Editing Wild Hunt (section)

===Scandinavia===
[[File:Odin's hunt (Malmström).jpg|upright|right|thumb|Odin continued to hunt in [[Norse mythology|Norse myths]]. Illustration by [[August Malmström]].]]
In Scandinavia, the leader of the hunt was Odin and the event was referred to as ''Odens jakt'' (''Odin's hunt'') and ''Oskoreia'' (from ''Asgårdsreien'' – ''the Asgard Ride''). Odin's hunt was heard but rarely seen, and a typical trait is that one of Odin's dogs was barking louder and a second one fainter. Besides one or two shots, these barks were the only sounds that were clearly identified. When Odin's hunt was heard, it meant changing weather in many regions, but it could also mean war and unrest. According to some reports, the forest turned silent and only a whining sound and dog barks could be heard.{{sfn|Schön|2004|pp=201–205}}

In western Sweden and sometimes in the east as well, it has been said that Odin was a nobleman or even a king who had hunted on Sundays and therefore was doomed to hunt down and kill supernatural beings until the end of time.{{sfn|Schön|2004|pp=201–205}} According to certain accounts, Odin does not ride, but travels in a wheeled vehicle, specifically a one-wheeled cart.{{sfn|Schön|2004|p=204|ps=, referring to a report from Voxtorp in Småland.}}

In parts of [[Småland]], it appears that people believed that Odin hunted with large birds when the dogs got tired. When it was needed, he could transform a bevy of sparrows into an armed host.{{sfn|Schön|2004|pp=201–205}}

If houses were built on former roads, they could be burnt down, because Odin did not change his plans if he had formerly travelled on a road there. Not even charcoal kilns could be built on disused roads, because if Odin was hunting the kiln would be ablaze.{{sfn|Schön|2004|pp=201–205}}

One tradition maintains that Odin did not travel further up than an ox wears his yoke, so if Odin was hunting, it was safest to throw oneself onto the ground in order to avoid being hit, a [[pourquoi story]] that evolved as an explanation for the popular belief that persons lying at ground level are [[Lightning strike#Personal safety|safer from lightning strikes]] than are persons who are standing.{{citation needed|date=October 2019}} In [[Älghult]] in Småland, it was safest to carry a piece of bread and a piece of steel when going to church and back during [[Yule]]. The reason was that if one met the rider with the broad-rimmed hat, one should throw the piece of steel in front of oneself, but if one met his dogs first, one should throw the pieces of bread instead.{{sfn|Schön|2004|pp=201–205}}