Redon's inspiration for Fear was a poem by Johann Wolfgang Goethe, "Elf-King (Erlkönig)" of 1782. The poem relates the tale of a father cradling his small son in his arms as they ride through a windy night. The child tries to warn his father that the evil Elf-king is near, lamenting, "My father, my father, his touch is so chill! The Elf-king, the Elf-king has done me an ill!" Comforting the boy, yet disbelieving his fear, the father continues the journey only to find that the child has died. Redon gave this particularly rich and beautiful impression, inscribed à J. K. Huysmans, mon ami (to J. K. Huysmans, my friend) to Joris Karl Huysmans (1848–1907), a writer and art critic who favored his work. Most famous for his pastels and lithographs, Redon produced only 33 etchings, half of which were executed in the late 1860s when the imagery of medieval cavaliers on horseback in desolate mountain landscapes dominated his prints. The figures in Fear, alone and small in a barren setting, symbolize the polarities of life and death, hope and despair.