Wild Hunt

The Wild Hunt was a long standing folklore legend that cultures all across Europe embraced, as well as on other continents. It was called several names; Wild Hunt, or Woden’s Hunt, the Wilde Jagd or Wilde Heer in Germany, Herlathing in England, Mesnee d’Hellequin in France, Cain’s Hunt, Ghost Riders in North America, Herod’s Hunt, Gabriel’s Hounds, Asgardreia or “Asgard’s Ride”. The Sluagh are often identified as being the Irish manifestation of the Wild Hunt, because of the Sluagh’s never touching the earth, and their masses seeming to chase across the western sky like an army.

The Wild Hunt was usually led by a heroic, or warrior like deity, such as Woden, –better known as the Nordic god, Odin, or as a beloved or fierce King, skilled in battle. The Wild Hunt would charge across the sky, above the earth, or even sometimes, on the ground. Those that followed may have been an army of fairies, the lesser deities of Asgard, spirits of sinners or wicked dead, or just the general spirits and souls of deceased humans. In some areas of England, it is believed that the hunters are actually a mass of hell hounds, chasing the souls of the wicked dead across the skies.

Later on, the Wild Hunt became more familiarized with other legendary heroes, and mythological figures, such as King Arthur, of England, or even Sir Francis Drake, the famous and heroic British pirate. More often than not, in England, the Wild Hunt was believed to be Hell’s legions, and at the forefront of the chase, was the Devil himself. The usual theory today is that the Wild Hunt was a way to explain thunderstorms in the medieval era.