Oberon

Oberon carries a fairy-tale history that predates Shakespeare. It developed from Auberon, a French form related through Auberi to the Germanic name Alberich. The older elements refer to an elf and a ruler. That linguistic background fits the figure of a fairy king, whose stories traveled through medieval French literature before reaching the English stage.

In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Oberon is king of the fairies and Titania is their queen. The play supplies a rich literary association rather than a recently invented fantasy setting. Auberon preserves a closely related spelling, while Oberon is the form most readily connected with Shakespeare.