wild woman

plural wild women · alternative wildwoman · alternative wild-woman

1. feminineFemale equivalent of wild man.
2. GermanartsA type of female sprite, strikingly beautiful, with long, flowing hair, that live under hills and mounds.

   It was a popular belief (applied to the Frankish king and gradually distorted) about the union of a wild-woman or mermaid with a christian hero.

   1882, Jacob Grimm, translated by James Steven Stallybrass, Teutonic Mythology, volume I, London: George Bell and Sons, page 435

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   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.

   1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume II, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 33