Editing Wild Hunt (section)

==Comparative evidence and terminology==
=== Germanic tradition ===
Based on the [[Comparative method|comparative study]] of the [[German folklore]], the phenomenon is often referred to as {{Lang|de|Wilde Jagd}} ([[German language|German]]: 'Wild Hunt/chase') or {{Lang|de|Wütendes Heer}} ('Raging Host/army'). The term 'Hunt' was more common in [[northern Germany]] and 'Host' was more used in [[Southern Germany]]; with however no clear dividing line since parts of southern Germany know the 'Hunt', and parts of the north know the 'Host'.{{Sfn|Kershaw|1997|p=29}} It was also known in Germany as the {{Lang|de|Wildes Heer}} ('Wild Army'), its leader was given various identities, including Wodan (or "[[Wōden|Woden]]"), [[Knecht Ruprecht]] (compare [[Krampus]]), [[Berchtold]] (or [[Perchta|Berchta]]), and [[Holda]] (or "Holle"). The Wild Hunt is also known from post-medieval folklore.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Wild Hunt |url=https://norse-mythology.org/the-wild-hunt/ |access-date=2024-05-22 |website=Norse Mythology for Smart People |language=en-US}}</ref>

In England, it was known as {{lang|ang|Herlaþing}} ([[Old English]]: '[[Herla]]'s assembly'), ''Woden's Hunt'', ''Herod's Hunt'', ''Cain's Hunt'',<ref>{{cite book |title=The Witch Figure: Folklore Essays by a Group of Scholars in England Honouring the 75th Birthday of Katharine M. Briggs |date=2004 |isbn=978-0-41533-074-9 |editor-last=Newall |editor-first=Venetia |page=103f |chapter=The Jew as a witch figure |doi=10.4324/9781315018058 |quote=In the Middle Ages the wild hunt was also called Cain's hunt, Cain being another progenitor of the [[Wandering Jew]].}}</ref> the ''Devil's Dandy Dogs'' (in [[Cornwall]]),<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Devil's Dandy Dogs |encyclopedia=The Encyclopaedia of the Celts |url=http://www.isle-of-skye.org.uk/celtic-encyclopaedia/celt_d2b.htm |isbn=87-985346-0-2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061028090823/http://www.isle-of-skye.org.uk/celtic-encyclopaedia/celt_d2b.htm |archive-date=2006-10-28 |url-status=dead}}</ref> ''Gabriel's Hounds'' (in northern England),<ref>{{cite book |last=Hendrickson |first=Robert |title=Salty Words |date=1984 |page=78 |quote=Gabriel's hounds are wild geese, so called because their sound in flight is like a pack of hounds in full cry.}}</ref> and ''[[(Ghost) Riders in the Sky: A Cowboy Legend|Ghost Riders]]'' (in North America).<ref>{{cite journal |last=Houston |first=Susan Hilary |year=1964 |title=Ghost Riders in the Sky |journal=[[Western Folklore]] |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=153–162 |doi=10.2307/1498899 |jstor=1498899}}</ref>

In Scandinavia, the Wild Hunt is known as {{lang|no|Oskoreia}} (commonly interpreted as 'The [[Asgard]] Ride'), and as {{lang|da|Oensjægeren}} ('Odin's Hunters').{{Sfn|Kershaw|1997|p=29}} The names {{lang|no|Åsgårdsrei}} ('[[Asgard]] Ride' as attested in parts of [[Trøndelag]]),<ref>{{Cite web|title=oskorei|url=https://alfa.norsk-ordbok.no/?men=noob&mc0=no&mc1=ah&q=oskorei&but=oskorei&scope=e|access-date=2023-07-13|website=norsk-ordbok.no}}</ref> {{lang|sv|Odens jakt}} and {{lang|sv|Vilda jakten}} ([[Swedish language|Swedish]]: 'the hunt of [[Odin]]' and 'wild hunt') are also attested.{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}} At the very front of Oskoreia rides [[Gudrun|Guro Rysserova]] ('Gudrun Horsetail'), often called ''Guro Åsgard'', who is ''"big and horrid, her horse black and called Skokse (...)"''<ref>{{Cite web|title=Åsgardsreia – heimskringla.no|url=https://heimskringla.no/wiki/%C3%85sgardsreia|access-date=2021-08-31|website=heimskringla.no}}</ref>

There is disagreement about the etymology of the word {{lang|no|oskorei}}. The first element has several proposed sources: ''Åsgård'' ('[[Asgard]]'), ''oska'' ('thunder'), or Old Norse ''ǫskurligr'' ('dreadful').<ref>{{Cite web|title=Asgaardsrej|url=https://ordnet.dk/ods/ordbog?query=Asgaardsrej|access-date=2023-07-13|website=ordnet.dk}}</ref> The hypothetical ''Ásgoðreið'' ('Æsir God Ride') was also once proposed. Only the second element, {{lang|no|rei}} ('ride') from Old Norse {{lang|non|reið}}, is uncontroversial. The word was popularly perceived to be connected to Asgard, as seen in the folk ballad of Sigurd Svein, who is taken to [[Asgard]] by Oskoreia and [[Guro Rysserova]].<ref>V. Espeland, L. Kreken, M. Dahle Lauten, B. Nordbø, E. Prøysen, A. N. Ressem, O. Solberg, E. Nessheim Wiger (2016) Kjempe- og trollballadar</ref>

In the [[Netherlands]] and [[Flanders]] (in northern [[Belgium]]), the Wild Hunt is known as the [[Buckriders]] (Dutch: Bokkenrijders) and was used by gangs of [[highwaymen]] for their advantage in the 18th century.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

=== Europe ===
In Welsh folklore, {{lang|cy|[[Gwyn ap Nudd]]|italic=no}} was depicted as a wild huntsman riding a demon horse who hunts souls at night along with a pack of white-bodied and red-eared "dogs of hell". In Arthurian legends, he is the king of the underworld who makes sure that the imprisoned devils do not destroy human souls.{{Sfn|Greenwood|2008|p=196}} A comparable Welsh folk myth is known as {{Lang|cy|[[Cŵn Annwn]]}} ([[Welsh language|Welsh]]: "hounds of [[Annwn]]").{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}}

In France, the "Host" was known in Latin sources as {{Lang|la|Familia Hellequini}} and in [[Old French]] as {{lang|fro|Maisnie Hellequin}} (the "household or [[retinue]] of Hellequin"). The Old French name {{lang|fro|Hellequin}} was probably borrowed from Middle English {{lang|enm|[[Herla|Herla king]]}} ([[Old English]] {{lang|ang|*Her(e)la-cyning}}) by the Romance-speaking [[Norman conquest of England|Norman invaders of Britain]].<ref>{{lang|de|[[Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch]]}}, vol. 16, [https://apps.atilf.fr/lecteurFEW/index.php/page/lire/e/137132 200–202].</ref>{{Sfn|Kershaw|1997|p=|pp=61–65}} Other similar figures appear in the French folklore, such as {{lang|fr|Le Grand-Veneur}}, a hunter who chased with dogs in the [[forest of Fontainebleau]],{{Sfn|Greenwood|2008|p=196 (note 1)}} and a [[Poitou]] tradition where a hunter who has faulted by hunting on Sunday is condemned to redeem himself by hunting during the night, along with its French Canadian version the {{Lang|fr|[[Chasse-galerie]]}}.{{Sfn|Du Berger|1979|p=}}

Among [[West Slavs]], it is known as {{lang|cs|divoký hon}} or {{lang|cs|štvaní}} ([[Czech language|Czech]]: "wild hunt", "baiting"), ''dzëwô/dzëkô jachta'' ([[Kashubian language|Kashubian]]: "wild hunt"), ''Dziki Gon'' or {{lang|pl|Dziki Łów}} ([[Polish language|Polish]]). It is also known among the [[Sorbs]] and among the South Slavic Slovenes {{lang|sl|Divja Jaga}} ([[Slovene language|Slovene]]: "the wild hunting party" or "wild hunt"). However, scholars of Slavic folklore have noted it is a motif of foreign, specifically German(ic), origin.<ref>Kajkowski, Kamil (2020). “Myth in Action? Figurative Images on Ceramics as a Source for Studying the Pre-Christian Beliefs of Western Slavs”. ''Studia Mythologica Slavica''. p. 13.</ref><ref>Valentsova, Marina M. (2023). “Slavic demonology. A brief survey”, in ''New Researches on the religion and mythology of the Pagan Slavs 2'', Patrice Lajoye & Stamatis Zochios, eds. Lisieux: Lingva; p. 271.</ref> In Belarusian, it is called Дзiкае Паляванне (Belarusian: "wild hunt"). As Belarus used to be part of Poland, the motif's presence likely came from there as an intermediary.

In [[Italian language|Italy]], it is called {{lang|it|Caccia Morta}} ("Dead Hunt"), {{lang|it|Caccia infernale}} ("[[Nastagio degli Onesti#Style and interpretations|infernal hunt]]") or {{lang|it|Caccia selvaggia}} ("Wild Hunt")

In [[Spain]] this myth is documented at least since the 13th century, under the name {{lang|es|hueste antigua}} ("Old army"),<ref>"Because we always try to imitate those of the Wild Hunt, who never rest, day or night. And our lord is like Satan, and we are like his servants, who only rest when looting the souls of men" (circa 1270, [[Alfonso X]], [[Estoria de España]])</ref> today {{lang|es|estantigua}}.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Castro |first1=Americo |title=Lengua, enseñanza y literatura (esbozos) |date=1924 |publisher=Victoriano Suárez |location=Madrid |pages=90–92}}</ref> In [[Galician language|Galician]] is known as {{lang|gl|Estantiga}} (from {{lang|gl|Hoste Antiga}} "the old army"), {{lang|gl|Compaña}} and {{lang|gl|Santa Compaña}} ("troop, company"); {{lang|es|Güestia}} in [[Asturias]]; {{lang|es|Hueste de Ánimas}} ("troop of ghosts") in [[León (Spain)|León]]; and {{lang|es|Hueste de Guerra}} ("war company") or {{lang|es|Cortejo de Gente de Muerte}} ("deadly retinue") in [[Extremadura (Spain)|Extremadura]].