I think hearing specific WH stories would be amazing- I’ll bet most of our experience with TWH is through The Witcher so I would love to hear some more actual folklore about them The story about the priest in the beginning, despite smacking of Christianization, was compelling and exciting. I’m sure there are plenty more and there’s no better storyteller I would rather hear them from
Thanks, another very interesting video. For me, I'd be interested in hearing about more about stories that have developed differently in relation to the centum-satem division you mention.
@@reefverse2553 Is there any particular part you would like to know more about? More stories, more discussion on the different origins, or the fertility part? Let me know and I'll put that on my list of videos to do :)
I was really suprised that the Rig Veda story about the god Indra and his retinue of of dead warriors turned into storm spirits was not mentioned in this video. In that story Indra and his host of warrior-storm-spirits restore the order of time, get the monsune going and restart the year. The paralells to the European Wild Hunt is striking. That also puts an age and a geographic range to the myth. I was also suprised that the detail that the female entity infront of the hunt is sometimes leading the hunt, so etimes being the hunted. In a Danish version she is a Troll-hag that have so long saging breasts that she throws them over her shoulders to be able to run faster. That in turn is a detail that is common in other tales as well. It would also have been interesting to have heard some reflections around the subject of it being part of ritual of a PIE warriorband that in turn can have connections to what became known as Berserker (which would tie in to the slavic "Wolf Sheperd" mentioned in othe comments). The author Dan Davis has done some good videos here on YT about the subject. Still this were a video full of gold nogets for me. Thank you!
The Danish Troll-hag detail sounds interesting. We have hags in the Circassian Nart Sagas called Neghuch'ytse - they look like hunchbacked, terrifying, ugly old women with wrinkly faces with long, iron teeth who carry their absurdly saggy breasts on their backs thrown over their shoulders. They live in huts deep in the woods, usually alone, sometimes with their daughters. They doom or help people depending on the occasion. They can divine future events and give people advice that will result in catastrophes. They love to feed on human flesh. If one breastfeeds a human, she considers them her child and offers good deals and counsel. I wonder if there's a common source for the two figures. Maybe it's just a coincidence.
Agreed, all of those things would be incredibly interesting, but considering how long this vid the lovely man with the pleasant voice and the agreeable IQ score already is, it's asking for quite a lot of time he'll need for sleeping, eating, etc... Perhaps a vid you would consider making yourself? You’d have me in the audience.
Interesting video. 👍 I am from Norway and wanted to let you know Oskorsreia is something which was told about and experienced by people only a couple of generations ago. I personally know of old people who claimed to have experienced oskorsreia. Oskorsreia is also called jolereia or lussireia. Jol being the the Norwegian word for midwinter or Christmas and Lussi being a word which means light. The tradition tells Oskorsreia is dangerous for people who haven’t done all the preparations around Christmas or similar important days. These people could loose their soul when Oskorsreia came. In Norway Oskorsreia is not only an old tale but something which was alive in our culture until not very long ago. In some rural areas older people still believe in Oskorsreia.
Same in Sweden. We actually still often stay up during Lucia night to avoid be dragged into the hunt (mostly used as an excuse to stay up as a youngster to drink but still). Actually most of our non-christian christmas tradition is connected in some way to invite friendly spirits and make them hapoy and ward off evil/unwanted spirits. And also always be prepared to accept a bigger host of guests of perhaps supernatural nature. Everthing form the christmas ale and excess of food to pine branches before the door... and so on and so on.
This is so interesting! Also from Norway, the northen parts - and as a child, we were warned about the Lussi - which ment the aurora in the night sky. The elders told us that if we went out and was wearing white clothes, the Lussi would come for us and take us. And it was the most dangerous to do so on the night of St. Lucia if we havent made all the requierd preperations for Christmas.
Okay so I’ve watched all of your videos about Odin now, and I’m fascinated by the facet of his composition that originate outside the standard PIE pantheon. Agree it make sense to see Odin as taking the place of Manu; I believe Odin’s primary characteristic is that of shaman, and that’s the same as priest. In fact I believe that shamanism is the link and origin of all these ideas, wild hunt included. Shaman and psychopomp are the same role - traveller between worlds, bridge between living and dead, intercession for the living - so when you talk about the original leader of the hunt, be it human horse rider, therianthropic horse man or wild man, or whatever, as playing a psychopomp role, I’m saying that’s the same as Odin’s role as shaman. Since Odin has not one but two astral projection horses - Sleipnir and Yggdrasil - it’s easy to speculate that all of this horse riding goes back to shamanistic beliefs about spirit horses being the mount of the shaman. A spirit man or wild man riding a horse leading the precession of the dead is too similar; that’s just the shaman communing with the dead, which he does by riding the spirit horse into the sky. Even Heimdallr is really a symbol of Yggdrasil, and so here is another horse man, guarding the crossing over point between realms (psychopomp themes) and blowing the horn, like a leader of a hunt. Really I think the core of all this old mythology is psychedelic usage and spirit travel, meaning, shamanism. Isn’t there a part of your reconstructed PIE creation myth where they use a root of some sort to make potion which is offered to the gods before the dragon slaying? Also relevant are the Santa Claus shamanistic connections. He’s doing a wild hunt in the sky with his reindeer, heavily associated with mushrooms, rides as horse as Sinterclaus, etc etc
Thanks for watching all these videos, and such a great comment. There is still more to come on Odin, but I have to lay the ground work as it's complex. Hence why I'm talking alot about death, and I'll talk about dogs soon, and death and dogs, and then we can have another look at a different branch of Odin :)
@@Crecganford I totally understand that, having a YT channel myself where I lay out elaborate theories about fake history and mythology (A Song of Ice and Fire). I really appreciate the added depth that comes with you taking your time and laying groundwork; I find that when you cover a topic I'm familiar with, you always take it further than other researchers I've seen. YT is always putting pressure on you to make short, snappy content, but there are some things you miss of course, things you can only get to with a bit more patience. Cheers man and keep it up
lol I just realized you might be the first TH-camr I've come across who says "as I explained in this other video" as much as I do, and the same goes for "I'll make a detailed video about this later, but for now, let me tell you that..." I know the struggle my man
It's intresting how I always used to link the wild hunt to Norse mythology and never thought it could reach anywhere near the Balkans. Thank you for this video. Splendid work.
How about Cernunnos "Lord of Wild things", associated with stags, horned serpents, dogs, bulls. I would believe that (as a Celtic / Pagan) religious deity, which was prevalent in the countries mentioned were Wild-Hunt stories were told. I would certtainly attribute this particular archaic being as the (Dark/tall, figure) in Wild Hunt stories. A Celtic pre-Christianity deity of hunting and fertility. Cernunnos is also interpreted as both a god of death, but also life; As a cycle. Depicted sometimes with a female deity consort (fertility goddess. This to me, is very much on-the-money.
I've just come across your channel recently and I'm just binging the hell out of it. This is fantastic content, man! The amount of depth you go into is great. Thanks!
In my opinion, some should also remember the time of the year, the wild hunt appaers. Here in Austria it is in the "Raunächte" the days between the years at modern days christmas. It is the time when the winterstorms blows and people easily freeze to death, when they cant find shelter. It connects with another believe, that some must not hang white Bedgarment out for drying, because he is the damned die be buried in them, because he will die when doing so. So in my opinion, the wild hunt is older than Indoeuropean myth. Wotan or anybody else was then incorporated in this warning of the hazards of wintertime, but the myth itself is about the power of nature an all its animated spirits thät dwell within. Btw, Thanks for all your videos and lectures. This old storys must be kept alive when we dont want to loose our heritage forever!
the story of King Herla is very interesting and shares a similarity with some ancient Chinese stories, one of them was like that, once upon a time a man went into mountains to chop some firewoods, he encountered two immortals playing go, he watched the game and by time when the game was over, he found the handle of his axe already rotten, and when he returned from the mountains to the village, he found that decades had passed and his home deserted and none of those he knew was alive
Very interesting! Thank you! I am from here on a faithful follower of your channel. This is great stuff! :) All my books in Swedish has so far said that "Naah, this is probably not origin from Scandinavia, it probably comes from the earlier celtic world/germanic world. But they never dived any deeper than this. A fun fact, that you probably know but might be a fun for others to know, is that the stories about the Wild Hunt survived in Scandinavian folklore up until late 19th cent. And there Odins name was often kept, but in some stories he is not a God anymore just an old Viking warrior from a nearby mound, or he is more of a mythical folklore being, not a God but some kind of other being, that is hunting for the Skogsrå (Mistress of the Forest). I find it fascinating how the old Aesir Gods names, like Tor and Oden, have survived into old folklore hundreds for years after we got Christianized. Oh, and btw, you are really nailing a lot of the Scandinavian names and words. Which is not always easy. Great job! :)
This just recently showed up in my recommended. It was a great video, always enjoy when I hear people talking about Liberman's work. I've taken multiple classes with him and every one of them have been an absolute joy.
What's fascinating to me is how the purity of the "oldest story" (the hunter, the elk and the sun) becomes baroque in the extreme under the influence of Christianity -- fantastical stories were, after all, the basis of that religion. I believe that giants are a kind of childhood impression of adults who were vastly bigger and taller (and more powerful) than the toddler who looked up at them in awe. Isn't the exact origin of the story beside the point? The "Cosmic Hunt" was probably not told but performed by the tribe's shaman who took on all the parts as well as narrating. I love the detail about the elk's blood coloring the fallen autumn leaves red. That's superb.
@@Crecganford -- Jon, I admire your scholarship and the honesty and enthusiasm with which your segments are presented. I am always impressed by the wide-ranging knowledge you bring to every episode. Gaining an understanding of our mutual past is the key to having a global future. Cheers, mate.
In parts of Germany you are not allowed to wash your clothes during the 12 holy nights when the "wild Hunt" is under way. Because when the horses trip over the line somebody of your household must join the hunt. And when my grandmother was a child the farmers would let stand some grain (I think it was on the west corner of the field) as fodder for the horses.
I really appreciate your presentation. You manage to share your findings based on your research, without coming off as arrogant, condescending, or preachy. Thank you!
The relationship between the Ancient North Eurasian cosmic hunt, the Indo-European ride of the sun (and moon) across the sky (and underworld) pursued by a predator, the Wild Hunt, and the Eternal Hunt are undoubtedly related themes and have deep roots in the Americas, North Asia, and Europe. This motif fascinates me more than most of Indo-European folklore. One thing I don't know if you mentioned, have you come across the idea that Odin uses the Wild Hunt to recruit Einherjar to his ghost army for Ragnarok?
There’s a figure in the caucuses known to the Georgians as Apsat and might be of Oessetian origin of a 1 eyed or blind, elderly and bearded hunter god that lives in the woods.
_An old cowboy went ridin' out one dark and windy day_ _Upon a ridge he rested as he went along his way_ _When all at once a mighty herd of red eyed cows, he saw_ _Plowed through the ragged skies and up a cloudy draw_ _Their brands were still on fire and their hooves were made of steel_ _Their horns were black and shiny and their hot breath you could feel_ _A bolt of fear went through him as they thundered through the sky_ _For he saw the riders coming hard and he heard their mournful cry_
@@Crecganford The final stanza of this song transmits a moral message: As the riders leaned on by him, he heard one call his name If you want to save your soul from hell a-riding on our range Then cowboy change your ways today or with us you will ride Tryin' to catch the devil herd across these endless skies (Cash's version is the most badass IMHO!)
Really beautifully researched. The time and breadth of learning demonstrated by your lectures is a gift to culture. Thank you very much. I studied Slavic Linguistics many, many years ago and the tracing of commonalities in language thru sound changes to Indo-European suppositions is exciting and actually almost mystic. A wonderful area of study.
This video is awesome. I don’t know how I missed it when it was published. That’s very interesting about the Neolithic ties to Odin’s name is super interesting. I’ve always thought that dark, billowy storm clouds rolling through, and the way the wind wails almost with a human sound, felt like a procession of ghosts passing through. I’m not at all surprised that Neolithic people did too. I can easily see how that universal, primal feeling from the wailing wind and rolling storms would naturally evolve into stories of thundering hooves and stampedes of spirits, led by a madman on the hunt for souls. The Wild Hunt is pretty metal
Amazing video again! As i was going through i was writing a huge list of questions i wanted to ask in the comments but by the end of the video every one had been answered. This is undoubtebly the best channel on youtube 🙌
Hey there! Thank you so much for these education and extremely fascinating videos about myth and ancient stories. I had first encountered the Wild Hunt story reading Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Miata of Avalon. It was an aspect of her take on the Arthur Myth that I was unfamiliar with. Thanks to you I have a great take on it!!!!!
I just this second wrote the exact same thing, and the very next thing I see is your comment saying the same thing! I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who felt this way.
Here in north spain we have the Santa Compaña "company of saints" a procession of the dead leaded by an alive one, dammned to lead the dead until find another alive to switch places and be free from his duty. It happens at night, in the woods... Your video make remember that story.
I was blown away by the end of your video! I have theorized that the heart of the Wild Hunt myth is Neolithic in origin. The two base concepts I haven't been able to fully reconcile are the concept that a pack of opponents is inherently terrifying to humans from prehistoric times. First, take most (western) peoples reaction to a video on how a pack of hyenas take down a lion, or how cultures who are still in hunter/gather phase in Africa still hate/hunt hyena's. Taking that as a foundation, and add the similar terror that neolithic farmers must have felt for horse-borne steppe raiders, and I think that you have a foundation for cultures to layer in all types of other myths to create the Wild Hunt. It feels very primal!
One British tradition of the Wild Hunt, at least in Wales, is that Gwyn ap Nudd was its leader. Again there's the psychopomp tradition preceding the Wild Hunt tradition there, although Gwyn ap Nudd was also supposedly king of the fae.
What a wonderful video, I really enjoyed it. Thank you very much. I was looking around to see if there were any great interviews in English, or translated, with Claude Lecoteux and your video turned up among my searches. This video is a fine introduction to the subject of the wild hunt. I wondered if you were going to get around to talking about Hel as the leader of the wild hunt, it’s been years since I’ve read the book, and I can’t recall if maybe she came much later in the history of the hunt?
Hel was a later adaptation, as whilst the origin is mixed, it does also lay a path for the rise of the Germanic god, Wōðanaz. And yes, I will talk about this more next year.
Hi Jon, I am mightily late to your videos but utterly hooked. Thank you for the delves and dives you do into all these recondite corners. I wonder what echo/pingback might be found in the Irish stories of the Sluagh or Crom Dubh. The Hunt seems very much primordial and punitive, in all the old 'keep to the straight and narrow' ways of storytelling.
Amazing. And it is interesting if the Wild Hunt can be connected to The Cosmic Hunt. I am personally most interested in origins, and the possible trace back before PIE is very interesting, but also later influences that change the story according to beliefs and culture in the search for the very most origin. Thanks for the texting, I need that.
Your pronounciation of the German words was funny :D Wilde Jagd = wild hunt Nachtschar = host of the night Totenzug = procession of the dead Wütendes Heer = Furious Army Totenprozession = procession of the dead - so it all seems to be variations of the same thing Anyway, keep up the good work!
The Wolf Shepherd (also Wolf Shepherd, White King, White King, Wolf King) is the leader of wolves and werewolves, according to ancient Slavic folklore. It goes back to the ancient Indo-European cult of veneration of wolves. According to legend, the wolf shepherd is the ruler of wolves, as well as the lord of stormy thunderstorms. The myths about the wolf shepherd and his retinue are similar to the myths about the Wild Hunt. Also, the figure of the Wolf Shepherd is interpreted as a thunder god. The shepherd uses the wolves as hounds and mounts as he travels to battlefields. According to one of the legends, the wolf shepherd controls the wolves that seek to devour the Sun. So that the wolves obey, he pacifies them with a whip and a club. At its core, it is neither good nor evil, nor even neutral, rather it maintains a balance. The wolf shepherd manages the lives of wolves, protecting them from humans, or humans from them. He assigns tasks and victims to the wolves, he himself often takes part in hunting or battle. It is believed that the victim appointed by the shepherd is inevitably doomed. The shepherd looks different. He can seem like a gray-haired old man, and a wolf. In some legends from Malorossia(little Russia) (one of the names of Ukraine in Russian Empire), the wolf shepherd is the goblin, so one of the incarnations of the shepherd is a goat-like humanoid. Also depicted as a furry man with goat hooves. The shepherd is called in Little Russia and Belarus Polisun, Lesovik. The shepherd was also revered by the Serbs. In some descriptions, the shepherd even has wings. The color of wolf fur is most often white or black for a shepherd. Based on this, it can be understood that the Slavs also had traces of faith in wild hunting. More facts indicate that it was either a Leshiy or Veles / Volos, the god of cattle, storytellers. There was even a tradition in the north of Russia - to put on a bearskin. This is how the priests of Veles dressed. I suppose that in Slavic mythology Veles could play the role of Odin, like his ancient progenitor - Wotan, hunt everyone at night, pursuing the Wild Hunt motif
Thanks. That's a fascinating and informative story. I am at a bit of a loss though, concerning the form of the story as a hunt. I suppose I could wrap my head around it, but only by assuming that it's indicative of the idea that the hunt was such an integral part of life then, that it would be like musicians referring to death as "the great gig in the sky". That is, everything - even death - revolved around the hunt, as it meant survival. Slightly ironic sounding. The thing I find more interesting is how stories connect to one another, and connect us as people, even across great stretches of time. That strikes me as the chief point of history. You are quite good at that, and I much enjoy this channel since I happened upon it. Thanks again. tavi.
Thank you for watching, and I agree. Hunting was the major activity of man, and was so important that the word "sin" comes from meaning to miss your target. A very, very old word.
@@Crecganford I never would have thought that the origin of the word 'sin' comes from missing the target. That's just super fascinating to me. I'm guessing that the target would have been the prey and an arrow or some type of hunting spear or dart is what would of missed. This is what I love about your content, it inspires me to look further into the subject/s.
There is a small group of Witcher fans here, and I must admit I do like the game, but this isn't about the book or the game, but what it is based on, and could be interesting to you.
I enjoy how a fertility version of this story is utilized in the modern saga The Mists of Avalon. In this story a young King Arthur takes part in a ritual based on this myth. He is a young King at the time and the ritual, where he plays the role of the Horned God, is part of his gaining the support of the people who still worship the pre-Christian religion of the natural world. In part of the ritual he unknowingly sleeps with his half-sister, who has become a Mother Goddess priestess. And through this his son Mordred is conceived, who ultimately becomes his downfall.
Hi, layman here. I’ve been listening to this while at work, so I’ve been a little distracted and might have missed something. The wild hunt kind of reminds me of the man out of time trope. The wild hunters seem to symbolize those who haven’t given up their old ways. Changes in technology, changes in the environment, and changes in society, they just can’t adapt to the new life. They want to go out hunt like the old days. In this way, it’s similar to purgatory. The hunters are unable to move on with their lives.
19:05 not sure it you mention it later in the video, but in France, the Wild Hunt, mostly called Furious Army (l’Armée furieuse), Great Hunt (la Grande Chasse), or House Hellequin (la Mesnie Hellequin, “mesnie” being an old French word used in the Middle Ages to refer to the people living under a same roof, whether related by blood or not) as far as I can tell, is most often lead by an entity called « le Seigneur Hellequin » (Lord Hellequin). Hellequin sounds like an obvious variation on Harlequin. Hellequin and those who follow him are described as the true stuff of nightmares: decaying corpses in arms, riding decaying horses. In Normandy, they ride at night in specific places, usually forest paths, called “grinvèldes” (grimweld, “grimways”). As the legend goes, the few chosen/cursed ones who can see the Army also see “the seized ones” (les saisis), bad people captured by Hellequin, who will die shortly (and presumably be carried to Hell by Hellequin himself) unless they promptly make amends. There’s an excellent novel by Fred Vargas called “L’Armée Furieuse”, translated into English under the title “The Ghost Riders of Ordebec”, that you might want to read. And the TH-cam channel Occulture has just released a video (in French) about the Wild Hunt, in which they tell the story of one Lord Gallery in South-West France that is another variation on the Wild Hunt myth (evil Lord Gallery would rather hunt on Sundays than go to mass, had eternity to regret it, bad choice, fellows, bad choice!), and even another one, “la Chasse Galerie” derived from in in Quebec (with Iroquois ingredients added to the mix).
To my knowledge there's a pretty broad acceptance amongst historical linguists that the centum/satem split is formal rather than a historical split of the peoples. The changes into centum and satem seem to be the expected simplification of the far too complicated system of velars (labiovelar, palatovelar and plain velar). Centum and satem is a categorization that states which of the velars stay distinct and which merge, but there's no reason to believe that this split happened once. There are examples of the contrary, such as (I believe) Armenian, which does conserve the three velars in different reflexes (the palatovelars fricativize but the labiovelars also show distinct reflexes from plain velars, which would essentially group it as a centum AND satem language). And a very brief note; centum is with a hard k-sound, to highlight the fricative versus velar reflex of the palatovelar *k' - if it were pronounced centum with an s-sound, then latin would paradoxically appear to be a satem language in that example (to provoke a bit) 😀
Sorry about the pronunciations, I do dance between so many I often don't know whether to pronounce in a modern day English or what we feel is a age/culture appropriate form. As for the centum/satem split I was working on the shoulders of Lincoln, who justified it through the belief of those speaking it being more primitive and therefore earlier. Thank you for watching and the great feedback :)
@@Crecganford I promise I wouldn't usually correct pronounciation - it is only because the words satem and centum were chosen to show the nature of the split via examples of it, and that's only shown through the old pronounciation of the c centum 😀 I can't speak to the cultural divide between the centum and satem languages, but my bet would be that it had more to do with the geography than a historical split (and in the same way the split could be an areal feature across different branches based on the geographical proxomity rather than, as historical linguists used to think, the branching into a satem and a centum branch. As mentioned I can't say anything about the culture or religion of this division, I only speak with the experience of a student of indoeuropean studies/historical linguistics!
@@silasfrisenette9226 My studies in linguistics is minimal, with my experience being comparative mythology and religious studies. And so I doo appreciate all feedback, thank you :) I do feel that the centum/satem split, especially with regard the underworld mythology, puts in a good case for it being historical though, which is why I support it. But am always happy to read further papers/books if you feel there is something out there that may help my understanding further.
@@Crecganford perhaps the differing mythos could be explained areally? Something about the stories that were kept being influenced by neighbours or a shift in focus of stories based on environment or similar? I'm not aware of any modern indoeuropeanist (in historical linguistics) who support the split as a binary branching into centum/satem (there may be, but I just can't think of any). I could try to find some papers that argue this, but I don't know how recent they would be, as the general scholarly agreement in the field of historical linguistics is that it was not an actual split of the speakers of PIE into centum and satem 🤔 Interesting that comparative religion has come to a different conclusion though! Do you think stories or language travels more freely across cultures? I'd say stories/myths, but maybe that's naive!
@@Crecganford Fortson, the author of one of the most widely used introduction books in the field ("indoeuropean language and culture") agrees; "For a long time it was thought that the division between centum and satem languages reflected an old dialectal division within IE [...] However, a closer look at the material and some recent discoveries complicate things." He then lists some linguistic arguments for why the changes were made independently and not as part of a dialectal split - Tocharian is further East than any other branch but is centum if it can even be called either centum or satem, Luvian (an Anatolian language) preserves distinct reflexes of all three velar series in some environments, tree satem brances/subbranches shows evidence that the plain velars and labiovelars were still distinct into their later prehistory (Indic, Armenian and especially Albanian), and Balto-Slavic (a satem "branch") have many words which show centum developments. He specifies these arguments in his book, so that's one thing I can refer you to if you want to hear more on the "linguistic side" of this question!
So, funny story. Many years ago one of the writers of a fantasy game set in a setting in which Earth and many of Earth's gods exist, decided to adapt the Wild Hunt to their setting, but he gave it a fey flair and made the leader of the hunt an antlered god that was invented for the game. When asked if his fictional god was actually Odin in this setting, he said that he had no idea why people would ask that, and when I stepped in and pointed out that Odin was the leader of the hunt in Germanic versions of the myth, he said he had no idea that Odin was associated with the Wild Hunt myths. How I wish I had known all the information in this video back then, it would've been so funny to tell him that Odin most likely originated from the Wild Hunt myth.
Interesting video. I am from baltic region. Baltic pagan religion had a god Velnias, which was the god of undead. In Lihuanian language which is the most archaic indo european language, name Velnias very clearly derives from the word Vėlė, which means an ancestor spirit. So we had this indo european derived god of underworld and the dead, who also was a magician and quite spitefull angry god, a rival to the main baltic gods Dievas and Perkūnas. Velnias also was a trickster god and could shapeshift into all kinds of animals but most often wolfs and dogs. And it is believed that Velnias probably derived from the same god as germanic Wodan antd hindu Varuna, irish god Cū Chulain. Sometimes Velnias was also portraid as one-eyed, another similarity to Odin. Watching this video I noticed a lot of similarities to Velnias who in summary was indo-european, spitfull, angry, shapeshifting god of spirits. He fits very well into wild hunt story especialy considering his powers of shapeshifting. Just to add in fairytails he shapeshifts into wolfs, pigs, snakes, goats, birds and murders people. In lihuanian fairytails he can carry giant rocks and lives in swamps.
"no sin involved". I was surprised listening to King Herla's story. He seemed to do everything correctly. There was no "slight" inflicted on anyone, no deception involved, no treachery whatsoever. This king gets lead down this road just by obliging a generous and interesting guest. So, why did this happen? I am used to hearing mythic stories as cautionary and morality tales, or at least involving an interaction that may lead to unexpected tragedy because of unintended disrespect. How could Herla have avoided such a fate? What action could be taken to create a fate more auspicious? Is there another chapter to this tale we are not hearing?
Yes! Exactly what I thought when I heard it. So the reason is to do with the author of the story who had some political motivation, albeit towards the King at the time of writing. I'll see if I can remember where I read that and let you know.
Actually, there are still myths being told without a morality element, such as the Norwegian stories of the "Hulder". These are creatures of the forest or underworld who tend to do exactly this. They'll try to lure completely innocent people into their world (possibly inside a mountain), for no particular reason other than they like you or something. If you do go into their home and eat the food they offer, you will be trapped there, possibly forever. (Thus, in the old days, when a child was mysteriously lost, they might say "the Hulder took him/her".) The only way to avoid this fate is to notice that the creatures are not human (the Hulder have tails), and in that case don't eat their food, just leave as soon as possible. The parallels are striking enough that perhaps that's also exactly how Herla could have avoided this fate.
I love videos which are well researched and show critical thinking and are also accessible to complete laymen like me. Great stuff. You sound like a West Haaaam supporter which as a Londoner myself, is fine by me.
The Grimms took a load of folklore which was rooted in mythology. One example that always stood out for me is the story of Frau Holle who shares attributes with Goddesses like Freya. Would love a video with some background into those from you
Well, an old cowboy went riding out one dark and windy day Upon a ridge he rested as he went along his way When all at once a mighty herd of red eyed cows he saw Plowing through the ragged sky And up the cloudy draw Their brands were still on fire and their hooves were made of steel Their horns were black and shiny and their hot breath he could feel A bolt of fear went through him as they thundered through the sky He saw the riders coming hard And he heard their mournful cry Yippie-yi-ay (yippie-yi-ay) Yippie-yi-yay (yippie-yi-yay) Ghost riders in the sky Their faces gaunt, their eyes were blurred, their shirts all soaked with sweat He's riding hard to catch that herd, but he ain't caught 'em yet 'Cause they've got to ride forever on that range up in the sky On horses snorting fire As they ride on hear their cry As the riders passed on by him he heard one call his name If you want to save your soul from hell a-riding on our range Then cowboy change your ways today or with us you will ride Trying to catch the devil's herd Across these endless skies Yippie-yi-ay (yippie-yi-ay) Yippie-yi-yay (yippie-yi-yay) You lost a "yippie" there Ghost riders in the sky Ghost riders in the sky
I am from central europe, the land of the Grimms. I find the idea convincing, that under a surface of christianity still some layer of the germanic gods and myths were hidden especially with the land folk. Then hunting in a group on horse was a thing only for noble people. Both something the ordinary people had no say in whatsoever. Another thing is there are some stories of a serf who was arrested in a far away area or village where he was not allowed to be, told he was carried there by the wild hunt and totally innocent. Certainly a thing common to the lower classes in certain areas to have some pagan foundation under the christian surface. Serfs were bound to the land of the owner usually but when they ran away and reached a city they were free. "City air makes free". sometimes free to starv to death. The owner of a serf had the duty to look after him somehow (the situation of serfs was different between areas in some they were mere slaves who just owned the clothes they wore in others they could work themselves out of serfdom) - in the city there was no such safety net. Many made a living many failed.
Well, the practice of alluding or even referencing pagan folk tales and mythology was actually accepted by the church, so much so that there is a term for it called euhemerism. As long as people believe that that pagan mythology is just that, mythology, and put Christianity as the sole true religion, the church was often very open to pagan literature and writings.
Amazing video as always, I subscribed to you yesterday and planning to see or watch your videos daily, quick question : "The cosmic hunt : The oldest story we know" is a book or video or just a topic ?
Thank you. It is just this video, although there are papers that help support this. I am thinking of making a film or similar about it due to much demand.
With so much variation between wild hunt stories, the question occurs to me: what reason is there to believe that there is in fact a single original version of _the_ wild hunt, rather than there being several wild hunts (plural) as a sort of "pantheon"? Why just one?
That is a great question, and one that was suggested by Ronald Hutton in his paper "The Wild Hunt and the Witches Sabbath" I believe. I did read his papers but it didn't convince me. Certainly they are different myths on the surface, but to me my studies suggest they were born from the same idea, and same cultural source. But certainly more research needs to be done on this to make a fully persuasive argument. Thank you for watching, and taking the time to comment.
In swiss alemannic, it is "Wüetis-heer", possibly retaining the name of Woden (the s indicates a genitive case, hinting to the first part of the composite being a name) and equally the connotation of "wüetig" meaning "in rage" or "in frenzy" that reflects in the english "wild". "Heer" means "army" or "warband".
I've not heard of Wuetis before, or indeed Wuetis army, but it would make sense if it is linked to the hunt. I'll have to investigate. Thank you for taking the time to comment, it is appreciated.
I've read a fair bit on Norse mythology (the Bible according to Loki is a great read for a light introduction that's tongue in cheek humour for those not looking for academic or heavy material) and I'm 20 seconds in going "hmmmm. Gotta see where this goes now." Edit: just seen the videos listed on your channel. That's me entertained for many hours on my night shift.
Years ago I got a hypothesis about the origin of "wild hunt" in Scandinavian and English versions. I thought about Heruli and their travels. I suspected that it was their kind of invading which added - in the eyes of more "civilised' and "settled" populations - the material to the invention of this story :)
I believe in many of these anthro/mythological developments, we have to go back to what the original phenomenon would have presented to witnesses from whence to generate the mythos. There had to be an inexplicable, repeated, series of events, perhaps cyclical, that provided physical and material manifestations to be observed, with the caveat that at that time, and presumably for a period of time that follows, enough to entrench the myth, they could not simply be interpreted. Secondly, these phenomenon had to resemble that which they were being compared to, with a particular note to the adjectives being applied (in this case 'Wild'). From that, we have to observe the environmental conditions and current mythos of the 'witnesses' from which we can determine what elements were welds to graft the phenomenon onto the current perspective. That being done, the next step is critical. Was this phenomenon actually grafted onto a running mythos, or was the mythos of the Hunt predating the running mythos, in which case, observing phenomenon that was consistent despite the 'new model' of running mythos. In my opinion, The Wild Hunt, has a very simple origin in the explanation of thunder storms to the primitive story makers...and as many mythos developed from primitive applications, developed alongside whatever running operative mythos was prevalent, and that due to the rooted tradition from being so elemental.
My very most favorite recounting of the Hunt is from Marion Zimmer Bradley’s epic work, “Mists of Avalon.” Her telling of it makes the most sense as a combination fertility rite & re-enactment of the cyclical death-rebirth of The God. At least to me.
It's about the sky. The golden nails are the stars, the leader of the hunt with the club is Orion. The three stars in orion's belt and the one just below it were used as a symbol of the leaders, royalty, and were seen by some cultures as a crown. In other cultures the constellation was a hunter. In this story, you find elements of both.
I have been absolutely enthralled by your videos since I came across your channel last week. I'm particularly interested in this story and its leaders. One thing I'm curious about is why is it believed a possible leader was a man-eating horse?
The man eating horse of the wild hunt is just one version of the myth, showing how the animal leading the hunt slowly transformed with time as the motif evolved. I can’t remember the exact source of the reference off the top of my head, but if it comes back to me I will put it here for you. Thanks for watching, and taking the time to comment.
@@Crecganford That sounds like some version of a kelpie. or more particularly the Knucklevee of Orkney, but both of those are associated with the sea or water rather than woods.
In Scandinavia wednesday is onstag Odin's day, so the d is lost. The d remains in English but is no longer pronounced. In Dutch it is woensdag, Woeden's day, the d also is lost. Woede still means "anger" in Dutch. The 8 legged horse is als know by the Buryats in Siberië. There are other versions of a six legged reindeer. The shaman steed to travel to the afterlife. It seems when and where the horse was domesticated it replaced the reindeer. The Yukagirs call the horse, the domesticated reindeer of the Yakuts. Horse relation as a psychopomp we can find in "nightemare' the ghost horse, a mare, that visits you at night like it was a bad dream.
The Hurla tale I've heard before but it was Irish. Also the hunt was sometimes in Britain and Ireland said to punish bad people the law couldn't touch, like rich evil lords or those who harmed others but not illegally were caught up say on the way home at night from market or something and the Wild Hunt stood up for poor local people by removing or otherwise punishing the wicked. You are supposed to carry a horseshoe in your pocket to survive it and not look directly at them if you come upon them.
@crecgenford: Around the 8 minute mark referencing Hutton, you said "the cult of the dead are the go-betweens between man and things." Can you elaborate on that some or point me in the right direction? Seems like a lot to unpack in that idea. Thanks so much! Keep up the great work!
I am probably referring to one of two papers by Hutton on the hunt and witches. If you google Hutton and Hunt you should be able to find them. I hope that helps.
I've heard some western cowboy stories that seem to be shadows of this phenomenon. You can hear echoes of them in some country songs like "ghost riders in the sky" as sung by Marty Robbins.
Sub note: I have always been of the opinion that Slepnir the 8 legged horse to be an evolution of the wheeled cart or chariot, which would often be drawn by two animals: either horses or cattle. To me, this fits in perfectly with the PIEs, who and least tentatively gained traction over local hunter gatherers via these technologies in conjunction with farming.
Have you read the _Gods of Bronze_ fantasy series? It's a retelling of the Herakles myth set in the Bronze Age (although the twelve labors are not what you think).
Listening to you talk about the Wild Hunt reminds me of the Japanese Night Parade of One Hundred Demons (Hyakki Yagyō). I am not well versed in either but they seem to have similarities. Even if vague.
fantasy authors i know and like that cover these themes to varying degrees. alan garner. wierdstone of brasingamen. moon of gomrath charles de lint. moonheart, spiritwalk etc robert holdstock. mythago wood series i believe aspects of the hunt are also mentioned in shakespeares' midsummer nights dream. with titania and oberon. although i could be mixing up some of my own memories of the story. i have also heard of herne the hunter being linked as huntsmaster i have loved this subject since i read alan garner as a child (8). back in 1978.
It reminds me of Swabian-Alemanic Fastnacht in Sothern Germany. There are dedicated groups, who associate around wearing a group-specific mask and clothing, lots of them at least heavily inspired by traditions. At carnival time (I think it doesn't exactly fall on winter's solstice, but that could be through changes of the calendar) all those separate groups assemble in a large procession at night to scare "the evil winter spirits" out of the farming villages. Off course followed by a lot of drinking and feasting. If you ever visit Southern Germany throughout carnival, you can have no doubt, that the entire procession is a reenactment of the Wild Hunt.
my phd is in psychology, so I don't know this literature well. forgive me if this is a bad question. I first learned of the Wild Hunt stories through The Dresden Files (I am obsessive about anything I like - thus I have read them all). So, the Erl King (Erlking - Herne the Hunter or King of Faeries... goblins and such). So, goblin king leading the hunt? Was that a common theme? Herne was human, right? thank you for this and for the whole channel.
HI, and thank you for watching and the comments. Herne was a human, but whether he was still actually human when he was leading the hunt is not clear and I would perceive that he was more akin to a ghost, a spiritual representation of himself. The goblin king is just one version of a story, and having these humanoid creatures which aren't quite human is a common motif in many fairy tales. What they represent is often the things current culture do not like, so not necessarily evil, but chaotic. I hope that helps.
Would you like to hear about the specific Wild Hunt stories, or would like me to go deeper into any of the information I talk about?
I think hearing specific WH stories would be amazing- I’ll bet most of our experience with TWH is through The Witcher so I would love to hear some more actual folklore about them
The story about the priest in the beginning, despite smacking of Christianization, was compelling and exciting.
I’m sure there are plenty more and there’s no better storyteller I would rather hear them from
Thanks, another very interesting video. For me, I'd be interested in hearing about more about stories that have developed differently in relation to the centum-satem division you mention.
@@jmarsh5485 Yes I really want to discuss this, so definately
I think more facts would be awesome, there is not a ton of info out there especially in video format on the subject
@@reefverse2553 Is there any particular part you would like to know more about? More stories, more discussion on the different origins, or the fertility part? Let me know and I'll put that on my list of videos to do :)
"But I'll make a video about that soon" has become your signature phrase. You must have a hundred videos coming out "soon" by now. I'll watch them.
I've 102 videos i want to make, and will do them all, I promise :)
Lol Mow-ron! (Great name btw) The best part is that to my memory he has been following through on those threats!
I too will watch every one!
@@Crecganford Good, I'm not that old yet, I should live long enough to make it to the end of the story.
@@the_mowron hahaha
@@Crecganford I'm being semi-serious. I like listening to the story, and I don't want it to end quickly, but I want to make it to the end.
I was really suprised that the Rig Veda story about the god Indra and his retinue of of dead warriors turned into storm spirits was not mentioned in this video. In that story Indra and his host of warrior-storm-spirits restore the order of time, get the monsune going and restart the year. The paralells to the European Wild Hunt is striking. That also puts an age and a geographic range to the myth.
I was also suprised that the detail that the female entity infront of the hunt is sometimes leading the hunt, so etimes being the hunted. In a Danish version she is a Troll-hag that have so long saging breasts that she throws them over her shoulders to be able to run faster. That in turn is a detail that is common in other tales as well.
It would also have been interesting to have heard some reflections around the subject of it being part of ritual of a PIE warriorband that in turn can have connections to what became known as Berserker (which would tie in to the slavic "Wolf Sheperd" mentioned in othe comments). The author Dan Davis has done some good videos here on YT about the subject.
Still this were a video full of gold nogets for me. Thank you!
Definitely reminds me of the Koryos as well.
The Danish Troll-hag detail sounds interesting. We have hags in the Circassian Nart Sagas called Neghuch'ytse - they look like hunchbacked, terrifying, ugly old women with wrinkly faces with long, iron teeth who carry their absurdly saggy breasts on their backs thrown over their shoulders. They live in huts deep in the woods, usually alone, sometimes with their daughters. They doom or help people depending on the occasion. They can divine future events and give people advice that will result in catastrophes. They love to feed on human flesh. If one breastfeeds a human, she considers them her child and offers good deals and counsel.
I wonder if there's a common source for the two figures. Maybe it's just a coincidence.
Agreed, all of those things would be incredibly interesting, but considering how long this vid the lovely man with the pleasant voice and the agreeable IQ score already is, it's asking for quite a lot of time he'll need for sleeping, eating, etc... Perhaps a vid you would consider making yourself? You’d have me in the audience.
Interesting video. 👍 I am from Norway and wanted to let you know Oskorsreia is something which was told about and experienced by people only a couple of generations ago. I personally know of old people who claimed to have experienced oskorsreia. Oskorsreia is also called jolereia or lussireia. Jol being the the Norwegian word for midwinter or Christmas and Lussi being a word which means light. The tradition tells Oskorsreia is dangerous for people who haven’t done all the preparations around Christmas or similar important days. These people could loose their soul when Oskorsreia came.
In Norway Oskorsreia is not only an old tale but something which was alive in our culture until not very long ago. In some rural areas older people still believe in Oskorsreia.
Thank you watching the video, and sharing that interesting story. It is very much appreciated, takk.
I'm originally from southern Virginia (USA) and we actually have a similar phenomenon. Crazy.
Same in Sweden. We actually still often stay up during Lucia night to avoid be dragged into the hunt (mostly used as an excuse to stay up as a youngster to drink but still).
Actually most of our non-christian christmas tradition is connected in some way to invite friendly spirits and make them hapoy and ward off evil/unwanted spirits. And also always be prepared to accept a bigger host of guests of perhaps supernatural nature. Everthing form the christmas ale and excess of food to pine branches before the door... and so on and so on.
@@sirseigan Yes! That last part is so important, it's the core of Scandinavian Christmas traditions
This is so interesting! Also from Norway, the northen parts - and as a child, we were warned about the Lussi - which ment the aurora in the night sky. The elders told us that if we went out and was wearing white clothes, the Lussi would come for us and take us. And it was the most dangerous to do so on the night of St. Lucia if we havent made all the requierd preperations for Christmas.
Okay so I’ve watched all of your videos about Odin now, and I’m fascinated by the facet of his composition that originate outside the standard PIE pantheon. Agree it make sense to see Odin as taking the place of Manu; I believe Odin’s primary characteristic is that of shaman, and that’s the same as priest. In fact I believe that shamanism is the link and origin of all these ideas, wild hunt included. Shaman and psychopomp are the same role - traveller between worlds, bridge between living and dead, intercession for the living - so when you talk about the original leader of the hunt, be it human horse rider, therianthropic horse man or wild man, or whatever, as playing a psychopomp role, I’m saying that’s the same as Odin’s role as shaman. Since Odin has not one but two astral projection horses - Sleipnir and Yggdrasil - it’s easy to speculate that all of this horse riding goes back to shamanistic beliefs about spirit horses being the mount of the shaman. A spirit man or wild man riding a horse leading the precession of the dead is too similar; that’s just the shaman communing with the dead, which he does by riding the spirit horse into the sky. Even Heimdallr is really a symbol of Yggdrasil, and so here is another horse man, guarding the crossing over point between realms (psychopomp themes) and blowing the horn, like a leader of a hunt. Really I think the core of all this old mythology is psychedelic usage and spirit travel, meaning, shamanism. Isn’t there a part of your reconstructed PIE creation myth where they use a root of some sort to make potion which is offered to the gods before the dragon slaying?
Also relevant are the Santa Claus shamanistic connections. He’s doing a wild hunt in the sky with his reindeer, heavily associated with mushrooms, rides as horse as Sinterclaus, etc etc
Thanks for watching all these videos, and such a great comment. There is still more to come on Odin, but I have to lay the ground work as it's complex. Hence why I'm talking alot about death, and I'll talk about dogs soon, and death and dogs, and then we can have another look at a different branch of Odin :)
@@Crecganford I totally understand that, having a YT channel myself where I lay out elaborate theories about fake history and mythology (A Song of Ice and Fire). I really appreciate the added depth that comes with you taking your time and laying groundwork; I find that when you cover a topic I'm familiar with, you always take it further than other researchers I've seen. YT is always putting pressure on you to make short, snappy content, but there are some things you miss of course, things you can only get to with a bit more patience. Cheers man and keep it up
lol I just realized you might be the first TH-camr I've come across who says "as I explained in this other video" as much as I do, and the same goes for "I'll make a detailed video about this later, but for now, let me tell you that..." I know the struggle my man
Love
Love the Santa Clause reference. Never thought of it like that but is so true.
Your research on the origins of ancient myths is fascinating!
Thank you, this is what I aim to teach and pleased you and others like it.
It's intresting how I always used to link the wild hunt to Norse mythology and never thought it could reach anywhere near the Balkans. Thank you for this video. Splendid work.
Thank you for watching
How about Cernunnos "Lord of Wild things", associated with stags, horned serpents, dogs, bulls. I would believe that (as a Celtic / Pagan) religious deity, which was prevalent in the countries mentioned were Wild-Hunt stories were told. I would certtainly attribute this particular archaic being as the (Dark/tall, figure) in Wild Hunt stories. A Celtic pre-Christianity deity of hunting and fertility.
Cernunnos is also interpreted as both a god of death, but also life; As a cycle. Depicted sometimes with a female deity consort (fertility goddess.
This to me, is very much on-the-money.
Thank you for watching, and taking the time to write a great comment.
I've just come across your channel recently and I'm just binging the hell out of it. This is fantastic content, man! The amount of depth you go into is great. Thanks!
Thank you for watching the videos, and your kind words. They are much appreciated.
In my opinion, some should also remember the time of the year, the wild hunt appaers. Here in Austria it is in the "Raunächte" the days between the years at modern days christmas. It is the time when the winterstorms blows and people easily freeze to death, when they cant find shelter. It connects with another believe, that some must not hang white Bedgarment out for drying, because he is the damned die be buried in them, because he will die when doing so. So in my opinion, the wild hunt is older than Indoeuropean myth. Wotan or anybody else was then incorporated in this warning of the hazards of wintertime, but the myth itself is about the power of nature an all its animated spirits thät dwell within.
Btw, Thanks for all your videos and lectures. This old storys must be kept alive when we dont want to loose our heritage forever!
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment, and to watch the video. It is appreciated.
the story of King Herla is very interesting and shares a similarity with some ancient Chinese stories, one of them was like that, once upon a time a man went into mountains to chop some firewoods, he encountered two immortals playing go, he watched the game and by time when the game was over, he found the handle of his axe already rotten, and when he returned from the mountains to the village, he found that decades had passed and his home deserted and none of those he knew was alive
What a cool story, I like that. Thank you for watching and for sharing, it is really appreciated.
Spacetime continuum differences.
Absolutely love your intro and content, your disclaimer is helpful and humble and happy to come across your channel!
Thank you for watching, and taking the time to comment. It is appreciated.
Very interesting! Thank you! I am from here on a faithful follower of your channel. This is great stuff! :)
All my books in Swedish has so far said that "Naah, this is probably not origin from Scandinavia, it probably comes from the earlier celtic world/germanic world. But they never dived any deeper than this. A fun fact, that you probably know but might be a fun for others to know, is that the stories about the Wild Hunt survived in Scandinavian folklore up until late 19th cent. And there Odins name was often kept, but in some stories he is not a God anymore just an old Viking warrior from a nearby mound, or he is more of a mythical folklore being, not a God but some kind of other being, that is hunting for the Skogsrå (Mistress of the Forest). I find it fascinating how the old Aesir Gods names, like Tor and Oden, have survived into old folklore hundreds for years after we got Christianized.
Oh, and btw, you are really nailing a lot of the Scandinavian names and words. Which is not always easy. Great job! :)
Thank you for watching and taking the time to leave such a great comment.
This just recently showed up in my recommended. It was a great video, always enjoy when I hear people talking about Liberman's work. I've taken multiple classes with him and every one of them have been an absolute joy.
I'm somewhat envious, his mind and memory is amazing. I love his books.
as an aging lad with no mates that finds youtube ever more juvenile this channel is such a welcome change of pace
Thank you!
This is by far the best video on TH-cam about the Wild Hunt. Thank you!
Thank you for watching and commenting. And your kind words.
What's fascinating to me is how the purity of the "oldest story" (the hunter, the elk and the sun) becomes baroque in the extreme under the influence of Christianity -- fantastical stories were, after all, the basis of that religion. I believe that giants are a kind of childhood impression of adults who were vastly bigger and taller (and more powerful) than the toddler who looked up at them in awe. Isn't the exact origin of the story beside the point? The "Cosmic Hunt" was probably not told but performed by the tribe's shaman who took on all the parts as well as narrating. I love the detail about the elk's blood coloring the fallen autumn leaves red. That's superb.
Thank you for watching, and taking the time to share your thoughts, it is appreciated.
@@Crecganford -- Jon, I admire your scholarship and the honesty and enthusiasm with which your segments are presented. I am always impressed by the wide-ranging knowledge you bring to every episode. Gaining an understanding of our mutual past is the key to having a global future. Cheers, mate.
In parts of Germany you are not allowed to wash your clothes during the 12 holy nights when the "wild Hunt" is under way. Because when the horses trip over the line somebody of your household must join the hunt. And when my grandmother was a child the farmers would let stand some grain (I think it was on the west corner of the field) as fodder for the horses.
I really appreciate your presentation. You manage to share your findings based on your research, without coming off as arrogant, condescending, or preachy. Thank you!
Thank you!
The relationship between the Ancient North Eurasian cosmic hunt, the Indo-European ride of the sun (and moon) across the sky (and underworld) pursued by a predator, the Wild Hunt, and the Eternal Hunt are undoubtedly related themes and have deep roots in the Americas, North Asia, and Europe. This motif fascinates me more than most of Indo-European folklore. One thing I don't know if you mentioned, have you come across the idea that Odin uses the Wild Hunt to recruit Einherjar to his ghost army for Ragnarok?
I haven’t covered that, but it sounds like something I should, and I will revisit Odin soon.
There’s a figure in the caucuses known to the Georgians as Apsat and might be of Oessetian origin of a 1 eyed or blind, elderly and bearded hunter god that lives in the woods.
_An old cowboy went ridin' out one dark and windy day_
_Upon a ridge he rested as he went along his way_
_When all at once a mighty herd of red eyed cows, he saw_
_Plowed through the ragged skies and up a cloudy draw_
_Their brands were still on fire and their hooves were made of steel_
_Their horns were black and shiny and their hot breath you could feel_
_A bolt of fear went through him as they thundered through the sky_
_For he saw the riders coming hard and he heard their mournful cry_
I like that where's that from?
@@Crecganford Johnny Cash, Ghost Riders in the Sky.
@@Valdagast how did I not know that! I never clicked what is was about! Thank you!
The melody to Streets of Larado is the same as The Bard of Armagh which is recognised buy musicologists to be about 4000 years old.
@@Crecganford The final stanza of this song transmits a moral message:
As the riders leaned on by him, he heard one call his name
If you want to save your soul from hell a-riding on our range
Then cowboy change your ways today or with us you will ride
Tryin' to catch the devil herd across these endless skies
(Cash's version is the most badass IMHO!)
Really beautifully researched. The time and breadth of learning demonstrated by your lectures is a gift to culture. Thank you very much. I studied Slavic Linguistics many, many years ago and the tracing of commonalities in language thru sound changes to Indo-European suppositions is exciting and actually almost mystic. A wonderful area of study.
Thank you for watching, and for your very kind words. They are appreciated.
This video is awesome. I don’t know how I missed it when it was published. That’s very interesting about the Neolithic ties to Odin’s name is super interesting. I’ve always thought that dark, billowy storm clouds rolling through, and the way the wind wails almost with a human sound, felt like a procession of ghosts passing through. I’m not at all surprised that Neolithic people did too. I can easily see how that universal, primal feeling from the wailing wind and rolling storms would naturally evolve into stories of thundering hooves and stampedes of spirits, led by a madman on the hunt for souls. The Wild Hunt is pretty metal
Thank you for watching this and taking the time to leave such a great comment. I really appreciate it.
Amazing video again! As i was going through i was writing a huge list of questions i wanted to ask in the comments but by the end of the video every one had been answered. This is undoubtebly the best channel on youtube 🙌
Thank you for such kind words, they are much appreciated.
Good to see your channel catching more views. :) Another fascinating story of stories.
Thank you, yes, it is having some good days.
commenting for the algorithm, hoping your stuff gets out there. this was awesome!
Thank you so much for watching it, and the comment!
Hey there! Thank you so much for these education and extremely fascinating videos about myth and ancient stories. I had first encountered the Wild Hunt story reading Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Miata of Avalon. It was an aspect of her take on the Arthur Myth that I was unfamiliar with. Thanks to you I have a great take on it!!!!!
I will be talking a little about King Arthur in my next video and some very old British mythology :)
I just this second wrote the exact same thing, and the very next thing I see is your comment saying the same thing! I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who felt this way.
@@irishgrl good deal!
Here in north spain we have the Santa Compaña "company of saints" a procession of the dead leaded by an alive one, dammned to lead the dead until find another alive to switch places and be free from his duty. It happens at night, in the woods... Your video make remember that story.
Thank you for sharing that, I love hearing about others memories of such things. Thank you!
I was blown away by the end of your video! I have theorized that the heart of the Wild Hunt myth is Neolithic in origin. The two base concepts I haven't been able to fully reconcile are the concept that a pack of opponents is inherently terrifying to humans from prehistoric times. First, take most (western) peoples reaction to a video on how a pack of hyenas take down a lion, or how cultures who are still in hunter/gather phase in Africa still hate/hunt hyena's. Taking that as a foundation, and add the similar terror that neolithic farmers must have felt for horse-borne steppe raiders, and I think that you have a foundation for cultures to layer in all types of other myths to create the Wild Hunt. It feels very primal!
Thank you for watching, and taking the time to write such a well thought out comment. It is appreciated.
Wow! That was so interesting, a fantastic etymological telling of the Wild Hunt! More please!
One British tradition of the Wild Hunt, at least in Wales, is that Gwyn ap Nudd was its leader. Again there's the psychopomp tradition preceding the Wild Hunt tradition there, although Gwyn ap Nudd was also supposedly king of the fae.
Yes, I have heard of this and I do like the welsh tales.
Well done... thank you so much for putting this together!
What a wonderful video, I really enjoyed it. Thank you very much. I was looking around to see if there were any great interviews in English, or translated, with Claude Lecoteux and your video turned up among my searches. This video is a fine introduction to the subject of the wild hunt. I wondered if you were going to get around to talking about Hel as the leader of the wild hunt, it’s been years since I’ve read the book, and I can’t recall if maybe she came much later in the history of the hunt?
Hel was a later adaptation, as whilst the origin is mixed, it does also lay a path for the rise of the Germanic god, Wōðanaz. And yes, I will talk about this more next year.
That was gripping from start to finish.
Thank you so much for your kind words, and for watching
Hi Jon, I am mightily late to your videos but utterly hooked. Thank you for the delves and dives you do into all these recondite corners.
I wonder what echo/pingback might be found in the Irish stories of the Sluagh or Crom Dubh. The Hunt seems very much primordial and punitive, in all the old 'keep to the straight and narrow' ways of storytelling.
Thank you for finding the channel, and liking the videos. I do occasionally jump into Irish Celtic mythology, and so will add these to my list.
Totally!
Your work is appreciated widely
Thank you so much for your kind words, they are appreciated.
Amazing. And it is interesting if the Wild Hunt can be connected to The Cosmic Hunt. I am personally most interested in origins, and the possible trace back before PIE is very interesting, but also later influences that change the story according to beliefs and culture in the search for the very most origin. Thanks for the texting, I need that.
Thanks for watching and the kind feedback, it is appreciated
I love your videos, always very interesting and well presented
Thank you very much!
Amazing work as always
Thank you.
Your pronounciation of the German words was funny :D
Wilde Jagd = wild hunt
Nachtschar = host of the night
Totenzug = procession of the dead
Wütendes Heer = Furious Army
Totenprozession = procession of the dead
- so it all seems to be variations of the same thing
Anyway, keep up the good work!
Once again i find myself thinking Life Changing. Fascinating and TY
The Wolf Shepherd (also Wolf Shepherd, White King, White King, Wolf King) is the leader of wolves and werewolves, according to ancient Slavic folklore. It goes back to the ancient Indo-European cult of veneration of wolves.
According to legend, the wolf shepherd is the ruler of wolves, as well as the lord of stormy thunderstorms. The myths about the wolf shepherd and his retinue are similar to the myths about the Wild Hunt. Also, the figure of the Wolf Shepherd is interpreted as a thunder god. The shepherd uses the wolves as hounds and mounts as he travels to battlefields. According to one of the legends, the wolf shepherd controls the wolves that seek to devour the Sun. So that the wolves obey, he pacifies them with a whip and a club. At its core, it is neither good nor evil, nor even neutral, rather it maintains a balance. The wolf shepherd manages the lives of wolves, protecting them from humans, or humans from them. He assigns tasks and victims to the wolves, he himself often takes part in hunting or battle. It is believed that the victim appointed by the shepherd is inevitably doomed. The shepherd looks different. He can seem like a gray-haired old man, and a wolf. In some legends from Malorossia(little Russia) (one of the names of Ukraine in Russian Empire), the wolf shepherd is the goblin, so one of the incarnations of the shepherd is a goat-like humanoid. Also depicted as a furry man with goat hooves. The shepherd is called in Little Russia and Belarus Polisun, Lesovik. The shepherd was also revered by the Serbs. In some descriptions, the shepherd even has wings. The color of wolf fur is most often white or black for a shepherd.
Based on this, it can be understood that the Slavs also had traces of faith in wild hunting. More facts indicate that it was either a Leshiy or Veles / Volos, the god of cattle, storytellers. There was even a tradition in the north of Russia - to put on a bearskin. This is how the priests of Veles dressed.
I suppose that in Slavic mythology Veles could play the role of Odin, like his ancient progenitor - Wotan, hunt everyone at night, pursuing the Wild Hunt motif
Thank you for this comment. It put some pieces of a totally different puzzel into place 🙂
Splann, Mur ras dheugh why! 😁
Thanks. That's a fascinating and informative story. I am at a bit of a loss though, concerning the form of the story as a hunt. I suppose I could wrap my head around it, but only by assuming that it's indicative of the idea that the hunt was such an integral part of life then, that it would be like musicians referring to death as "the great gig in the sky". That is, everything - even death - revolved around the hunt, as it meant survival. Slightly ironic sounding. The thing I find more interesting is how stories connect to one another, and connect us as people, even across great stretches of time. That strikes me as the chief point of history. You are quite good at that, and I much enjoy this channel since I happened upon it. Thanks again. tavi.
Thank you for watching, and I agree. Hunting was the major activity of man, and was so important that the word "sin" comes from meaning to miss your target. A very, very old word.
@@Crecganford
I never would have thought that the origin of the word 'sin' comes from missing the target. That's just super fascinating to me. I'm guessing that the target would have been the prey and an arrow or some type of hunting spear or dart is what would of missed.
This is what I love about your content, it inspires me to look further into the subject/s.
Third time this has been recommended and I just realized its not a Witcher video.
There is a small group of Witcher fans here, and I must admit I do like the game, but this isn't about the book or the game, but what it is based on, and could be interesting to you.
I enjoy how a fertility version of this story is utilized in the modern saga The Mists of Avalon. In this story a young King Arthur takes part in a ritual based on this myth. He is a young King at the time and the ritual, where he plays the role of the Horned God, is part of his gaining the support of the people who still worship the pre-Christian religion of the natural world. In part of the ritual he unknowingly sleeps with his half-sister, who has become a Mother Goddess priestess. And through this his son Mordred is conceived, who ultimately becomes his downfall.
Hi, layman here. I’ve been listening to this while at work, so I’ve been a little distracted and might have missed something.
The wild hunt kind of reminds me of the man out of time trope. The wild hunters seem to symbolize those who haven’t given up their old ways. Changes in technology, changes in the environment, and changes in society, they just can’t adapt to the new life. They want to go out hunt like the old days. In this way, it’s similar to purgatory. The hunters are unable to move on with their lives.
19:05 not sure it you mention it later in the video, but in France, the Wild Hunt, mostly called Furious Army (l’Armée furieuse), Great Hunt (la Grande Chasse), or House Hellequin (la Mesnie Hellequin, “mesnie” being an old French word used in the Middle Ages to refer to the people living under a same roof, whether related by blood or not) as far as I can tell, is most often lead by an entity called « le Seigneur Hellequin » (Lord Hellequin). Hellequin sounds like an obvious variation on Harlequin.
Hellequin and those who follow him are described as the true stuff of nightmares: decaying corpses in arms, riding decaying horses. In Normandy, they ride at night in specific places, usually forest paths, called “grinvèldes” (grimweld, “grimways”). As the legend goes, the few chosen/cursed ones who can see the Army also see “the seized ones” (les saisis), bad people captured by Hellequin, who will die shortly (and presumably be carried to Hell by Hellequin himself) unless they promptly make amends.
There’s an excellent novel by Fred Vargas called “L’Armée Furieuse”, translated into English under the title “The Ghost Riders of Ordebec”, that you might want to read. And the TH-cam channel Occulture has just released a video (in French) about the Wild Hunt, in which they tell the story of one Lord Gallery in South-West France that is another variation on the Wild Hunt myth (evil Lord Gallery would rather hunt on Sundays than go to mass, had eternity to regret it, bad choice, fellows, bad choice!), and even another one, “la Chasse Galerie” derived from in in Quebec (with Iroquois ingredients added to the mix).
To my knowledge there's a pretty broad acceptance amongst historical linguists that the centum/satem split is formal rather than a historical split of the peoples. The changes into centum and satem seem to be the expected simplification of the far too complicated system of velars (labiovelar, palatovelar and plain velar). Centum and satem is a categorization that states which of the velars stay distinct and which merge, but there's no reason to believe that this split happened once. There are examples of the contrary, such as (I believe) Armenian, which does conserve the three velars in different reflexes (the palatovelars fricativize but the labiovelars also show distinct reflexes from plain velars, which would essentially group it as a centum AND satem language).
And a very brief note; centum is with a hard k-sound, to highlight the fricative versus velar reflex of the palatovelar *k' - if it were pronounced centum with an s-sound, then latin would paradoxically appear to be a satem language in that example (to provoke a bit) 😀
Sorry about the pronunciations, I do dance between so many I often don't know whether to pronounce in a modern day English or what we feel is a age/culture appropriate form.
As for the centum/satem split I was working on the shoulders of Lincoln, who justified it through the belief of those speaking it being more primitive and therefore earlier.
Thank you for watching and the great feedback :)
@@Crecganford I promise I wouldn't usually correct pronounciation - it is only because the words satem and centum were chosen to show the nature of the split via examples of it, and that's only shown through the old pronounciation of the c centum 😀
I can't speak to the cultural divide between the centum and satem languages, but my bet would be that it had more to do with the geography than a historical split (and in the same way the split could be an areal feature across different branches based on the geographical proxomity rather than, as historical linguists used to think, the branching into a satem and a centum branch. As mentioned I can't say anything about the culture or religion of this division, I only speak with the experience of a student of indoeuropean studies/historical linguistics!
@@silasfrisenette9226 My studies in linguistics is minimal, with my experience being comparative mythology and religious studies. And so I doo appreciate all feedback, thank you :)
I do feel that the centum/satem split, especially with regard the underworld mythology, puts in a good case for it being historical though, which is why I support it. But am always happy to read further papers/books if you feel there is something out there that may help my understanding further.
@@Crecganford perhaps the differing mythos could be explained areally? Something about the stories that were kept being influenced by neighbours or a shift in focus of stories based on environment or similar? I'm not aware of any modern indoeuropeanist (in historical linguistics) who support the split as a binary branching into centum/satem (there may be, but I just can't think of any). I could try to find some papers that argue this, but I don't know how recent they would be, as the general scholarly agreement in the field of historical linguistics is that it was not an actual split of the speakers of PIE into centum and satem 🤔
Interesting that comparative religion has come to a different conclusion though! Do you think stories or language travels more freely across cultures? I'd say stories/myths, but maybe that's naive!
@@Crecganford Fortson, the author of one of the most widely used introduction books in the field ("indoeuropean language and culture") agrees; "For a long time it was thought that the division between centum and satem languages reflected an old dialectal division within IE [...] However, a closer look at the material and some recent discoveries complicate things."
He then lists some linguistic arguments for why the changes were made independently and not as part of a dialectal split - Tocharian is further East than any other branch but is centum if it can even be called either centum or satem, Luvian (an Anatolian language) preserves distinct reflexes of all three velar series in some environments, tree satem brances/subbranches shows evidence that the plain velars and labiovelars were still distinct into their later prehistory (Indic, Armenian and especially Albanian), and Balto-Slavic (a satem "branch") have many words which show centum developments.
He specifies these arguments in his book, so that's one thing I can refer you to if you want to hear more on the "linguistic side" of this question!
So, funny story. Many years ago one of the writers of a fantasy game set in a setting in which Earth and many of Earth's gods exist, decided to adapt the Wild Hunt to their setting, but he gave it a fey flair and made the leader of the hunt an antlered god that was invented for the game. When asked if his fictional god was actually Odin in this setting, he said that he had no idea why people would ask that, and when I stepped in and pointed out that Odin was the leader of the hunt in Germanic versions of the myth, he said he had no idea that Odin was associated with the Wild Hunt myths.
How I wish I had known all the information in this video back then, it would've been so funny to tell him that Odin most likely originated from the Wild Hunt myth.
Thank you for watching, and thank you for the comment, it is really pleasing to read such things.
Your voice is pretty calming.
Thank you.
Going to the far North tomorrow. Thañks for Info on your channel. ✌👍
A great story teller!!!
Interesting video. I am from baltic region. Baltic pagan religion had a god Velnias, which was the god of undead. In Lihuanian language which is the most archaic indo european language, name Velnias very clearly derives from the word Vėlė, which means an ancestor spirit. So we had this indo european derived god of underworld and the dead, who also was a magician and quite spitefull angry god, a rival to the main baltic gods Dievas and Perkūnas. Velnias also was a trickster god and could shapeshift into all kinds of animals but most often wolfs and dogs. And it is believed that Velnias probably derived from the same god as germanic Wodan antd hindu Varuna, irish god Cū Chulain. Sometimes Velnias was also portraid as one-eyed, another similarity to Odin. Watching this video I noticed a lot of similarities to Velnias who in summary was indo-european, spitfull, angry, shapeshifting god of spirits. He fits very well into wild hunt story especialy considering his powers of shapeshifting. Just to add in fairytails he shapeshifts into wolfs, pigs, snakes, goats, birds and murders people. In lihuanian fairytails he can carry giant rocks and lives in swamps.
Thank you for a great comment!
I had never heard of a wild hunt here, very interesting
"no sin involved". I was surprised listening to King Herla's story. He seemed to do everything correctly. There was no "slight" inflicted on anyone, no deception involved, no treachery whatsoever. This king gets lead down this road just by obliging a generous and interesting guest.
So, why did this happen? I am used to hearing mythic stories as cautionary and morality tales, or at least involving an interaction that may lead to unexpected tragedy because of unintended disrespect.
How could Herla have avoided such a fate? What action could be taken to create a fate more auspicious? Is there another chapter to this tale we are not hearing?
Yes! Exactly what I thought when I heard it. So the reason is to do with the author of the story who had some political motivation, albeit towards the King at the time of writing. I'll see if I can remember where I read that and let you know.
@@Crecganford Thanks! :)
Actually, there are still myths being told without a morality element, such as the Norwegian stories of the "Hulder". These are creatures of the forest or underworld who tend to do exactly this. They'll try to lure completely innocent people into their world (possibly inside a mountain), for no particular reason other than they like you or something. If you do go into their home and eat the food they offer, you will be trapped there, possibly forever. (Thus, in the old days, when a child was mysteriously lost, they might say "the Hulder took him/her".) The only way to avoid this fate is to notice that the creatures are not human (the Hulder have tails), and in that case don't eat their food, just leave as soon as possible. The parallels are striking enough that perhaps that's also exactly how Herla could have avoided this fate.
Very interesting. Thanks for sending me down the Harlequin rabbit hole.
I love videos which are well researched and show critical thinking and are also accessible to complete laymen like me. Great stuff. You sound like a West Haaaam supporter which as a Londoner myself, is fine by me.
I'm not too far from there! And thanks for watching.
This tradition is still alive in my family. Particular significance is also given to the dreams you have during those nights.
The Grimms took a load of folklore which was rooted in mythology. One example that always stood out for me is the story of Frau Holle who shares attributes with Goddesses like Freya. Would love a video with some background into those from you
Thank you for watching, and yes, I have always thought about making a video about Grimm's tales. So one day soon I hope.
@@Crecganford looking forward for it. And thanks for all the great videos. Truly enjoy watching them!
You can see where Tolkien got inspiration for his "dark riders"
Indeed he did! He did borrow a lot from European Mythology.
The song ghost riders in the sky takes inspiration from this myth, one of my favorite Johnny Cash song.
Well, an old cowboy went riding out one dark and windy day
Upon a ridge he rested as he went along his way
When all at once a mighty herd of red eyed cows he saw
Plowing through the ragged sky
And up the cloudy draw
Their brands were still on fire and their hooves were made of steel
Their horns were black and shiny and their hot breath he could feel
A bolt of fear went through him as they thundered through the sky
He saw the riders coming hard
And he heard their mournful cry
Yippie-yi-ay (yippie-yi-ay)
Yippie-yi-yay (yippie-yi-yay)
Ghost riders in the sky
Their faces gaunt, their eyes were blurred, their shirts all soaked with sweat
He's riding hard to catch that herd, but he ain't caught 'em yet
'Cause they've got to ride forever on that range up in the sky
On horses snorting fire
As they ride on hear their cry
As the riders passed on by him he heard one call his name
If you want to save your soul from hell a-riding on our range
Then cowboy change your ways today or with us you will ride
Trying to catch the devil's herd
Across these endless skies
Yippie-yi-ay (yippie-yi-ay)
Yippie-yi-yay (yippie-yi-yay)
You lost a "yippie" there
Ghost riders in the sky
Ghost riders in the sky
I am from central europe, the land of the Grimms. I find the idea convincing, that under a surface of christianity still some layer of the germanic gods and myths were hidden especially with the land folk. Then hunting in a group on horse was a thing only for noble people. Both something the ordinary people had no say in whatsoever.
Another thing is there are some stories of a serf who was arrested in a far away area or village where he was not allowed to be, told he was carried there by the wild hunt and totally innocent. Certainly a thing common to the lower classes in certain areas to have some pagan foundation under the christian surface. Serfs were bound to the land of the owner usually but when they ran away and reached a city they were free. "City air makes free". sometimes free to starv to death. The owner of a serf had the duty to look after him somehow (the situation of serfs was different between areas in some they were mere slaves who just owned the clothes they wore in others they could work themselves out of serfdom) - in the city there was no such safety net. Many made a living many failed.
Well, the practice of alluding or even referencing pagan folk tales and mythology was actually accepted by the church, so much so that there is a term for it called euhemerism.
As long as people believe that that pagan mythology is just that, mythology, and put Christianity as the sole true religion, the church was often very open to pagan literature and writings.
Amazing video as always, I subscribed to you yesterday and planning to see or watch your videos daily, quick question : "The cosmic hunt : The oldest story we know" is a book or video or just a topic ?
Thank you. It is just this video, although there are papers that help support this. I am thinking of making a film or similar about it due to much demand.
@@Crecganford That would be amazing thank you, keep up the good work !
With so much variation between wild hunt stories, the question occurs to me: what reason is there to believe that there is in fact a single original version of _the_ wild hunt, rather than there being several wild hunts (plural) as a sort of "pantheon"? Why just one?
That is a great question, and one that was suggested by Ronald Hutton in his paper "The Wild Hunt and the Witches Sabbath" I believe. I did read his papers but it didn't convince me. Certainly they are different myths on the surface, but to me my studies suggest they were born from the same idea, and same cultural source. But certainly more research needs to be done on this to make a fully persuasive argument. Thank you for watching, and taking the time to comment.
@@Crecganford I’ve little faith in Hutton, very little - odd that he is given any real credibility to be honest?
Thank.you.for your jouenalism, amazing effort & knowledge
And thank you for watching
In swiss alemannic, it is "Wüetis-heer", possibly retaining the name of Woden (the s indicates a genitive case, hinting to the first part of the composite being a name) and equally the connotation of "wüetig" meaning "in rage" or "in frenzy" that reflects in the english "wild". "Heer" means "army" or "warband".
I've not heard of Wuetis before, or indeed Wuetis army, but it would make sense if it is linked to the hunt. I'll have to investigate. Thank you for taking the time to comment, it is appreciated.
I do like Carlo Ginzburg. His book on the wild hunt certainly influenced Eric de Vries book Hedge Rider.
31:55 is it completely coincidence that the word corrida is similar sounding and has a similar meaning?
Corrida is a ride / race, but also bull fight.
your voice is so relaxing
Thank you
I like the host a lot on the podcast. A Polite educated guy with a nice voice.
I've read a fair bit on Norse mythology (the Bible according to Loki is a great read for a light introduction that's tongue in cheek humour for those not looking for academic or heavy material) and I'm 20 seconds in going "hmmmm. Gotta see where this goes now."
Edit: just seen the videos listed on your channel. That's me entertained for many hours on my night shift.
Years ago I got a hypothesis about the origin of "wild hunt" in Scandinavian and English versions. I thought about Heruli and their travels. I suspected that it was their kind of invading which added - in the eyes of more "civilised' and "settled" populations - the material to the invention of this story :)
I believe in many of these anthro/mythological developments, we have to go back to what the original phenomenon would have presented to witnesses from whence to generate the mythos. There had to be an inexplicable, repeated, series of events, perhaps cyclical, that provided physical and material manifestations to be observed, with the caveat that at that time, and presumably for a period of time that follows, enough to entrench the myth, they could not simply be interpreted. Secondly, these phenomenon had to resemble that which they were being compared to, with a particular note to the adjectives being applied (in this case 'Wild'). From that, we have to observe the environmental conditions and current mythos of the 'witnesses' from which we can determine what elements were welds to graft the phenomenon onto the current perspective. That being done, the next step is critical. Was this phenomenon actually grafted onto a running mythos, or was the mythos of the Hunt predating the running mythos, in which case, observing phenomenon that was consistent despite the 'new model' of running mythos. In my opinion, The Wild Hunt, has a very simple origin in the explanation of thunder storms to the primitive story makers...and as many mythos developed from primitive applications, developed alongside whatever running operative mythos was prevalent, and that due to the rooted tradition from being so elemental.
My very most favorite recounting of the Hunt is from Marion Zimmer Bradley’s epic work, “Mists of Avalon.”
Her telling of it makes the most sense as a combination fertility rite & re-enactment of the cyclical death-rebirth of The God.
At least to me.
Thank you for watching, and for taking the time to comment. It is appreciated.
@@Crecganford
Your channel is most enlightening & I’m loving the deep dive into the roots of my past.
Didn't she sexually abuse her children?
Perfect video to wake up
In Celtic lands they have fairy processions that are often accompanied by furious winds and are also said to lead the dead to the otherworld.
It's about the sky. The golden nails are the stars, the leader of the hunt with the club is Orion. The three stars in orion's belt and the one just below it were used as a symbol of the leaders, royalty, and were seen by some cultures as a crown. In other cultures the constellation was a hunter. In this story, you find elements of both.
I have been absolutely enthralled by your videos since I came across your channel last week. I'm particularly interested in this story and its leaders. One thing I'm curious about is why is it believed a possible leader was a man-eating horse?
The man eating horse of the wild hunt is just one version of the myth, showing how the animal leading the hunt slowly transformed with time as the motif evolved. I can’t remember the exact source of the reference off the top of my head, but if it comes back to me I will put it here for you. Thanks for watching, and taking the time to comment.
@@Crecganford That sounds like some version of a kelpie. or more particularly the Knucklevee of Orkney, but both of those are associated with the sea or water rather than woods.
Amazing! Thank you!
Thank you for watching, and for commenting, it supports the channel, and for that I am appreciative.
In Scandinavia wednesday is onstag Odin's day, so the d is lost. The d remains in English but is no longer pronounced. In Dutch it is woensdag, Woeden's day, the d also is lost. Woede still means "anger" in Dutch.
The 8 legged horse is als know by the Buryats in Siberië. There are other versions of a six legged reindeer. The shaman steed to travel to the afterlife. It seems when and where the horse was domesticated it replaced the reindeer. The Yukagirs call the horse, the domesticated reindeer of the Yakuts. Horse relation as a psychopomp we can find in "nightemare' the ghost horse, a mare, that visits you at night like it was a bad dream.
I think I’ve got most of the books on the shelf behind you.
Very well read then
The Hurla tale I've heard before but it was Irish. Also the hunt was sometimes in Britain and Ireland said to punish bad people the law couldn't touch, like rich evil lords or those who harmed others but not illegally were caught up say on the way home at night from market or something and the Wild Hunt stood up for poor local people by removing or otherwise punishing the wicked. You are supposed to carry a horseshoe in your pocket to survive it and not look directly at them if you come upon them.
That’s a great story, thank you for sharing, and for watching.
This guy is a great narrator! I would need to read a hundred books to understand half of what he is saying!!! Sin embargo..
Shades of Father Christmas coming through as well..
@crecgenford: Around the 8 minute mark referencing Hutton, you said "the cult of the dead are the go-betweens between man and things." Can you elaborate on that some or point me in the right direction? Seems like a lot to unpack in that idea. Thanks so much! Keep up the great work!
I am probably referring to one of two papers by Hutton on the hunt and witches. If you google Hutton and Hunt you should be able to find them. I hope that helps.
I'd love to here you and Mark Norman talk about the Wild Hunt.
I'm not familiar with Mark's work, but will look him up.
I've heard some western cowboy stories that seem to be shadows of this phenomenon. You can hear echoes of them in some country songs like "ghost riders in the sky" as sung by Marty Robbins.
I hadn't even thought of that, that is a great example. I like that.
Sub note: I have always been of the opinion that Slepnir the 8 legged horse to be an evolution of the wheeled cart or chariot, which would often be drawn by two animals: either horses or cattle. To me, this fits in perfectly with the PIEs, who and least tentatively gained traction over local hunter gatherers via these technologies in conjunction with farming.
That’s a very interesting thought, and thank you for sharing it. And thank you for watching the video too!
The procession make up reminds me of Rudra's marriage procession from the Shiva Purana.
NOTE the amrican cowboy song... GHOST RIDERS IN THE SKY.....
Have you read the _Gods of Bronze_ fantasy series? It's a retelling of the Herakles myth set in the Bronze Age (although the twelve labors are not what you think).
Listening to you talk about the Wild Hunt reminds me of the Japanese Night Parade of One Hundred Demons (Hyakki Yagyō). I am not well versed in either but they seem to have similarities. Even if vague.
Halfway through the video it was clicking, this is just like the cosmic hint!
There are certainly elements that seem to align. Thanks for watching another video, it is appreciated.
fantasy authors i know and like that cover these themes to varying degrees.
alan garner. wierdstone of brasingamen. moon of gomrath
charles de lint. moonheart, spiritwalk etc
robert holdstock. mythago wood series
i believe aspects of the hunt are also mentioned in shakespeares' midsummer nights dream. with titania and oberon. although i could be mixing up some of my own memories of the story.
i have also heard of herne the hunter being linked as huntsmaster
i have loved this subject since i read alan garner as a child (8). back in 1978.
Alan Garner has written some fantastic work, I've just read A Voice that Thunders, very interesting. Thank you for watching.
It reminds me of Swabian-Alemanic Fastnacht in Sothern Germany.
There are dedicated groups, who associate around wearing a group-specific mask and clothing, lots of them at least heavily inspired by traditions. At carnival time (I think it doesn't exactly fall on winter's solstice, but that could be through changes of the calendar) all those separate groups assemble in a large procession at night to scare "the evil winter spirits" out of the farming villages. Off course followed by a lot of drinking and feasting.
If you ever visit Southern Germany throughout carnival, you can have no doubt, that the entire procession is a reenactment of the Wild Hunt.
That sounds like a trip I need to take, thank you for sharing.
my phd is in psychology, so I don't know this literature well. forgive me if this is a bad question. I first learned of the Wild Hunt stories through The Dresden Files (I am obsessive about anything I like - thus I have read them all). So, the Erl King (Erlking - Herne the Hunter or King of Faeries... goblins and such). So, goblin king leading the hunt? Was that a common theme? Herne was human, right? thank you for this and for the whole channel.
HI, and thank you for watching and the comments. Herne was a human, but whether he was still actually human when he was leading the hunt is not clear and I would perceive that he was more akin to a ghost, a spiritual representation of himself. The goblin king is just one version of a story, and having these humanoid creatures which aren't quite human is a common motif in many fairy tales. What they represent is often the things current culture do not like, so not necessarily evil, but chaotic. I hope that helps.
In Denmark, the story is also associated with two medieval kings: Valdemar I "the Great" and Valdemar IV "Atterdag".
I shall look for that story, thank you!
@@Crecganford Arnold Schoenbergs composition Gurrelieder is about that story (Valdemar I)
I think one of the most interesting forms of the wild hunt is the vedic form lead by Rudra and his Marutas.