The Wild Hunt
Ed LeBouthillier
The Wild Hunt is a story common around Yule time. It is the story of Odin leading a wild entourage through the winter night sky complete with howling dogs, riding his eight-legged Sleipnir and followed by a host of other Einherjar and hangers-on. Of the lore about Odin, it is perhaps the most interesting and survives in some surprising forms to this day.
In its basic form, any of the nights between Yule and twelfth-night are probable times for this wild procession. It is told that on those cold, snowy, winter nights, what starts as a small breeze turns into a sudden hurricane as the storm of the hunt passes by. Occasionally, it may take the souls of those who don’t give it due respect.
The leader of the wild hunt may be Odin himself, Ullr, Frigga or a host of others. The purpose of the hunt is often unknown but it is known that sometimes it is precedes attendance of The Thing, at other times to capture other souls to join in the procession, a wild boar, or to capture lithe fairy maidens, or even the careless night traveler. The true purpose of the hunt is not often known.
When Odin, with his dark cloak and wide-brimmed hat, takes flight on Sleipnir, the sound rumbles like a growing thunder storm with wild winds until it reaches a deafening roar. The hoof beats of the rides of the others involved in the hunt, as well as the baying of their dogs also rises to a deafening pitch.
Children would often anticipate this event each Yule by placing their boots or stockings by the fireplace with offerings of carrots or hay for Sleipnir. In return, Odin would leave them candy presents.
Sometimes the story was told that after the wild hunt, a small black dog would be found cowering by the fireplace. It was then the duty of the finders to care for and tend to this dog throughout the year. Failure to care properly for the dog would bring grave consequences.
Not all benefited from the Wild Hunt though. Wretches, liars and those without honor might fare poorly when the Wild Hunt passed. They might have faced death, in fact. There are numerous stories of those whose lives are taken by the wild hunt, their souls traveling as part of the hunt for years to come. It is for this reason that it was common to leave a treat during Yule time in case one might meet an undesirable fate.
So at its heart, modern stories of Santa hearken back to these ancient tales of the Wild Hunt. The modern impression of Santa springs largely from one poem, “A Visit from Saint Nicholas” by Clement Clarke Moore. This poem originated the famous “…right jolly old elf” impression. Before his rendition, Jolfothr more often appeared as an Odin-like elf.
So each cold Yule evening, when the wind picks up to a howl, remember that Jolnir, Odin himself, could be passing by at that moment. When you see the modern renditions of Santa arriving by sleigh, remember that at its core, we are seeing a non-Heathen representation of Odin bringing blessings on his Wild Hunt.
References
"Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas" by H. A. Guerber. 1992 Dover.
“Santa Claus, Last of the Wild Men” by Phyllis Siefker. 1996 McFarland & Company.
“The Wild Hunt” in Supernatural Enemies by Hilda Ellis Davidson and Anna Chaudhri. 2001 Carolina Academic Press.
Wild Hunt Trivia
Names for the Wild Hunt:
The Furious Host is known by many names: it is called the Herlathing in England after the mythical King Herla, and the Yeth or Wish Hounds in Durham, England. In Iceland it is called the Yule Host, the Raging or Furious Host in Germany, the Chasse Maccabei, the Chasse Artu and the Mesnée d'Hellequin (from the goddess of death Hel) in France and the Oskorei in Norway.
Dogs:
In ancient European folklore, the dog is seen as both the guardian and consumer of dead spirits, especially with the Wild Hunt where a pack of dogs with a master of the hunt flies through the sky looking for lost souls. Dogs and wolves have similar aspects in mythology. There was a widespread belief that the soul could not be free in the next life until the flesh was gone from the bones. So they would be seen as devouring flesh and also as setting a person free.
A pack of spectral hounds accompanied by a huntsman which haunt the Meon Hills of South Warwickshire, England, around the time of the pagan mid-winter feasts (modern Christmas and New Years Eve) are called night hounds, hell-hounds, or probably more accurately, Hel-hounds for the Norse goddess. They were also called Shuck or Shock, both names probably deriving from the Old English scucca, meaning demon.
The comparison of Berserkers with wolves (they are referred to as "wolf-coats" in Hrafnsmal) makes them symbolically dead - wolves are synonymous in Old English with outlaws and criminals, who are considered socially 'dead' - so we are able to see how they could be associated with Odin’s wolves or dogs in the Wild Hunt.
The northern name Gabriel Hounds (see below) or Gabble Retchets (dogs) had nothing to do with the Angel Gabriel but contained an old word for 'corpse', explained by the traditions concerning them. Such packs of spectral hounds - with or without hunters - have been seen all over Europe. They are similar to the Seven Whistlers (seven birds, flying together by night, possibly spirits of dead miners or fishermen ), whose cries forebode disaster. Seeing a black dog at night would mean a death would take place soon.
Who leads the hunt besides Odin?
The hunter may be an unidentified lost soul, a deity or spirit of either gender, or may be a historical or legendary figure like Dietrich of Berne. In Wales, for example, the leader of the Hunt was Gwynn ap Nudd. The "Lord of the Dead", Gwynn ap Nudd was followed by his pack of white hounds with blood-red ears. These red-eared hounds are also found in northern England, where they were known as Gabriel Hounds. Their appearance was also a portent of doom.
In southern England, it was Herne the Hunter (a king’s huntsman who hanged himself because of a false charge of poaching), who led the hunt, while elsewhere it is also referred to as "Herlathing" - from the mythical King Herla, its supposed leader. An appearance of Herne the Hunter in Windsor Forest is followed by tragedy or disaster, often of national importance. The stag-horned Herne is probably the most famous leader of the Hunt, who has often been linked to the Celtic god Cernunnos.
According to the 12th century writer: "This household of Herlethingus was last seen in the marches of Wales and Hereford in the first year of the reign of Henry II, about noonday: they travelled as we do, with carts and sumpter horses, pack-saddles and panniers, hawks and hounds, and a concourse of men and women. Those who saw them first raised the whole country against them with horns and shouts, and . . . because they were unable to wring a word from them by addressing them, made ready to extort an answer with their weapons. They, however, rose up into the air and vanished on a sudden." This may have Odinic connections - some suggest the element Herle relates to Herian, one of Odin's many names, and refers particularly to his role as the leader of the dead warrior who filled Valhalla.
A folktale states that the leader was Hans von Hackelnberg, a semi-historical figure who died in either 1521 or 1581. But even behind this 16th century character, lies a more ancient element, perhaps harking back to the original traditions surrounding the hunt. Hackelnberg, it has been suggested, is simply a corruption of "Hakolberand" - the Old Saxon epithet for Woden.
King Arthur is also thought to be the leader of the Wild Hunt. It is alluded to in children’s rhymes and Glastonbury Tor the gate from which the Wild Hunt rides.
The home of the wild hunt is often said to be a hill. Hörselberg in Thuringia is supposed to be the home of the wild host, from which it spreads out over the whole country. The wind blows strongest on the summit of a hill, and it may be because of this that the dead are supposed to congregate there. National heroes rest in a hill, waiting for the time of their country's need, when they will lead forth their ghostly armies to bring victory to their peoples __ Arthur in Britain, Redbeard in Germany, Holger Dansk in Denmark, Queen Jadwiga in Poland, Prince Marko in Serbia.
Interaction with the Wild Hunt:
It was unwise to look upon them or attempt to speak to them; one ran the risk of being swept away in their midst, never to return, or to be driven mad. Orderic of Vitalis, cleric of the abbey of St. Evroult in the diocese of Liseaux in Normandy wrote in 1133 of the priest Walchelin's encounter with them on the night of Jan. 1, 1091 near the church of Bonneval. Walchelin was petitioned by some of the spirits to deliver messages to their surviving loved ones, but refused to heed them; foolishly he attempted to steal one of the riderless horses to bring back as proof of his experience, but was burned by the horse's red-hot bridle, and again by the hand of a knight who caught him at it. The scar on the back of his neck proved to be the only souvenir he was able to show to Orderic. Walchelin was saved only by the intercession of his own brother, lately dead, who was part of the procession.
In 1123 in Saxony, Germany, in the diocese of Worms, the residents witnessed nightly a multitude of armed horsemen leaving in troops from a nearby mountain, only to return to it later. Bearing a cross before them, they questioned one of the riders, who said he and the rest were indeed dead, the souls of knights killed in battle.
In England, the Peterborough abbey account says that on February 6, 1127, hideous black hunters astride horses, goats, and rams rode through the forest at night blowing their horns, with their loathsome, black, huge-eyed dogs, for a period that lasted through Lent and Easter.
Walter Map wrote in 1155 that the Wild Huntsman was a King Herla of the ancient Britons who received many gifts from the King of the Dwarves, including a small bloodhound which he was to carry on his saddle with him. Upon his return however, he and his party were not to dismount before the dog did so first, or else they would all turn to dust; Herla came back from three days in the dwarves' cave to find that two centuries had passed, but worse, to find that the dog would not jump to the ground. He and his followers were thus doomed to wander the earth forever.
Re-enactments:
Until the beginning of the 20thcentury, young men in Norway enacted the Wild Hunt at Winter Solstice. Costumed and masked, their task was to punish those who violated the rural traditions, usually by stealing beer and livestock. If the riders were given food and drink, however, they brought prosperity.
In a case similar to the Wild Hunt, Perchta, a goddess of the Tyrolean Alps and Austria, (also identified as the Germanic goddess Holda) appears on Earth on the turning point between the old and the new year (winter solstice, matching with Christmas and the Julfestival in Scandinavian countries). Frau Perchta represents the dual male/female deity and is accompanied by all sorts of evil spirits of the winter. In the Alpine areas of Austria, these ancient beliefs were the basis for young men to dress up as evil spirits in an attempt to banish those that accompany Frau Perchta. Later (from the 16th century on) the men in costumes were – and still are – called Perchten. They are costumed are either beautiful or ugly Perchten.