn, mein Sohn, ich seh' es genau;
Es scheinen die alten Weiden so grau. -
 
»[Ich liebe dich, mich reizt deine schöne Gestalt]¹¹;
Und bist du nicht willig, so brauch' ich Gewalt.« -
Mein Vater, mein Vater, jetzt faßt er mich an!
Erlkönig hat mir ein [Leids]¹² gethan! -
 
Dem Vater grauset's, er reitet geschwind,
Er hält [in Armen]¹³ das ächzende Kind,
Erreicht den Hof mit [Mühe]¹⁴ und Noth;
In seinen Armen das Kind war todt.

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View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Goethe's Werke, Vollständige Ausgabe letzter Hand, Erster Band, Stuttgart und Tübingen, in der J.G.Cottaschen Buchhandlung, 1827, pages 183-184; and with Goethe's Schriften, Achter Band, Leipzig, bey Georg Joachim Göschen, 1789, pages 157-158.

First published in 1782 in Goethe's Singspiel "Die Fischerin" in the introductory scene (Dortchen's song).

¹ Schubert (first version), Spohr: "hält"
² Spohr: "scheu"
³ Harder: "Manch bunte Blumen stehn an dem Strand"; Spohr: "Viel bunte Blumen sind am Strand"
⁴ Spohr: "Mein' "
⁵ Spohr: "güldnes"
⁶ Spohr: "hörst"
⁷ Spohr: "heimlich"
⁸ Schubert (4th version, in the repetition): "Sie"
⁹ Harder: "singen und tanzen und spielen"
¹⁰ Harder: "düstern Port"; Spohr und Hille: "düsteren Ort"
¹¹ Harder: "Ich lieb' dich, mich reizt dein' schöne Gestalt"
¹² Harder: "Leides"
¹³ Reissiger: "in den Armen", Spohr: "im Arme"
¹⁴ Schubert: "Müh'"

Authorship:

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), "Erlkönig", written 1782, first published 1782 [author's text checked 2 times against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Gottlob Bachmann (1763 - 1840), "Erlkönig", op. 43, published 1798/99? [sung text not yet checked]
by (Carl) Ludwig (Heinrich) Berger (1777 - 1839), "Erlkönig" [sung text not yet checked]
by Carl Blum (1786 - 1844), "Erlkönig", op. 12 [sung text not yet checked]
by Carl Czerny (1791 - 1857), "Erlkönig", 1811 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Max (Traugott Maximillian) Eberwein (1775 - 1831), "Erlkönig", 1826 [sung text not yet checked]
by August Engelberg (1817 - 1850), "Erlkönig", 1841 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Karl Feye (1848 - 1927), "Wer reitet so spät durch Nacht und Wind?" [ soli, men's chorus, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by August Harder (1775 - 1813), "Erlkönig", op. 1 (Gesänge für die Guitarre) no. [5] [ voice and guitar ], Leipzig: Breitkopf und Härtel [sung text checked 1 time]
by Johannes Hille , "Erlkönig", op. 10 no. 2, a note on the score suggests that this be sung by three people: one singing the father, one the child, and one the Erlkönig [sung text checked 1 time]
by Anselm Hüttenbrenner (1794 - 1868), "Erlkönig", 1829 [sung text not yet checked]
by August Kestner (1777 - 1853), "Erlkönig" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Bernhard (Joseph) Klein (1793 - 1832), "Der Erlkönig", published c1815/6 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Otto Klemperer (1885 - 1973), "Der Erlkönig", c1948 [sung text not yet checked]
by H. Krich , "Erlkönig", op. 10, published 1890 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Rühle & Hunger [sung text not yet checked]
by Huub de Lange (b. 1955), "Erlkönig", published 2004 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Drei Goethe Lieder, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by Tapani Länsiö (b. 1953), "Erlkönig", 2002 [ chorus and string quartet ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Carl Loewe (1796 - 1869), "Erlkönig", op. 1 no. 3 (1818) [sung text checked 1 time]
by Otto Ludwig (1813 - 1865), "Der Erlkönig" [ soli, chorus, and piano ], MS at Goethe-Museum, Düsseldorf [sung text not yet checked]
by Émile Louis Victor Mathieu (1844 - 1932), "Erlkönig", from Six Ballades de Goethe (Deuxième Suite), no. 3, Bruxelles: Schott Frères, also set in French (Français) [sung text not yet checked]
by Emilie Mayer (1821 - 1883), "Erlkönig", 1842 [ voice and piano ], first of two settings, unpublished [sung text not yet checked]
by Emilie Mayer (1821 - 1883), "Erlkönig", 1870 [ voice and piano ], second of two settings, unpublished [sung text not yet checked]
by Friedrich Methfessel (1771 - 1807), "Erlkönig", published c1805 [ voice and guitar ], from Zwölf Lieder mit Begleitung der Guitarre, no. 9, Leipzig: Breitkopf und Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
by Carl Borromäus von Miltitz (1780 - 1845), "Erlkönig" [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], Dresden: Bei C. F. Meser [sung text not yet checked]
by Anne Sheppard Mounsey , "Erlkönig", also set in English [sung text not yet checked]
by Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1752 - 1814), "Erlkönig", published 1794 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Karl Gottlieb Reissiger (1798 - 1859), "Erlkönig" [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Andreas Jakob Romberg (1767 - 1821), "Erlkönig", published 1793 [ voice and piano ], from Oden und Lieder fürs Clavier , no. 12, Bonn: Gestochen und zu haben bey Georg Welsch, Hofmusikus [sung text not yet checked]
by Louis Schlottmann (1826 - 1905), "Erlkönig", op. 44 (10 Goethe'sche Dichtungen) no. 8, published 1878? [sung text not yet checked]
by Julius Schneider (1805 - 1885), "Erlkönig", 1828 [sung text not yet checked]
by Corona Elisabeth Wilhelmine Schröter (1751 - 1802), "Der Erlkönig", 1782, published 1786 [ voice and piano ], from Fünf und Zwanzig Lieder. In Musik gesezt von Corona Schröter. [Erste Sammlung], no. 17, Weimar: Annoch bey mir selbst, und in Commission in der Hoffmannischen Buchhandlung [sung text checked 1 time]
by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Erlkönig", op. 1, D 328 (1815), published 1821 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Louis [Ludwig] Spohr (1784 - 1859), "Erlkönig", op. 154 no. 4 (1856), from Sechs Lieder für Bariton mit Begleitung von Violine und Klavier, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Václav Jan Křtitel Tomášek (1774 - 1850), "Erlkönig", op. 59 (Gedichte von Goethe: VII) no. 1 (1815?) [sung text checked 1 time]
by Karl Friedrich Zelter (1758 - 1832), "Der Erlkönig", 1797 [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by John Wall Callcott.
Also set in English, a translation by William Bartholomew (1793 - 1867) ; composed by Anne Sheppard Mounsey.
Also set in French (Français), a translation by Jules Abrassart (1826 - 1893) ; composed by Émile Louis Victor Mathieu.

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

CZE Czech (Čeština) (Otokar Fischer) , "Král duchů"
ENG English (Walter Scott, Sir) , "The Erl-King"

Research team for this text: Ofer Sheinberg , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 32
Word count: 233

The Elfking

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Who rides so late through wind and night?
It is the father with his son so bright.
He holds the lad well in his arm,
he holds him safely, and keeps him warm.

"My son why are you fearfully hiding your face?"
"But Father, do you not see the elfenking's place?
The king of the elves with his court and his crown!"
"My son it is but a wisp of a fog bank in yonder down."

"Oh dearest child, come go with me,
many fine games I'll play with thee.
Many colorful flowers the river banks hold
and my mother has many robes of gold."

"My father, my father, but do you not hear
the promises that elfking sings in my ear?"
"Be quiet, be calm, my dearest child,
'tis the wind in the leaves that rustles so mild."

"Fine boy, do you wish to come with me?
My daughters will take care of thee.
My daughters lead the nightly dancing,
you will find their playing and singing entrancing."

"My father, my father, seest you not
elfenking's daughters in yon shadowy spot?"
"My son, my son, I see it so clear,
it is the gray old willows you fear."

"I love you, I'm enticed by your beautiful form
and if you are not willing then you will be torn."
"My father, my father, he touches my arm,
elfenking's come and done me great harm!"

The father shudders in fright and quickly rides on
and with his arm he shelters his moaning son.
He reaches the farm but barely and out of breath,
in his arms his child was with Death.

Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 1998 by Knut W. Barde, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), "Erlkönig", written 1782, first published 1782

This text was added to the website: 2006-04-07
Line count: 32
Word count: 270