The wild Hunt of Odin

Peter Nicolai Arbo based his monumental painting The Wild Hunt of Odin on Norse mythology, archaeological excavations and the National Romantic poetry of the day. A major inspiration was Johan Sebastian Welhaven’s eponymous poem, whose opening line is “Through the nightly air stampedes a train of frothing black horses” (from Nyere Digte [Newer Poems], 1844).  

Menacing hordes 

Arbo’s interest in history led him to paint several versions of this motif. In the watercolour version the group is headed straight at the viewer, while in the painting we have a side view of them. The menacing hordes that are threatening us above a dramatic sky are portrayed in great detail. 

“Rushing headlong comes the wild band. 
To support them they have only the clouds. 
They hasten over valleys, over meadows and moors, 
Through the darkness and shadows; they pay it no heed.  
The traveller casts himself onto the ground in terror. 
Listen to the clamour – it is the wild hunt of Odin!” 

Johan Sebastian Welhaven, 1844 

Norse gods 

The celestial riders swarm forward through the desolate, moonlit landscape, closely followed by the ravens belonging to Odin, the chief god in Norse mythology. Thor, the god of war, thunders ahead with his hammer held high, calling out to the goats Tanngnjost (Teeth-barer) and Tanngrisne (Teeth-grinder), who are pulling his chariot. A fiery light appears in the wake of the group – can it be a glimpse of Helheim, the realm of the dead?  

“Then the horns resonate, then there is a clamour 
Of bells and jingling bridles, 
Then the swarm howls and the people tremble in their huts 
While they listen with growing dread.” 

Johan Sebastian Welhaven, 1844 

Inspired by Romanticism 

The apocalyptic atmosphere and dramatic composition of the picture were inspired by typical characteristics of Romanticism: contrasts between life and death, light and shadow, near and distant.   

Best to stay away 

Both Welhaven’s poem and Arbo’s pictures portray the wild hunt as a menacing and terrifying horde, and popular belief held that it was best to stay away when they were charging through the skies.  

The origins of the word 

It was followers of the National Romantic movement of the 1800s who began using the word ”Åsgårdsreia” – the Wild Hunt of Odin. The original word was Oskoreia. Poet and philologist Ivar Aasen believed that the word oskoreia derived from ofsleg and reida, meaning a frightening horde on horseback.