Hi, with regards to the view that the forest does not invoke menace i have a different opinion. The forest CAN be seen as menacing when considering the opening description of it. Carter notes how the "woods swallows you up" and there is "a haunting sense of the imminent cessation of being". From this it can be deduced that the forest, a place usually inextrcably linked with life and growth, is unnatural as it infact brings end to life. The speaker finds herself trapped in "vertical bars of brass coloured distillations of light". It is as if once you're in the woods you can lose your sense of self thus forshadowing the menace that waits to trap her - the Erl-King. The colour symbolism reflects the danger the woods represents for example the "sulphar yellow" which reflects decay and death. Also considering the title The Erl-King - an Erlking is a creature of German folklore that haunts travellers in the forest and leads them to their death. Therefore considering all of this i believe the forest is a place of danger rather than as suggested "a flaw within Carter's work".