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.

About the headline (FAQ)

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.
  • Go to the text.
    
• Also set in English, a translation by William Bartholomew (1793 - 1867) ; composed by Anne Sheppard Mounsey.
  • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
    
• Also set in French (Français), a translation by Jules Abrassart (1826 - 1893) ; composed by Émile Louis Victor Mathieu.
  • Go to the text.
    

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

• CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• CZE Czech (Čeština) (Otokar Fischer) , "Král duchů"
• DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Erlkoning", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Geart van der Meer) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Walter Meyer) , "Who's riding so late through night, so wild?", copyright © 1995, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Knut W. Barde) , "The Elfking", copyright © 1998, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Walter Scott, Sir) , "The Erl-King"
• ENG English (Uri Liebrecht) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Le roi des aulnes", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRI Frisian (Geart van der Meer) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Walter A. Aue) , "Elf-King", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Il re degli elfi", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ITA Italian (Italiano) (Amelia Maria Imbarrato) , "Il Re degli Elfi", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• LIT Lithuanian (Lietuvių kalba) (Giedrius Prunskus) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

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

O who rides by night thro' the woodland so wild?
It is the fond father embracing his child;
And close the boy nestles within his loved arm,
To hold himself fast, and to keep himself warm.

"O father, see yonder! see yonder!" he says;
"My boy, upon what dost thou fearfully gaze?"
"O, 'tis the Erl-King with his crown and his shroud."
"No, my son, it is but a dark wreath of the cloud."
                              
The Erl-King Speaks:
  "O come and go with me, thou loveliest child;
  By many a gay sport shall thy time be beguiled;
  My mother keeps for thee many a fair toy,
  And many a fine flower shall she pluck for my boy."

"O father, my father, and did you not hear
The Erl-King whisper so low in my ear?"
"Be still, my heart's darling -- my child, be at ease;
It was but the wild blast as it sung thro' the trees."

Erl-King:
  "O wilt thou go with me, thou loveliest boy?
  My daughter shall tend thee with care and with joy;
  She shall bear thee so lightly thro' wet and thro' wild,
  And press thee, and kiss thee, and sing to my child."

"O father, my father, and saw you not plain
The Erl-King's pale daughter glide past thro' the rain?"
"Oh yes, my loved treasure, I knew it full soon;
It was the grey willow that danced to the moon."

Erl-King:
  "O come and go with me, no longer delay,
  Or else, silly child, I will drag thee away."
"O father! O father! now, now, keep your hold,
The Erl-King has seized me -- his grasp is so cold!"

Sore trembled the father; he spurr'd thro' the wild,
Clasping close to his bosom his shuddering child;
He reaches his dwelling in doubt and in dread,
But, clasp'd to his bosom, the infant was dead.