The Wild Hunt is a folklore motif occurring across various northern European cultures (motif E501 per Thompson). Wild Hunts typically involve a chase led by a mythological figure escorted by a ghostly or supernatural group of hunters engaged in pursuit. The leader of the hunt is often a named figure associated with Odin in Germanic legends, but may variously be a historical or legendary figure like Theodoric the Great, the Danish king , the dragon slayer Sigurd, the Welsh psychopomp , biblical figures such as Herod, Cain, Gabriel, or the Devil, or an unidentified lost soul or spirit either male or female. The hunters are generally the souls of the dead or ghostly dogs, sometimes fairies, valkyries, or elves.
Seeing the Wild Hunt was thought to forebode some catastrophe such as war or plague, or at best the death of the one who witnessed it. People encountering the Hunt might also be abducted to the underworld or the fairy kingdom. In some instances, it was also believed that people's spirits could be pulled away during their sleep to join the cavalcade.
The concept was developed by Jacob Grimm in his (1835) on the basis of comparative mythology. Grimm believed that a group of stories represented a folkloristic survival of Germanic pagan tradition, but comparable folk myths are found throughout Northern, Western and Central Europe. Grimm popularised the term ('Wild Hunt') for the phenomenon.
Comparative evidence and terminology
Germanic tradition
Based on the comparative study of the German folklore, the phenomenon is often referred to as (German: 'Wild Hunt/chase') or ('Raging Host/army'). The term 'Hunt' was more common in northern Germany and 'Host' was more used in the south; with however no clear dividing line since parts of southern Germany know the 'Hunt', and parts of the north know the 'Host'. It was also known in Germany as the ('Wild Army'), its leader was given various identities, including Wodan (or "Woden"), Knecht Ruprecht (compare Krampus), Berchtold (or Berchta), and Holda (or "Holle"). The Wild Hunt is also known from post-medieval folklore.
In England, it was known as (Old English: 'Herla's assembly'), Woden's Hunt, Herod's Hunt, Cain's Hunt, the Devil's Dandy Dogs (in Cornwall), Gabriel's Hounds (in northern England), and Ghost Riders (in North America).
In Scandinavia, the Wild Hunt is known as (commonly interpreted as 'The Asgard Ride'), and as ('Odin's Hunters'). The names ('Asgard Ride' as attested in parts of Trøndelag), and (Swedish: 'the hunt of Odin' and 'wild hunt') are also attested. At the very front of Oskoreia rides Guro Rysserova ('Gudrun Horsetail'), often called Guro Åsgard, who is "big and horrid, her horse black and called Skokse (...)"
There is disagreement about the etymology of the word . The first element has several proposed sources: Åsgård ('Asgard'), oska ('thunder'), or Old Norse ǫskurligr ('dreadful'). The hypothetical Ásgoðreið ('Æsir God Ride') was also once proposed. Only the second element, ('ride') from Old Norse , is uncontroversial. The word was popularly perceived to be connected to Asgard, as seen in the folk ballad of Sigurd Svein, who is taken to Asgard by Oskoreia and Guro Rysserova.
Europe
In the Welsh folklore, was depicted as a wild huntsman riding a demon horse who hunts souls at night along with a pack of white-bodied and red-eared 'dogs of hell'. In Arthurian legends, he is the king of the Underworld who makes sure that the imprisoned devils do not destroy human souls. A comparable Welsh folk myth is known as (Welsh: 'hounds of Annwn').
In France, the 'Host' was known in Latin sources as , and in Old French as (the 'household or retinue of Hellequin'). The Old French name was probably borrowed from Middle English (Old English ) by the Romance-speaking Norman invaders of Britain. Other similar figures appear in the French folklore, such as , a hunter who chased with dogs in the forest of Fontainebleau, and a Poitou tradition where a hunter who has faulted by hunting on Sunday is condemned to redeem himself by hunting during the night, along with its French Canadian version the .
In West Slavic Central Europe it is known as or (Czech: 'wild hunt', 'baiting'), dzëwô/dzëkô jachta (Kashubian: 'wild hunt'), Dziki Gon or (Polish), Дзiкае Паляванне (Belarusian: 'wild hunt') and (Slovene: 'the wild hunting party' or 'wild hunt'). Other variations of the same folk myth are ('Dead hunt'), ('infernal hunt'), or ('wild hunt') in Italy; (from , Galician: 'the old army'), , and ('troop, company') in Galicia; in Asturias; ('troop of ghosts') in León; and ('war company') or ('deadly retinue') in Extremadura.