Fairy Host / Wild Hunt

Region: Northern Europe
Location:Pan-European (Celtic Ireland/Scotland, Germanic lands, Scandinavia, Brittany)

The Fairy Host or Wild Hunt is a supernatural procession of spirits, fae, or ghostly riders that sweeps across the sky or through forests during storms, winter nights, or seasonal turning points. In Celtic regions, the Host is often led by the Sídhe — the Otherworldly folk — who ride on white or black horses, accompanied by hounds with red ears. In Germanic and Norse lore, the Wild Hunt is led by Odin, Wodan, or other ancestral figures, with spectral warriors, dogs, and lost souls galloping through the night. Witnesses describe thunderous hooves, roaring wind, and ghostly lights arcing through the sky.
Seeing the Host is a dangerous omen. Those caught in its path may be swept away, struck by misfortune, or compelled to join the ride. In some traditions, the Host hunts the souls of the wicked; in others, it searches for souls not yet claimed by heaven or the ancestral realms. Folklore warns travelers to lie face-down and avoid drawing attention — or risk being abducted to the Otherworld for months, years, or forever. Offerings of bread, salt, or iron were said to protect homes from the Host’s passage.
The Wild Hunt embodies European anxieties around winter, war, and the thin veil between the living and the dead. It represents the forces of nature and fate that move beyond human control. Storms, auroras, meteor showers, and nocturnal winds all fed into the image of a great spectral host sweeping overhead. Across the continent, the narrative survives as one of the most iconic and widespread supernatural motifs in European folklore.

World: Koina
Owner: kaixabu
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

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