erlking

noun

1. (European)In German literature and modern folklore, a malicious elf or spirit who preys on children.

   “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.”

   “So easy for one young son to be swallowed up in a world teeming with Erlkings, real and imagined.”

   “He was in the forest looking to see the trees / But none were there / He found a girl / She found the erlking”

   “By now, he seems less a cartoon character than some contemporary Erlking, the malicious spirit made famous by Goethe (and Schubert) but found originally in a Danish ballad.”

2. (alt-of)Alternative letter-case form of erlking.