Oberon is an epic poem by the German writer Christoph Martin Wieland

Christoph Martin Wieland

Christoph Martin Wieland was a German poet and writer.- Biography :He was born at Oberholzheim , which then belonged to the Free Imperial City of Biberach an der Riss in the south-east of the modern-day state of Baden-Württemberg...

. It was based on the epic romance Huon de Bordeaux, a French medieval tale. It first appeared in 1780 and went through seven rewrites before its final form was published in 1796. It had a major influence on many musical and poetic works of the time, such as Schiller's Don Carlos

Don Carlos (play)

Don Carlos is a historical tragedy in five acts by Friedrich Schiller; it was written between 1783 and 1787 and first produced in Hamburg in 1787...

, Goethe's Faust: The Second Part of the Tragedy and Mozart's The Magic Flute

The Magic Flute

The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....

, as well as on the Portuguese poet Francisco Manoel de Nascimento

Francisco Manoel de Nascimento

Francisco Manoel de Nascimento , Portuguese poet, better known by the literary name of Filinto Elysio, bestowed on him by the Marqueza de Alorna, was the reputed son of a Lisbon boat-owner.-Early years:...

. The artist Gustav Paul Closs

Gustav Paul Closs

Gustav Paul Closs, a landscape painter, was born at Stuttgart in 1840, and received his first instructions in the School of Arts there under Funk, but afterwards studied in Rome, Naples, Munich, Paris, and other places. He also made a number of student-tours, especially to the Chiem-See in Bavaria,...

 also provided illustrations for it.

Carl Maria von Weber

Carl Maria von Weber

Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school....

 used it as the basis for his last opera, Oberon

Oberon (opera)

Oberon, or The Elf King's Oath is a 3-act romantic opera in English with spoken dialogue and music by Carl Maria von Weber. The libretto by James Robinson Planche was based on a German poem, Oberon, by Christoph Martin Wieland, which itself was based on the epic romance Huon de Bordeaux, a French...

, in 1826. An adaptation by Sophie Seyler was re-adapted by Karl Ludwig Giesecke

Karl Ludwig Giesecke

Karl Ludwig Giesecke was a German actor, librettist, polar explorer and mineralogist. In his youth he was called Johann Georg Metzler, in his later career in Ireland he was Sir Charles Lewis Giesecke.-Early life:His father was Johann Georg Metzler, a Protestant who worked as a tailor in Augsburg...

 to provide a libretto for Paul Wranitzky

Paul Wranitzky

Pavel Vranický was a Moravian classical composer. His brother, Antonín, was also a composer.-Life:...

. Its English translators include Matthew Lewis, William Sotheby

William Sotheby

William Sotheby FRS was an English poet and translator.He was born into a wealthy London family, the son of William and Elizabeth Sotheby, and was educated at Harrow School and the Military Academy, Angers, France before joining the army at 17...

, John Quincy Adams

John Quincy Adams

John Quincy Adams was the sixth President of the United States . He served as an American diplomat, Senator, and Congressional representative. He was a member of the Federalist, Democratic-Republican, National Republican, and later Anti-Masonic and Whig parties. Adams was the son of former...

' translation of Oberon (as edited by A. B. Faust, New York, 1940)