Re: tree elf

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "G&P" <G.and.P@...> wrote:

>
> > Was there ever some type of folk etymology between elm and elf?
>
> Think of the Erl-king. There is confusion between the word for a
> tree, and the nasty spirit. So that folk-etymology exists in
> German, at least.

Danish -lv# -> -l#, generalized to -lv- -> -ll- in dialects. That's the cause of that story.
Standard explanation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erlking#The_Erlking.27s_Daughter
Correct explanation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Erlk%C3%B6nig#The_legend
cf.
http://www.jstor.org/pss/914568
Actually the Danish is 'ellekonge', in which the first element could equally well mean 'elm', cf elletræ "elm tree".

Here's one folkevise I believe is the original for Goethe's Erlkönig, or at least on the same subject:
http://www.kalliope.org/digt.pl?longdid=folke2001042101

On 'elverskud', being the target of an elf curse
http://runeberg.org/salmonsen/2/5/0679.html
The 'Ridder Oluf' folkevise set to music by the foremost Dnisk composer at the time:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=CE2307A3FD4290F2

According to
http://www.vufintern.dk/613op/materiale/tekster/Elverskud.doc
the poem has a wide distribution in Europe, centered on Brittany.


Torsten