Erlkönig

German

Etymology

From Danish ellerkonge (“king of the elves”), in which eller- was misinterpreted as German Low German Eller (“alder”), and which was thus translated into standard German as Erlkönig (Erle +‎ König). This form was spread by Goethe’s famous poem. Low German Eller is from Middle Low German elre, from Old Saxon elis.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈɛʁlˌkøːnɪç/, [ˈɛʁlˌkøːnɪç], [ˈɛɐ̯l-]

Noun

Erlkönig m (genitive Erlkönigs, plural Erlkönige)

  1. erl-king

Declension

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