Wild-Women

In German folklore the Seligen Fräulein were a species of nature spirits. An early account is provided by Thomas Keightley in his book The Fairy Mythology (1850):

"The Wilde Frauen or Wild-women of Germany bear a very strong resemblance to the Elle-maids of Scandinavia. Like them they are beautiful, have fine flowing hair, live within hills, and only appear singly or in the society of each other. They partake of the piety of character we find among the German Dwarfs.

"The celebrated Wunderberg, or Underberg, on the great moor near Salzburg, is the chief haunt of the Wild-women. The Wunderberg is said to be quite hollow, and supplied with stately palaces, churches, monasteries, gardens, and springs of gold and silver. Its inhabitants, besides the Wild-women, are little men, who have charge of the treasures it contains, and who at midnight report to Salzburg to perform their devotions in the cathedral; giants, who used to come to the Church of Grödich and exhort the people to lead a godly and pious life; and the great emperor Charles V., with golden crown and sceptre, attended by knights and lords."

Keightley continues:

"The inhabitants of the village of Grödich and the peasantry of the neighbourhood assert that frequently, about the year 1753, the Wild-women used to come out of the Wunderberg to the boys and girls that were keeping the cattle near the hole within Glanegg, and give them bread to eat.

"The Wild-women used frequently to come to where the people were reaping. They came down eagerly in the morning, and in the evening, when the people left off work, they went back into the Wunderburg without partaking of the supper.

"It once happened near this hill, that a little boy was sitting on a horse which his father had tethered on the headland of the field. Then came the Wild-women out of the hill and wanted to take away the boy by force. But the father, who was well acquainted with the secrets of this hill, and what used to occur there, without any dread hasted up to the women and took the boy from them, with these words: 'What makes you presume to come so often out of the hill, and now to take away my child with you? What do you want to do with him?' The Wild-women answered: 'He will be better with us, and have better care taken of him than at home. We shall be very fond of the boy, and he will meet with no injury.' But the father would not let the boy out of his hands, and the Wild-women went away weeping bitterly.

"One time the Wild-women came out of the Wunderberg, near the place called the Kugelmill, which is prettily situated on the side of this hill, and took away a boy who was keeping cattle. This boy, whom every one knew, was seen about a year after by some wood-cutters, in a green dress, and sitting on a block of this hill. Next day they took his parents with them, intending to search the hill for him, but they all went about it to no purpose, for the boy never appeared any more."

(See also Fairies )

Sources:

Arrowsmith, Nancy, and George Moorse. A Field Guide to the Little People. New York: Wallaby Books, 1977.