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The
Wild Hunt
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
magazine issue 7
In the Wild Hunt, Óðinn the Valfather led his Raging Host
of Einherjar through the black storm-lashed skies on their black
horses with their black hounds in hunt of their quarry. This
procession of doom is referred to as Woden’s Hunt in
Germany and Herlathing in England. In
Volume 2 of the Tyr journal,
Steve Pollington raises some interesting
points regarding the origins of this legend in his article
Origins of the Germanic Warband.
"It has long been recognised that these stories reflect memories of
actual cult processions which once took place, connected with the
worship of [Woðanaz]. Furthermore, the leader of the procession was
the figure known as the Herlaking (which eventually became the
Harlequin of early modern theatre). One explanation for the name
links it to *harja-kuning “king of the *harjaz” (group of young
warriors) and sees the *harjaz as a cult grouping rather than
specific military arrangement."
*Harjaz, it would appear, is one of the etymological roots of
the word Einherjar, the chosen warriors of Valhöll led by
Óðinn in the Wild Hunt. Pollington also notes Kershaw’s connection
of the *harjaz to Tacitus’ description of the Germanic
people he named the Harii, who painted their bodies black,
fought ferociously and lived outside the rules of society. This
description of the Harii brought my mind to a story from The
Mabinogion called The Lady of the Fountain, in which a
mysterious black figure is described as being
"A black man of great stature… He is not smaller in size than
two of the men of this world. He has but one foot; and one eye in
the middle of his forehead. And he has a club of iron, and it is
certain that there are no two men in the world who would not find
their burden in that club. And he is not a comely man, but on the
contrary he is exceedingly ill-favoured; and he is the woodward of
that wood. And thou wilt see a thousand wild animals grazing around
him… And he took his club in his hand, and with it he struck a stag
a great blow so that he brayed vehemently, and at his braying the
animals came together, as numerous as the stars in the sky, so that
it was difficult for me to find room in the glade to stand among
them. There were serpents, and dragons, and divers sorts of animals.
And he looked at them, and bade them go and feed; and they bowed
their heads, and did him homage as vassals to their lord."
Rather than being a reference to the Harii, this black figure seems
likely to be a depiction of Arawn, who as the lord of the dead,
leader of the wild hunt and, on this occasion, one-eyed, seems to
display some similar qualities to Óðinn, the venerated deity and
archetypal warband leader of the Harii
The drawing of the parallel between the figure in The Lady of
the Fountain and the character of Arawn lies in their positions
as the hunters or assailants of the stag, and as the guardians of
magical animals. In The Battle of the Trees (Cad Goddeu),
Arawn begins the war after his magical animals are stolen, and the
figure in The Lady of the Fountain is clearly a similar
lord and guardian of such creatures. In the tale of Pwyll, Lord
of Dyfed Arawn leads his pack of white hounds with blood red
ears, the Cwn Annwn, in a woodland hunt for a stag through until his
quarry is intercepted by Pwyll, while in this tale we see the figure
assert his dominance over the stag with his heavy club.
Parallels also exist that link Arawn as the Welsh equivalent to the
leader of the Wild Hunt. Elsewhere in folklore he is named Y
Brenin Llwyd, or The Grey King. This is a name that
reflects the earthly incarnation of the King of Annwn, a title
synonymous with Gwyn ap Nudd and Cernunnos who are
also depicted as the leaders of the Wild Hunt and lords over the
dead. The Grey King’s form is described as hideous and terrible to
behold and he is sometimes accompanied with the vicious old crone
Mallt-y-Nos (Matilda of the Night), whose frenzied shrieking drives
on the Cwn Annwn, whose wild barking becomes softer and quieter the
closer they get to their prey. These red-eared hounds are also found
in the legends of northern England, where they are called the
Gabriel Hounds, and like their Cymric equivalents their
appearance was held as a portent of doom.
In the English legend of Herne the Hunter we also see
another interesting correlation with Celtic lore. Herne was said to
have been a hunter in and around Windsor Forest who had saved the
life of Richard II when he was attacked by a cornered white stag,
but was left critically wounded after the encounter before being
brought back to health by a magician. The ritual of resuscitation
involved attaching the stag’s antlers onto Herne’s head and left hm
unable to hunt. He became mad with despair at this loss, and ended
his life by hanging himself from an oak tree. This depiction of a
horned, woodland hunter reveals the influence of the imagery
associated with the Celtic Cernunnos.
The legend of Herne is interesting as it seems to display influence
of both the Celtic and Germanic versions of tales relating to the
Wild Hunt. Apart from the Óðinnic parallel of the hanging, Herne was
also known as Herlaking (leader of the Herlathing) or
King Herla in other parts of England, which etymologically,
brings him clearly back to his Germanic origins. Another interesting
parallel can also be found when one considers the Óðinnic qualities
of the ‘harlequin’ who acts as the enchanting leader of the young in
the tale of The Pied Piper of Hamlin.
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