[WLLDS] The Wild Hunt.

The Origin of the Wild Hunt:
"Odin, in his guise of wind-god, would travel 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 The Wild Hunt, was said to presage misfortune such as pestilence, death or war."

Throughout the years, the mythology of the hunt adapted to suit the geographical area and the time period. 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. Some tales associate the hunter with a dragon or the devil. Others discribe the wild hunt to be that of hell-hounds chasing sinners or the unbaptised.

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

"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)