Mr. Oluf

Johann Gottfried Herder: Erlkönig's daughter , print version 1779

Erlkönig's daughter (" Herr Oluf ") is a German art ballad . The author is Johann Gottfried Herder , who translated it from sources from the 16th century based on the example of a Danish folk ballad . The Danish folk ballad, for its part, has some parallels, e.g. B. in the Breton or French song by "Le Roi Renaud", and there has been much speculation about its allegedly early relationship with the Danish ballad.

Herder's text was printed in its edition Volkslieder in Part 2 of 1779, 2nd book, as No. 27, pp. 158-160, in the second edition Voices of the Nations in Songs as No. 66 also with the title “Erlkönig's Daughter. Danish". The text was set to music by, among others, Carl Loewe , 1824, and Hans Pfitzner , 1891. With and without melody, this ballad has appeared in books of everyday songs, in numerous poetry anthologies and in academic editions since the beginning of the 19th century. An early reprint appeared in Des Knaben Wunderhorn , Volume 1, Heidelberg 1806, p. 261 [according to the original number of pages] as a fictional folk tradition (out of romantic enthusiasm) with the (deliberately falsified) source citation “flying sheet” [alleged song pamphlet].

Herder's text also became the template for Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's art ballad “ Erlkönig ” from 1782, a narrative art song that was inspired by Herder's text and B. took over the term "Erlkönig", which was misunderstood by Herder. Friedrich Koffka created the drama "Herr Oluf" in 1919.

Herder's translation had a major influence on the style of the German art ballad in the 18th and 19th centuries. Herder's poetry, in turn, became popular as a folk song . "Herr Oluf" is a good example of the interaction between art song and folk song and the mutual influence of high literature and folk tradition ( folklore ).

Individual evidence

↑ Danish folk ballad type DgF 47 "Elveskud" (Elfenschuss), cf. Svend Grundtvig : Danmarks gamle Folkeviser , Volume 1, Copenhagen 1853 ff., No. 47 (with many other references, including additions to 1976, e.g. on the melodies; in Danish). See also Jørgen Lorenzen: Danske Folkeviser / Et Hundrede udvalgte Danske Viser (a selection of modern editions of Danish folk ballad texts ), Volume 1–2, Copenhagen 1974, No. 51, “Elverskud” based on a recording by Evald Tang Kristensen, 1872. - Wilhelm Grimm translated the Danish folk ballad into: Old Danish hero songs, ballads and fairy tales , Heidelberg 1811, pp. 91–92, no. 8 "Herr Oluf".

↑ "Le roi Renaud de guerre revient ..." Cf. a variant from oral tradition (with melody) by Julien Tiersot: Chansons populaires recueillies dans les Alpes françaises (Savoie et Dauphiné) , Grenoble 1903, p. 104 f. "Raynaud de la guerre revient avec ses entraill 'à la main ..." (Renaud comes back from the war with his bowels in hand ...), with 14 stanzas and reference to variants and to the Italian collection of Nigra from Piedmont. See Heinke Binder on "Franco-German song connections". In: Handbuch des Volksliedes , Volume 2, Munich 1975, p. 331, No. 48 “Herr Oluf and Le roi Renaud”, with further references. An Anglo-Scottish folk ballad, "Clerk Corvill" (ballad type Child No. 42) was also considered.

↑ also edited by Theodor Streicher

↑ About: (with melodies) August [Andreas] Kretzschmer and Anton Wilhelm von Zuccalmaglio [Wilhelm von Waldbrühl]: German folk songs with their original ways , Berlin 1840 [vol. 1–2, Berlin 1838–1841], No. 8 and No. 9; (with melody) Max Friedlaender : The German Song in the 18th Century , Volume 1–2, Stuttgart 1902, Volume 1, No. 106; (without melody) Karl Otto Conrady : The great German poetry book from 1500 to the present , Zurich 1995, p. 133; (without melody) Otto Holzapfel : Das große Deutsche Volksballadenbuch , Düsseldorf 2000, p. 167.

↑ It is true that there were pamphlets without indication of sources or printing references and without a date; but they print the text after Herder.

↑ With Herder's mistranslation, Elver- [the elf] becomes Eller- finally Erl- [the alder].

↑ There is a German silent film, " Erlkönig's Daughter ", from 1914 with a fictitious plot without any relation to Herder's text.

↑ See Hinrich Siuts . In: Märchen, Mythos, Dichtung (Festschrift for Friedrich vd Leyen ), Munich 1963, pp. 213–230.

↑ Cf. Otto Holzapfel : Lied index: The older German-language popular song tradition ( online version on the Volksmusikarchiv homepage of the Upper Bavaria district ; in PDF format; ongoing updates) with further information.

[1] Danish folk ballad type DgF 47 "Elveskud" (Elfenschuss), cf. Svend Grundtvig : Danmarks gamle Folkeviser , Volume 1, Copenhagen 1853 ff., No. 47 (with many other references, including additions to 1976, e.g. on the melodies; in Danish). See also Jørgen Lorenzen: Danske Folkeviser / Et Hundrede udvalgte Danske Viser (a selection of modern editions of Danish folk ballad texts ), Volume 1–2, Copenhagen 1974, No. 51, “Elverskud” based on a recording by Evald Tang Kristensen, 1872. - Wilhelm Grimm translated the Danish folk ballad into: Old Danish hero songs, ballads and fairy tales , Heidelberg 1811, pp. 91–92, no. 8 "Herr Oluf".

[2] "Le roi Renaud de guerre revient ..." Cf. a variant from oral tradition (with melody) by Julien Tiersot: Chansons populaires recueillies dans les Alpes françaises (Savoie et Dauphiné) , Grenoble 1903, p. 104 f. "Raynaud de la guerre revient avec ses entraill 'à la main ..." (Renaud comes back from the war with his bowels in hand ...), with 14 stanzas and reference to variants and to the Italian collection of Nigra from Piedmont. See Heinke Binder on "Franco-German song connections". In: Handbuch des Volksliedes , Volume 2, Munich 1975, p. 331, No. 48 “Herr Oluf and Le roi Renaud”, with further references. An Anglo-Scottish folk ballad, "Clerk Corvill" (ballad type Child No. 42) was also considered.

[3] so edited by Theodor Streicher

[4] About: (with melodies) August [Andreas] Kretzschmer and Anton Wilhelm von Zuccalmaglio [Wilhelm von Waldbrühl]: German folk songs with their original ways , Berlin 1840 [vol. 1–2, Berlin 1838–1841], No. 8 and No. 9; (with melody) Max Friedlaender : The German Song in the 18th Century , Volume 1–2, Stuttgart 1902, Volume 1, No. 106; (without melody) Karl Otto Conrady : The great German poetry book from 1500 to the present , Zurich 1995, p. 133; (without melody) Otto Holzapfel : Das große Deutsche Volksballadenbuch , Düsseldorf 2000, p. 167.

[5] It is true that there were pamphlets without indication of sources or printing references and without a date; but they print the text after Herder.

[6] With Herder's mistranslation, Elver- [the elf] becomes Eller- finally Erl- [the alder].

[7] There is a German silent film, " Erlkönig's Daughter ", from 1914 with a fictitious plot without any relation to Herder's text.

[8] See Hinrich Siuts . In: Märchen, Mythos, Dichtung (Festschrift for Friedrich vd Leyen ), Munich 1963, pp. 213–230.

[9] Cf. Otto Holzapfel : Lied index: The older German-language popular song tradition ( online version on the Volksmusikarchiv homepage of the Upper Bavaria district ; in PDF format; ongoing updates) with further information.