The Wild Hunt is a well-knownfolk myth about a ghostly leader and his band of hunters and hounds flying through the cold night sky, accompanied by the sounds of howling wind. The supernatural hunters are counted as dead, elves, or, in some cases, fairies. In the northern tradition, the wild hunt was synonymous with great winter storms or changes of season.
Source
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, one of the oldest sources of Anglo-Saxon history, first mention the Wild Hunt in 1127 AD. In 1673, Johannes Scheffer, in his book Lapponia, recounts the stories of the Lapps or Sami people of the Wild Hunt. Author Hélène Adeline Guerber wrote about Odin and his horse, Sleipnir, in her 1895 work Myths of the Northern Lands. She tells her readers that the souls of the dead are carried away by the stormy winds of the hunt.
The concept was popularized by author and mythologist Jacob Grimm in 1835 in his works Deutsche Mythologie. In his version of the story, he mixed folklore with textual evidence from the Middle Ages to the Early Modern period. Many criticize his methods, which emphasized the dynamic nature of folklore. He believed that the myth had pre-Christian roots and that its leader was supposedly based on the legends of Odin, on the darker side of his character. He also thought that the leader of the hunt could have been a woman, perhaps a pagan goddess named Berchta or Holda. He believed that the female could also have been Odin’s wife.
The Legend
It was said that the hunt passed through the forests during the coldest and stormiest time of the year. Anyone found outdoors at that time would be dragged into the hunt against their will and thrown miles from their original location. Practitioners of magic may have sought to join the berserkers in spirit, while their bodies remained safe at home.
Grimm posited that the story inevitably changed from pre-Christian times to more modern times. The myth originally began as a hunt led by a god and goddess who visited the earth during a holy festival, bringing blessings and accepting offerings from the people. They could be heard by the people in the howling winds, but later became known as a pack of demons with malicious intentions.
The Leader of the Hunt
The numerous variations of the legend mention different leaders of the hunting party. In Germany, the leader is known by various names, for example, Holt, Holle, Berta, Foste, or Heme. However, one figure appears frequently in most versions: Odin (also called Woden). Odin is known by two particular names that relate to the time of year when the Wild Hunt supposedly took place, Jólnir and Jauloherra. Both mean roughly Master of Yule, a festival celebrating the change of season.
The legend of the hunt has been adapted over the years and, depending on the geographical location, so has the leader of the hunt. In the Middle Ages, with pagan deities becoming a thing of the past, the hero of the story became characters such as Charlemagne, King Arthur, or Frederick Barbarossa (the Roman emperor in the 12th century).
In the 16th century, Hans von Hackelnberg is said to have led the Wild Hunt. The story goes that he killed a wild boar, accidentally pierced his foot on the boar’s tusk, and poisoned himself. The wound was fatal, and after his death, von Hackelnberg declared that he did not want to go to heaven, but to continue his beloved vocation: hunting. He was then forced to do this for eternity in the night sky, or, as told in alternative versions, condemned to lead the Wild Hunt. Sources cite his name as a possible corruption of an epithet of Odin’s name.
In Wales, there is a variation of the story that says the leader is Gwynn ap Nudd or Lord of the Dead. In this version, the Lord of the Dead is followed by a pack of hounds with blood-red ears. In England, the same white hounds with red ears appear in legends.
They were called Gabriel’s hounds and were said to portend doom if seen. Herne the Hunter, or Herlathing, is allegedly the leader of the hunt in southern England and possibly connected to the mythical King Herla. The tradition of the Orkney Islands tells of fairies or ghosts that come out at night and gallop on white horses. In northern France, it was said that Mesnée d’Hellequin, the Goddess of Death, led the ghostly procession.
Regional versions
It is said that 12th-century clergymen in Great Britain witnessed the Wild Hunt. They claimed that there were between 20 and 30 hunters in the group and that the hunt continued for nine weeks. The earliest available reports of the Wild Hunt generally depicted the participants as devilish, while in later medieval accounts, the hunters became fairies.
The origin of the legend, according to some, may be related to the Dandy Dogs. In the tale, Dando wanted a drink of water, cursed his hunter for not having any, and then a stranger offered him water. The stranger stole Dando’s game and Dando himself, causing his dogs to chase him.
Another version focuses on King Herla, who had just visited the king of the fairies. The king was told not to dismount his horse until the greyhound he was carrying had jumped first. Three centuries passed and his men continued riding, as the dog had not yet jumped.
In Germany, the hunter is sometimes associated with a devil or a dragon and rides on horseback, accompanied by numerous hounds. The prey, if mentioned, is usually a young woman who is innocent or guilty of some crime. The tail often tells of someone who encounters the hunt. If they oppose or resist the evil horde, they are punished, but if they help the hunters, they are rewarded, usually with money or the leg of a dead animal.
Unfortunately, if they receive the latter, it is usually cursed and impossible to get rid of without the help of a magician or priest. The tales also mention that anyone standing in the middle of the road is somehow safe from the hunting procession.
The Wild Hunt was not seen—only heard—in the Scandinavian versions of the myth. Typically, the barking of Odin’s dogs, as well as the deathly silence of the forest, warned people of its imminent arrival. The hunt commonly signified a change in seasons or the beginning of war in folklore.
In Scotland, the wild hunt is closely linked to the fairy world in some sources. Evil fairies, or fey, were said to be chosen from the court of Sluagh or Unseelie, the court of noble fairies. The Sluagh supposedly flew in from the west to capture dying souls, which resulted in people in Scotland, until the 20th century, closing the windows and doors on the west side of their houses when they had a sick person inside.
People would even close the windows and doors on the west side of their homes when they had a sick person inside. Similarly, the Orkney Islands were said to be home to trolls. The creatures supposedly hated sunlight and tried to catch and eat mortals, unless humans were lucky enough to escape by crossing a stream.
In Modern Paganism
In the modern pagan tradition, practitioners incorporate the concept of the Wild Hunt into their rituals. In the late 1990s, anthropologist Susan Greenwood witnessed such a ritual. She reported that pagans used the myth to get lost, as well as to confront and restore harmony with the wild and dark side of nature. According to the Handbook of Contemporary Paganism, the hunt encompasses engagement with souls, the dead, and animals, as well as the ritualized circle of life and death.
Folklore sought to make sense of what was inexplicable at the time, often through the personification of concepts. In today’s world, we have science and technology to demystify any concept that has not been categorized, cataloged, or clarified. Fortunately, we have not yet unlocked all the puzzles of the universe, and with recent technological advances, we can go where no man has gone before!
