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Webster 1913 Edition

Noun.

[G.

erlkönig

, fr. Dan.

ellekonge

elfking.]

A personification, in German and Scandinavian mythology, of a spirit or natural power supposed to work mischief and ruin, esp. to children.

See also: erl-king

erlking ‎(plural erlkings)

in German mythology, a giant who preys on children
- 1962: This line, and indeed the whole passage (lines 653-664), allude to the well-known poem by Goethe about the erlking, hoary enchanter of the elf-haunted alderwood, who falls in love with the delicate little boy of a belated traveler. — Vladimir Nabokov, Pale Fire

erlking