In German fairy lore there are the wood-wives who haunt old forests and sacred groves. They appear as beautiful creatures but with terrible claws. They are often accompanied by violent whirl-winds. So connected to the woods are they, that if a twig is broken off a tree the wood wife will die. Hunters are the mortals most at risk of causing the wood-wives’ anger and revenge. The hunter must offer part of their kill to the wood-wife to escape their anger. Like most fairies the wood-wife can also be kind and generous.

One tale has a hunter fixing the wheel barrow of a wood-wife and wood chips left behind became chunks of gold. The ringing of church bells can chase the wood-wife back to the forest. All types of human racket can disturb the wood-wife. Wood-wives detest caraway seeds and become outraged if bread is offered with the dreaded caraway seed. It was advised to bake a loaf of bread without caraway seeds as an offering to these forest fairies.

One time a farmer made the mistake of offering the bread with the caraway seeds instead of the plain loaf. The outraged wood-wife ruined his home and blasted his crops. St. John's wort was often used to ward off the wood-wife and they dislike iron. The wood-wife hates technology and with its growth forces them further and further into the wilderness.

The Vodyanoi is a Russian species of fairy who appears as a little old man with a green beard and is sometimes covered in muck or covered in scales. He prefers fresh water environments such as mill ponds. Some depictions suggest a mer-man-like quality with him being half-man and half-fish. He is described as having the tail of a fish, but his preference is fresh water. He stays close to his home beside a dam or mill wheel. He won't think twice about drowning someone who comes too close to his watery lair. He tends to murder people except the miller and a few fishermen. This friendship between the miller and the Vodyanoi is not without problems since it creates suspicion that the miller has made a Faustian deal with this contrary water spirit. Sometimes the Vodyanoi invites the miller down to his palace deep under the water for a lavish feast. The reason this evil fairy drowns innocent people is a likely relic of human sacrifices being offered. The discovery of so many bog people are possible evidence of this nasty practice. Fishermen frequently made offers of bread, salt, tobacco, and of course, vodka in order to pacify this angry water spirit. When pacified, the spirit is likely to help the fishermen in their endeavors. If angered the Vodyanoi will tear up or tangle their nets.