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In 大辞林, the definition of _さまよえる_ as in _さまよえるオランダ人_ is

> あてもなくさまよっている。

while the (primary) definition of _さまよう_ is

> 当てもなく、あるいは目指す所が見つからずにあちこち歩き回る。

What's the difference between the two words, and other similar pairs such as
_狂える_ as in _狂えるオルランド_ and _狂う_?

Is it related to the use of 可能動詞, e.g. _笑える_ 、 _泣ける_ , for involuntary
actions?
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meaning word-choice etymology auxiliaries
Difference between 「彷徨う」 and 「彷徨える」、「狂う」 and 「狂える」 etc
* **[彷徨]{さまよ}[へ]{え}** : the 命令形 (imperative form) of [さまよふ](http://kobun.weblio.jp/content/%E3%81%95%E3%81%BE%E3%82%88%E3%81%B5), which is the archaic version of さまよう
  * **[狂]{くる}[へ]{え}** : the 命令形 of [くるふ](http://kobun.weblio.jp/content/%E7%8B%82%E3%81%B5), the archaic version of 狂う
  * **る** : the 連体形 ([attributive form](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attributive_verb#Japanese)) of [り](http://kobun.weblio.jp/content/%E3%82%8A), which is an archaic auxiliary verb similar in purpose to た/だ (perfective) or ている/でいる in modern Japanese. It takes the "imperative" form for whatever reason.

So さまよえるオランダ人 is just the archaic version of さまよっているオランダ人, and 狂えるオルランド is the
archaic version of 狂ったオルランド or 狂っているオルランド. The archaic languages are used for
aesthetic purposes.

Another example:

  * 眠れ **る** 森の美女 _Sleeping Beauty_
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彷徨ふ(文語) 彷徨える(口語) って対応関係でしょう。これといっしょかと。 <https://mainichi-
kotoba.jp/photo-20161128>
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Since I'm an etymology geek, and I enjoy diving into the history of where
things come from, I add this as an addendum to naruto's explanation.

Translated from Shogakukan's monolingual 大国語辞典【だいこくごじてん】:

>   * -り:  
>  Verb ending / suffix. Classed as a 助動詞【じょどうし】 (auxiliary verb).  
>  Developed from fusion of classical あり with the preceding verb stem.
>     1. Indicates continuation or progression of the action of the main verb.
> Equivalent to modern -ている・-てある.
>     2. Indicates ongoing state as a result of the action of the main verb.
> Equivalent to modern -た・-ている・-てある.
>     3. Indicates a sense of confirming that the action of the main verb has
> completed.
>

For conjugation purposes, this -り was previously analyzed as attaching to the
已然形【いぜんけい】 (realis) stem of regular 四段活用【よだんかつよう】 (quadrigrade conjugation)
verbs, the _-e_ ending corresponding to the modern 仮定形【かていけい】 (hypothetical or
conditional), or to the 未然形【みぜんけい】 (irrealis or incomplete form) of the
irregular "s" verbs (such as modern する), which also ended in _-e_.

However, further research into ancient kana usage
([上代特殊仮名遣い](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%8A%E4%BB%A3%E7%89%B9%E6%AE%8A%E4%BB%AE%E5%90%8D%E9%81%A3),
or in English, ["ancient special kana
usage"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C5%8Ddai_Tokushu_Kanazukai)) revealed
that there were two kinds of _-e_ vowels, called 甲類【こうるい】 and 乙類【おつるい】 in
Japanese and usually subscripted as "1" and "2" in English. It was also
revealed that the -り ending attached to the 甲類 version of _-e_ , that is, the
verb stem ending in _-e 1_, which is the 命令形【めいれいけい】 or imperative form,
rather than the 已然形【いぜんけい】 or realis that ended in _-e 2_ in Old Japanese.

Still further research into [the vowel values of Old
Japanese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Japanese#Vowels) (OJP) suggests
that these two "flavors" of the _e_ vowel may have arisen through the fusion
of earlier vowel sounds, much as we see even in modern Japanese in words like
_takai_ or _sugoi_ becoming _takē_ or _sugē_ in informal speech.

From this, and from oddities in how the -り ending attached to different verb
classes (such as the "s" class, or 上一段【かみいちだん】 (upper monograde) verbs with
"k" stems, where the 命令形 ending is _-kiyo_ , but the stem becomes _-ke_ before
-り), the growing consensus view appears to be that this -り is really just あり
attaching to the normal 連用形【れんようけい】 or conjoining form. For most verb classes,
this ends in _-i_ , and this then combined with the _a-_ in あり as a kind of
contraction, something like:

  * _-i ari_ → _-yari_ → _-yeri_ → OJP _-e 1ri_ → classical _-eri_

So in classical and modern Japanese, the conjugation to use the -り ending
seems very irregular: attaching to the imperative for _yodan_ verbs, the
irrealis for "s" verbs, and a completely irregular _-ke_ ending for _kami
ichdan_ verbs. But if you dig back, it turns out it might actually be very
regular indeed, with just a couple millenia of contraction obscuring the
origins.
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