The language proudly boasts on its home page that its `head` function has the same wart as Haskell's (i.e., not handling empty lists)? Combining this with an explicit use of the `Option` monad just seems like teasing.

(EDIT: Oops, I meant its "distinctive features" page http://elalang.net/About.aspx#features , under "Algebraic Types".)

(It's just my assumption that it doesn't handle empty lists, because it returns the literal first element of a non-empty one; but neither the Prelude http://elalang.net/docs/Article.aspx?p=lib\prelude.htm nor the list module http://elalang.net/docs/Article.aspx?p=lib\list.htm seems explicitly to mention the `head` function on lists (as opposed to strings or sequences) at all, so it's hard to say for sure.)