Winter solstice

The winter solstice functions in the book’s account of northern folklore as more than a date: it is a recurring threshold when inherited powers and uncanny communal customs become active. It is especially associated with compelled transformation and the nighttime rides of the Oskorei, giving the season a role in both werewolf tradition and the Wild Hunt motif.

Seasonal Compulsion and Transformation

In the account of Thies, an elderly farmer in what is now Latvia, the winter solstice is one of the times when he had to become a wolf. Initiated by an older farmer who gave him a wolf pelt, Thies could neither choose when the transformation occurred nor prevent it by resisting. His intention to pass the power to a younger man through initiation before his death makes the seasonal recurrence part of a tradition transmitted between generations, as well as a burden imposed on its members.

The Wild Hunt at Midwinter

The Wild Hunt is described as a spectral company of armed riders, sometimes led by Odin, whose dead warriors return at appointed times. Winter solstice is singled out among those occasions, alongside the twelve nights when spirits walk and the Fasching carnival. The season thus marks a recurring opening between ordinary life and the imagined return of the dead; in Christian retellings, the hunt’s leadership could be attributed instead to the Archangel Michael and his hosts.

Oskorei Customs and Rural Life

In Norway, the Wild Hunt was known as Oskorei, Oskoreien, or Oskoreidi. The Oskorei custom described in the book placed masked, disguised groups of young men in the nights around winter solstice. They used false names and traveled on foot or horseback, claiming a role in punishing breaches of rural tradition. Their acts might include hiding or damaging tools, blocking chimneys, fastening doors, and taking or releasing horses. Beer was a particular target: kegs could be stolen or emptied, and sometimes their contents were replaced or spoiled. The account presents these acts as part of a seasonal pattern governed by custom and tradition, not simply as spontaneous youthful mischief.