The story of the Erlkönig derives from the traditional Danish ballad Elveskud. Goethe wrote the poem in 1782 as part of his Singspiel Die Fischerin, and it is counted among his most famous ballads.
In the poem an anxious boy riding through the night with his father claims to see the Erlking, who tries to lure him with promises and at last threatens him with force; by the time they reach their destination, the child is dead. In 1815 Franz Schubert set the poem to music, producing one of the most celebrated of German lieder.