The Wild Hunt And The Danger Of Seeing The Phantom Army Of Odin

Ellen Lloyd - AncientPages.com - The Wild Hunt is a well-known folklore story in Northern Europe. It is said that seeing the Wild Hunt is dangerous because it warns of a coming disaster or the death of the person who witnessed the ghost riders crossing the skies.

Over the centuries, many authors have written about the tale of the Wild Hunt. Several versions of this story are associated with the spirits of the dead.

The Tale Of The Wild Hunt In Europe

Depending on the region, in German folklore, the Wild Hunt is known under different names, but the "two most common names, Wild Hunt (Wilde Jagd) and Furious Army (wütendes Heer) emphasize several notions: danger, fury, the speed with which the troop moves, and its unruly and ungovernable nature, which can be found in the names forged with wild or wut/mut." ¹

The leader of the ghostly army has been given various identities, including Wodan, Knecht Ruprecht, and Berchtold (or Berchta), to mention a few.

The folk myth of a ghostly leader and his group of hunters and hounds is famous in France, especially in Normandy, where the story is referred to as the Familia Hellequini, and Old French Maisnie Hellequin (the 'household or retinue of Hellequin'). Scholars suggest the Old French name Hellequin borrowed from Middle English Herla King (Old English *Her(e)la-cyning) coming from the Romance-speaking Norman invaders of Britain.

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