The Wild Hunt

[The Madame X]

full article at: http://www.druidcircle.org/library/inde ... _Wild_Hunt

The Wild Hunt is a supernatural force that sweeps across the land at night. The actual object of the Hunt varies from place to place. In some areas it searches for anything that might be unforunate enough to be in its path. Others say it hunts evildoers.

The leader of the Hunt also varies. In Celtic Britain it is usually led by Cernunnos, the horned god. In Wales it is led by Gwyn ap Nudd, and sometimes Bran. After the Anglo-Saxons had settled in England, Cernunnos became Herne the Hunter.

The night hunt by the Slaugh with their terrible hounds. They are said to kidnap humans they encounter during their rides.

In Wales, Gwyn ap Nudd, King of the Fairies and of the Dead, is the leader of the Wild Hunt, or the Cwn Annwn, the Hounds of Hades, with white bodies and red ears. On stormy nights he sweeps across the country-side, tracking down the souls of the newly dead, precisely as did the .sluagh of Scotland. Walter Map, who dealt in curious lore, tells us how a certain Herla, a king of ancient Britain, who once visited a fairy mound, was warned not to dismount from his steed on his return, lest, like all those who tarry in the bounds of Elfin, he might crumble to dust when his feet touched the earth. So he and his companions, with their hounds, were doomed to ride onward for ever, and many were to be found who asserted that they had seen him and his host galloping through the wilder parts of Herefordshire. Arthur is also associated with the tradition of the Wild Hunt, more particularly in Scotland, and as a spirit of the wind. As an old Scottish rhyme has it:

Arthur o’ Bower has broken his bands
And he’s come roaring owre the lands,
The King a’ Scots and a’ his Power
Canna turn Arthur o’ Bower.

By many writers the Wild Hunt has been claimed as a typically Teutonic myth, with its leader being Woden or Odin. That this is not so, its Celtic and British variants reveal. Nor is it probable that it was a Teutonic importation, accepted by the Celtic peoples. The Lowland Scottish "fairy rade", or mounted procession of the elves, is merely a variant of it. To primitive man, the sound and fury of the tempest at night gave the impression of a furious host riding by, and he imagined that the gods or the spirits of his fancy were abroad, and, with their hounds, were engaged in "rounding up" the souls of the newly dead, bearing them off to the country where the deceased had their abode. The myth was certainly popular among the peoples of Europe at an early period. In later times it came to be associated with popular heroes, Arthur, Barbarossa, and others, and was even connected with the nightly revels of witches, Dame Holda, Herodias and Aradia, an Italian form of Titania, or Diana, the hunting-goddess, who was accompanied by a pack of hounds. The circumstance that a legend exists which tells how Gabriel, the Angel of Death, sends out his ratchets, or hounds, to discover those who were about to die, and that they were supposed to do so by their powers of scent, makes the significance of the earlier form of the myth perfectly clear.

So what exactly is the Hunt? A force of good or of evil? Is it exclusively a Celtic phenomenon, and have enemies of Celtic cultures created stories of the evil Hunt as propaganda? Or have the Celtic gods allied themselves with a force of evil, to better hunt other evil? The true answer is: none of the above. The Wild Hunt is neither good nor evil. It is purest neutral, indeed representing the force of the hunt and chase within nature.

The Wild Hunt exists for the chase. It is capable of following its prey though any environment, from the densest jungles, to the deepest deserts, even across the sea, or into the airless reaches of space. The Hunt is tireless, hounding prey until they catch it. And the hounds of the Hunt seem to never lose the scent, being able to track over solid stone, or running water, or any other substance. Indeed, the hounds are capable of tracking even beings that should not leave a scent, like spectres or beings of energy.

The Hunt usually does not leave its home on the Outlands. For it to go elsewhere, it must be summoned. To summon it, a powerful connection with nature is very helpful. This is why the Celtic powers so often use the Hunt; they are very in tune with nature, and find it particularly easy to call on it. Other pantheons also summon the Hunt, although much more rarely.

Powerful mortal spellcasters can also summon the Hunt. Wizards use a very potent spell to do so, on the level of wish or prismatic sphere. Priests can also summon the Hunt, although they must be granted one of the powerful magics known as quest spells by their god to do so.

Once a being is being tracked by the Hunt, it immediately feels a terrible supernatural fear. A being so pursued usually thinks only of fleeing in terror, regardless of whether it knows what is after it. It takes a very powerful will to resist this. The Wild Hunt can always travel just slightly faster than its prey is going, allowing it to reach its quarry in two to eight days. Of course, often the Hunt is told to simply chase a being, not catch it, so it will nearly catch up to the prey, then slow slightly so that the prey can keep just far enough ahead.

The Hunt is almost impossible to shake off. The Hunt can follow the trail of its quarry through any medium, including vacuum. Any normal form of spatial travel is completely useless in losing the Hunt. The only known way to lose the Hunt is to shift planes, and even this is not guaranteed to be effective.

The Wild Hunt lives in the Outlands, in a forested realm near Tir Na Og. The land is differentiated from the realm of the Celtic powers by the density and unsettled nature of the forest there. Even in the deepest regions of Tir Na Og, the trees do not grow as closely, or the underbrush as tangled, as in the Stalking Ground.

The Stalking Ground is an area dedicated to the hunt and kill. The Wild Hunt roams through the woods, tracking anything that strikes their fancy. Often, the hunt breaks up into smaller groups that each hunt alone. The Stalking Grounds seem, to the casual traveller, to be relatively small. They can be traversed in only a day or two. However, travellers in the Stalking Grounds risk a dreadful danger. Any being within the Wild Hunt's territory is considered fair prey. If the Hunt decides to go after a person, the Stalking Ground suddenly becomes much bigger. The person pursued suffers all the effects of anyone pursued by the Hunt. They immediately try to run as far and as fast as they can. People trying to reach the edge of the Stalking Grounds, however, are in for a nasty surprise. While they are being pursued, the region seems to go on forever.

No being has ever told of reaching the border while they were being hunted. Usually, the Hunt will pursue for a few days, then give up, if they have not caught their prey. After they stop hunting a person, he or she can once again find the border without difficulty. However, a far different fate awaits those who the Hunt catches. Usually, prey run to ground is torn apart by dogs, or killed by the huntsmen.

This, however, is not the end for the unfortunates caught by the Hunt. On the dawning of the next day, they rise again, fully healed of all wounds and weariness. In fact, they have even more than they started with, for they are now completely capable of taking care of themselves in the wilderness of the Stalking Grounds. But there is a great drawback to this "miracle": people caught and killed by the Hunt can no longer leave the Stalking Grounds. To them, it is infinite in scope. They may wander as long as they will, but they will never find the end. They may not be hunted all the time, but every being in the Stalking Grounds runs the risk of being hunted, and slain by the Hunt again. Not even powerful magics such as wish are able to remove a person from Hunt's domain. To date, prayers to the Powers have been ineffective, or at least unanswered. It is unknown whether the Powers are prevented from interfering with the Hunt, or whether they simply do not wish to.

An interesting fact is that the Hunt never seems to leave the Stalking Grounds, even when they have been summoned. They seem to have the ability to endlessly duplicate themselves, going to all the various planes to which they are summoned, and still staying within their land.

[The Madame X]

Full Article at: http://www.orkneyjar.com/tradition/hunt.htm

"When the winter winds blow and the Yule fires are lit, it is best to stay indoors, safely shut away from the dark paths and the wild heaths. Those who wander out by themselves during the Yule-nights may hear a sudden rustling through the tops of the trees - a rustling that might be the wind, though the rest of the wood is still.

"But then the barking of dogs fills the air, and the host of wild souls sweeps down, fire flashing from the eyes of the black hounds and the hooves of the black horses"
Kveldulf Hagen Gundarsson (Mountain Thunder)

In Orkney, indeed, across most of northern Europe, belief in the Wild Hunt was once widespread. In the islands, little remains of the belief today.

The form of the Wild Hunt, or Raging Host, varied across each of the geographical locations/ in which the tradition was found. But the basic idea was generally the same - a phantasmal leader, accompanied by a horde of hounds and men, hurtled through the night sky, their passing marked by a tumultuous racket of pounding hooves, howling dogs and raging winds.

The quarry of this spectral horde also varies. Norse legend, for example, suggests objects such as a boar, a wild horse and even magical maidens.

Later Christian influences had the Wild Hunt summoning the souls of evildoers, sinners and unbaptised infants.

But one theme was common to all - to see the Wild Hunt was a very bad omen, usually foretelling a time of strife or death.

Before we consider how the Wild Hunt was found in Orkney, we should first take a brief look at the tradition as it was found elsewhere.

Odin's chase and the souls of the dead

At the root of the myth lies the Teutonic god Woden, or Odin, to use his Norse name.

Odin, in his guise of wind-god, was thought to rushing through the skies astride his eight-legged steed, Sleipnir.

As it was thought that the souls of the dead were wafted away on the winds of a storm, Odin became regarded as the leader of all disembodied spirits - the gatherer of the dead. Eventually, storms became associated with his passing.

In this role he was known as the Wild Huntsman. The passage of his hunt, known as Odin's Hunt, the Wild Ride, the Raging Host or Asgardreia, was said to presage misfortune such as pestilence, death or war.

Odin, followed by the ghosts of the dead, would roam the skies, accompanied by furious winds, lightning and thunder. To the believers, the tumult must surely have been evidence of the god's passing.

Throughout the years, the mythology of the hunt adapted to suit the geographical area and the time period. In the Middle Ages, for example, the lead huntsman included Charlemagne, Frederick Barbarossa and King Arthur.

A later folktale states that the leader was Hans von Hackelnberg, a semi-historical figure who died in either 1521 or 1581. It was said he had slain a boar and was then injured on the foot by the boar's tusk and died of poisoning.

As he died he declared that he had no wish to enter heaven, but instead wanted to hunt. His wish was granted and he was permitted, or perhaps cursed, to hunt in the night sky. Another version of the tale has it that he was condemned to lead the Wild Hunt as punishment for his sins.

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.

Herne and other hunt leaders

But traditions of a Wild Hunt also existed in areas away from Norse influence.

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 who led the hunt, while elsewhere it is also referred to as "Herlathing" - from the mythical King Herla, its supposed leader.

According to the 12th century write, Walter Map:

"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."

Again 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 the Hall of Heroes - Valhalla.

That this Herla, or Herle, may have a distinct root is evident from the number of similar variants. In 1123, for example, it was referred to as the familia Herlechini by Ordericus Vitalis. In France it was La Mesnie Herlequin while in England we find Milites Herlewini.

The Orkney interpretation

Orkney had its own variant of the Wild Hunt, in which the fairies, or trows, were, on occasions, seen out on midnight rides, galloping furiously through the air on white horses, or bulwands. They were often said to be seen driving a stolen cow before them.

For one such account, click here.

Across Europe, the Wild Hunt appears at various times of the year, but most commonly over the Yule season. This is not surprising as Yule was regarded as the season in which supernatural visitations were most common. In particular, the spirits of the dead were allowed to return.

This ties in with the idea that the hunt represented a procession of the dead, and did so in Orkney too.

As detailed here, I believe the Orkney trow was originally regarded as an undead spirit, or ghost. And not surprisingly, Orkney's trows were at their most active on "rife" nights such as Yule, Halloween and New Year's Eve.

[Sacrelige]

There's actually a Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 creature inspired by this legend. A few. Let me see if Wizards has a picture up... Nice, found that and then some.



Also, cards. Found here
http://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/Card/ ... eid=191064
with a bigger picture a bit down the page here
https://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/ ... ily/ftl/51

[The Madame X]

How cool is that?!
I see such beautiful legends have inspired more than just wonderful traditions - Art, play, mysticism, boundless creativity.
Even today pagan groups gather to reenact The Wild Hunt. If you have even participated in one of these reenactments you will find it to stir within a strange primal connection with nature and the ancients. August 1st is generally the time to focus on The Hunt but on special days like yesterday, and today, the first day of Fall we cannot help but to reflect on what we have hunted and harvested throughout the year.