Ancient Princess Zelda

is a term used to describe the Princess Zelda that appears in.

Biography
According to a legend passed down within Impa's bloodline, well before the events of, Hyrule was a prosperous land ruled by a king who had a daughter, Princess Zelda, and an elder son, the prince. After the king passed away, the prince sought the pieces of Triforce that he did not inherit, but was unable to find them. A magician close to the king informed the prince that the king had told his sister something about the Triforce. The prince questioned her, but she did not say anything, even after being threatened by an eternal sleep by the magician. In his anger, the magician used a spell to put the princess into an eternal sleep, and died when the spell was completed.

Overcome with grief, the prince sealed his sleeping sister in the North Castle and ordered that all female descendants of the Hylian monarchy are to be named Zelda. While the princesses before this incident were named Zelda in honor of the original Zelda from SS undefined, this marked the beginning of Zelda being named so by law, rather than tradition.

To break the curse a hero must possess the complete Triforce, but obtaining the Triforce of Courage would prove difficult as the king of ages ago had hidden it within the Great Palace. Only one who proved themselves worthy would obtain it. In the end, Link obtained the Triforce of Courage and awoke the sleeping princess from her slumber.

manga (Yuu Mishouzaki)
In the manga adaption of by Yuu Mishouzaki, the Sleeping Zelda is referred to as the First Zelda. Unlike the game, she is not under a sleeping spell, but appears as a phantom.

The First Zelda's phantom appears to Link and the current Princess Zelda, explaining to them that she sealed away Ganon's true self in the Great Palace along with her body using two pieces of the Triforce, and that the Ganon defeated three years ago in The Legend of Zelda was merely one piece of his self. She then sends them on a quest to return the Crystals to the Palaces.