Erlking's purpose?

[Con]

Looking at the Lore of the Wild Hunt it's an honour as well as a curse everyone from Kin Arthur Pendragon to Sir Francis Drake wee said to be a part of it. Theirs even an infamous dodgy socttish lawyer somewhere. I'm not quite sure if it fits with Dresden Files Fae heavy interpretation of it, but the Wild Hunt was full of the most dangerous spirits of voilence and leadership.

 In some versions they even have hounds from hell or Heckhounds as they're known in Dresdenverse. But their point was too hunt down the demons and escaped souls from Hell, usually on times when the barrier between spirit world and real world are at it's weakest. The Equinoxes or Samahin, All Hallows eve etc.

So if using the folklore surrounding it Erlking is the stable Leader of the Wild Hunt when all the other leaders tend to rotate in and out. He keeps them more or less undercontrol for the rest of the year and unleashes them once or twice a year at most.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Hunt

[K.L.O.E.]

Looking at the Lore of the Wild Hunt it's an honour as well as a curse everyone from Kin Arthur Pendragon to Sir Francis Drake wee said to be a part of it. Theirs even an infamous dodgy socttish lawyer somewhere. I'm not quite sure if it fits with Dresden Files Fae heavy interpretation of it, but the Wild Hunt was full of the most dangerous spirits of voilence and leadership.

 In some versions they even have hounds from hell or Heckhounds as they're known in Dresdenverse. But their point was too hunt down the demons and escaped souls from Hell, usually on times when the barrier between spirit world and real world are at it's weakest. The Equinoxes or Samahin, All Hallows eve etc.

So if using the folklore surrounding it Erlking is the stable Leader of the Wild Hunt when all the other leaders tend to rotate in and out. He keeps them more or less undercontrol for the rest of the year and unleashes them once or twice a year at most.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Hunt

So he provides a sense of structure to the Wyldfae that wouldn't be there otherwise plus acts as an enforcer of sorts for the natural order. Interesting.

Now I wonder who imposed the structure?

[Con]

I mean WOJ is Erlking rose as part of a ritual reminiscent of the Darkhallow, presumably less necromancy though.

"If he'd succeeded, he'd have had the collective power of all of those supernatural beings and then some.  He'd have been clearly stronger than the Ladies, and a full-on equal to Mab.  I mean, why do you think the Erlking was summoned as part of that ritual?  Because that's how the big E got so boss in the first place. 
For that matter, how do you think the Mothers and Queens and Ladies established their original base of power?  That big old sacrificial, power-sucking stone table in Tir na noth isn't there for its primitive decorative aesthetic."

And this tidbit

Actually, in the Dresden universe, the Wild Hunt can be led by a number of beings--INCLUDING Cern, but not exclusive to him.    The Erlking (who isn't Cern) is a being of Faerie who is in Mab's weight division, if not her equal.  I believe he is identified as the ruler of the goblins--which should not necessarily be equated with Tolkeinesque/Gygaxesque goblins

[The_Sibelis]

Thinking the "kings" somehow balance the queen's on another scale. They are polar opposites of their respective sides, EK being violent to the summer idea of peaceful. Kringle being a do gooder to winters malicious nature. Both kings have freedom to act, both queens are confined by their power, ect.
Off topic(more on the 4 horsemen theory)

(click to show/hide)

if the queen's are broken down into the different levels, and the kings are more or less whole, then I count 4 beings who could basically be "free to act", the sum of the various pantheons basically being the 4 horsemen. Though I also think the manifestation of the horsemen is broken down across different divisions themselves. The three KotC plus Uriel being the angelic portion.

[TrueMonk]

Below is all the WOJ on the faerie kings.

(click to show/hide)

The Farie Kings (Odin WoJ’s get lumped in here)
Quote from: Mickey Finn on August 03, 2006, 11:33:34 AM
The ErlKing* (aka Herne the Hunter or Cern, the Celtic Horned God) and the Wild Hunt are part of the celtic isle mythology…the point IS the hunt.  People are the foxes. (The Erlking in actual mythology is a german baddie that Jim apparently appropriated for Herne.)

Actually, in the Dresden universe, the Wild Hunt can be led by a number of beings–INCLUDING Cern, but not exclusive to him.    The Erlking (who isn’t Cern) is a being of Faerie who is in Mab’s weight division, if not her equal.  I believe he is identified as the ruler of the goblins–which should not necessarily be equated with Tolkeinesque/Gygaxesque goblins.

Jim

2010 Dragon-Con @6:30
Where are the Farie kings?  Do they exist?
Yes they do.  The Erlking as sort of the Hunter king, and Santa Clause, the Winter king who is not the commercial Santa Clause.  The kings are sort of the opposite of the queens in their given season.  They are independent of their Queen’s courts.  The Erlking is a summer king and he is not a particularly friendly guy, whereas Santa Clause, one of the winter kings, is kinder, the spirit of generosity in a time of bleakness.  Yah I’ve gota have Harry ask Mab about him so she can roll her eyes.
Priscillie asked Jim if the Erlking is Wyldfae at DragonCon and posted this reply:
Jim: He is wyldfae.  He isn’t a subject of Mab or Titania.  That’s what Wyldfae means.  But his origins are in the Summer-side of the cycle of seasons, just like Titania’s are.
Ditto Santa, only in Winter. 
(He /is/ beholden to Mother Summer, but basically everyone in Faerie is, so.)
(I mean, that’s like saying “you must obey the law of gravity.”  Duh.)
Priscellie: You mean the Erlking has not learned to throw himself at the ground and miss? 
Jim:  Something like that, yes. 
If Grandma says “Dearie, I’d really like you to do this for me,” you just DO it.  Or granny’s roommate might pick up her shears.
2012 Reddit AMA:
sapph42: You’ve talked about beings who were on similar (or greater) power levels as Mab – Titania (obviously), Drakul, and Ferrovax to name a few. However, I believe that list was generated before Changes. Where does Odin fall on that list? Hypothetically (assuming they exist), where would entities such as Zeus or Quetzalcoatl fall?
Jim: 4) Your question presupposes a linear hierarchy–which isn’t surprising, since the series has come from Harry’s viewpoint, and Harry is a straight-lines kind of thinker. Power is a much more nebulous thing than that, and something that is problematic to quantify. I think a reasonably simple argument could be made that Molly is a /much/ more powerful wizard than Dresden, for example. And in many situations, she probably is. Dresden tends to think in terms of “who would win this slugfest” when he’s dealing with the supernatural world because, well, of all the slugfests.
Odin isn’t gonna slugfest with you. He /could/. But that isn’t the Allfather’s style. Odin saw you coming last year, and he made his countermoves to what you’re doing right now a week and a half ago. For guys like him, fights are what happen when you /fail/ to win with /real/ power–knowledge and forethought.
Of course, sometimes everyone’s knowledge and forethought cancels each other’s actions out, and then it’s time to get all Monday Night Nitro. No one in the Dresden Files universe is really sure how that would shake out. But everyone on that level knows that they might be about to find out
Dudesan: You’ve described Santa Claus as being the Winter King. What does that title mean? Do Winter and Summer each have a trinity of Father/King/Prince, like they do with Mother/Queen/Lady? Is the King necessarily the consort of the Queen? If so, will we be seeing Oberon at some point?
Jim: 5) The Faerie realms just aren’t that structured. It’s more accurate to say that he is /a/ Winter King. Or even more accurately, that he is a free Wyld Fae who is of a power level that is on par with Mab’s and happens to neighbor her sphere of influence, and finds it simpler to show up to family dinners during the holidays and make polite than to start staking out boundaries and establishing treaties.
Oberon… well, the guy kind of wound up between Mab and Titania in one of those romantic triangle things, back around Shakespeare’s day. He didn’t make it.
2013 KC signing Q&A
Is Kringle Fae?
His mantle, yes, is part of the Winter Court. Which does not necessarily mean that he himself is Fae as much as the fact that his mantle is. While he’s there, he’s got to pay deference to Mab. If Mab gives him a command, he has to obey it.
2013 KC signing Q&A
If you’re (a powerful immortal being) in the real world, well, the problem is that you’re in the world, and you’re kind of mortal, and something could come along and try and whack you, if they’re fast enough, or good enough, or lucky enough. Which makes Odin a kind of special guy, because he doesn’t mind it, he thinks it’s awesome.
2014 AMA
Is The Erlking a mantle in the same way as the other Fae titles? I know he’s referred to as Herne at one point in Cold Days, so that got me thinking, considering that he’s also iirc the Summer King.
There is no such thing as a Summer King in the Dresden Files faerie cosmology. Mab and Titania need a King like a fish needs a bicycle.
There are a ton of independent rulers of the Wyld, though, much like the Erlking, who is a member of the Winter Court more or less as a sign of courtesy and respect. They will occasionally make alliances (and dalliances) with the great rulers of the Sidhe.
2015 AMA
Vadderung is Santa Claus, is he also St Nicholas?
And Father Christmas and Sinterklaas and a variety of others. But in our modern era, a lot of people wear multiple hats on the job.
Twitter:
@longshotauthor is it possible for the Erlking to create a Wyld Knight or some equivalent?
@SuperSnapper61 Engh. He could feasibly take a part of his own power and fashion a new mantle from it.  Much weaker than the WK though.
@den_down_unda @jim_turnage The Erlking is simply not on the same scale of power as Mab, though he could probably hand Molly her head.

So it changes quite a bit from 2010 to 2014, perhaps the truth in the Dresdenverse is somewhere in between.

2010 Dragon-Con @6:30
Where are the Farie kings?  Do they exist?
Yes they do.  The Erlking as sort of the Hunter king, and Santa Clause, the Winter king who is not the commercial Santa Clause.  The kings are sort of the opposite of the queens in their given season.  They are independent of their Queen’s courts.  The Erlking is a summer king and he is not a particularly friendly guy, whereas Santa Clause, one of the winter kings, is kinder, the spirit of generosity in a time of bleakness.  Yah I’ve gota have Harry ask Mab about him so she can roll her eyes.

2014 AMA
Is The Erlking a mantle in the same way as the other Fae titles? I know he’s referred to as Herne at one point in Cold Days, so that got me thinking, considering that he’s also iirc the Summer King.
There is no such thing as a Summer King in the Dresden Files faerie cosmology. Mab and Titania need a King like a fish needs a bicycle.
There are a ton of independent rulers of the Wyld, though, much like the Erlking, who is a member of the Winter Court more or less as a sign of courtesy and respect. They will occasionally make alliances (and dalliances) with the great rulers of the Sidhe.

Perhaps the answer is that the Erlking is a fae king related to the summer court, but not the summer king.

It did not really find anything about his function though.

[Yuillegan]

Looking at the Lore of the Wild Hunt it's an honour as well as a curse everyone from Kin Arthur Pendragon to Sir Francis Drake wee said to be a part of it. Theirs even an infamous dodgy socttish lawyer somewhere. I'm not quite sure if it fits with Dresden Files Fae heavy interpretation of it, but the Wild Hunt was full of the most dangerous spirits of voilence and leadership.

 In some versions they even have hounds from hell or Heckhounds as they're known in Dresdenverse. But their point was too hunt down the demons and escaped souls from Hell, usually on times when the barrier between spirit world and real world are at it's weakest. The Equinoxes or Samahin, All Hallows eve etc.

So if using the folklore surrounding it Erlking is the stable Leader of the Wild Hunt when all the other leaders tend to rotate in and out. He keeps them more or less undercontrol for the rest of the year and unleashes them once or twice a year at most.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Hunt

Thinking on this some more, I think this is probably right. The purpose of his power as leader of the Wild Hunt, to make sure the Hunt fulfils its mission. The Hunt is clearly important to the order of things, and I think the reason you gave works as well as anything I have read.

Maybe the Erlking is Herne under the mask the same way Kringle is linked to the older sky gods?

I could see Hades or someone deciding to go have a chat. I doubt Uriel would but we still have yet to meet some other Death Gods who may be a bit cranky about a new competitor.

I hope there are some other seasonal types of Fae. May not be but I hope for it.

Possibly, possibly. I suspect the Erlking has many names. Cern, Herne, who knows what else?

[BrainFireBob]

Don't forget Dorf. He's the Lord of Fishing, too.

I think the Erlking represents and controls the choice inherent in the Hunt. It is mindless, he is the mind.

So the Erlking gives you your choices: Join, fight, or become prey.

[LostInTime]

Not quite true, I am not saying there haven't been female Knights, but so far the Knights of the Queens have all been male.  The Knights do their bidding, including killing those that Queens are forbidden to kill.

Lili was the Summer Knight, after Ruell's assassination. When Aurora was killed she was the closest suitable vessel for fae power and became the Summer Lady. We never got to see her in action as the Summer Knight, but she had the mantle.

[LostInTime]

So we get told repeatedly power has purpose. What's the Erlkings purpose for his power?

The Wild Hunt and King of the Goblins.

The Wild Hunt does exactly that. It hunts in the Never Never or in Reality, as needed. Sometimes it hunts threats to fae. Sometimes it hunts threats to reality. Like when it was taken over by Harry and used to hunt Outsiders near Demonreach.