Originally posted by: yenlowang
Elfin/elfen
Pronunciation: 'el-f&n
Function: adjective
Etymology: irregular from elf
1 a : of, relating to, or produced by an elf
1 b: resembling an elf especially in its tiny size <elfin portions>
2 having an otherworldly or magical quality or charm

for the win! nothing to do with elves so dont go there
Well, I am sorry to disappoint you, but looking up a german word in an english enceklopedia is doomed to produce errors.
  • GERMAN -- ENGLISH
  • Lied -- song (noun)
  • Elf, Elfen, Elfin -- elf, elves, female elf (not like in Legolas) (noun)
  • Elb, Elben, Elbin -- elf, elves, female elf (like in Legolas)
  • elfisch -- elven (adjective)
  • Elfenlied -- song of elves


Oh, and in german there is quite a bit confusion about the word "Elf". It was mainly introduced into the german language due to a translation error around 1850. Apart from all the LotR Fans (the german LotR uses 'Elben' btw, because of that confusion and Tolkien liked that very much as it distinguishes his vision of elfs from the old myths) an "Elf" is like a "Fee" (english: fairy, pixie, sprite, ...). The correct translation would have been "Alb", a somewhat goblin like creature that can be either good or bad, sometimes helps people, sometimes not (german "Alptraum" (nightmare) references these creatures sitting on your crest while you are at sleep, giving you a bad dream. A different word for them is "Nachtmahr", the word the english "nightmare" comes from).
And that's what people usually mean when they refers to german "Elfen" (if not in LotR context): an "Alb" -- a mythological, non human creature with some magical skills. There are "Lichtalben" (good to humans and quite angel like) and "Dunkelalben" (evil, more goblin like). "Dunkelalben" being the more common ones, as they lived on earth (opposed to heaven for the "Lichtalben"). But even "Dunkelalben" serve humans, despite their continues efforts to trick them, quite well once they were beaten and acknowledge you. Nasty and evil to about everyone but loyal and friendly to a selected few. "Alb" is a very old, nowadays seldom used word, warping us back into the time of the gleemen, giving us the next hint. In that time, songs were performed by gleemen (obviously) and these songs actually weren't songs like we know them, but tales of "Ritter" (knights) and other "Helden" (heroes) fighting fantastic creatures like the above mentioned "Alben" or "Lindwuermer" (sort of dragon). You may happen know one of the most famous, "The Nibelungenlied".

That is the context in which I think one has interpret the title or the translation I gave above. I can't provide an incisive english translation as I am not that familiar with medieval english specific terms, but meaningwise "elfen lied" translates to a tale/epic of non-human creatures (with the above mentioned attributes of an "Dunkelalb").
It fits the story very very well, but the japanese guy who came up with it has to be one hell of a freak.

On a sidenote, I just watched ep 9, [anime-fin] version, and I was really 'rotflmao' when "AJ News: mass naked child events occured earlier.." scrolled over the in-anime news broadcast tv screen.

[Edit 1]Typo correction.
[Edit 2]Forgot that one, in some medieval texts "Alben" are referred to as "Elben" but that pronounciation was used only very rarely, therefor the initial english<->german LotR translator had this word about noone knew and could use it. Nowadays its quite sole meaning is elves in the way they occur in LotR.