"In the medieval German legend called the Wulfdietrich Saga, an Alder woman appears seductively to foolish travellers and teaches them a lesson by turning herself into a hairy bark-like creature if they embrace her. Called Rough Else, she is a wild looking woman of the woods, covered in hair, who in part of the story, puts a spell on a hero which eventually causes him to go mad. He runs through the wood living off herbs for six months, after which Rough Else takes by sea to another land where she is queen. Here she bathes in a magical well that washes away her rough skin and she becomes transformed into the beautiful Sigeminne"
the alder in german folklore
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