In this episode I take a look at midwinter superstitions that carry us from the ancient sagas to the video game Assassin’s Creed! It is the pit of winter. These are the dark days between Christmas and Epiphany that are only slightly illuminated by the fireworks of New Year. Throughout history, this period has been seen as rather insecure. If one believes in that invisible membrane between this world and the underworld, then at no time of the year is it so thin than at midwinter. The magical, immortal creatures of superstition can almost punch through and touch us, and the layer between living and dead is a mere tissue of existence. Have you observed the customs hallowed by time? If not, then beware! Tonight the hunt may ride again and carry you away. The wild hunt of Odin – the Oskoreia.

EPISODE PHOTO

Åsgårdsreien (detail), by Peter Nicolai Arbo (1872).

Public domain.

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