The Wild Hunt

The origin of Sinterklaas (Santa Claus) and his helpers has sometimes been associated with the "Wild Hunt" of the Norse wind God, Odin.  [Teutonic god, Woden].  The Wild Hunt is also known from post-medieval folklore, and evokes images of the frenzy of battle, and the terror inspired by death. 

The Wild Hunt by Franz von Stuck

The Wild Hunt is a folk tale originating from Europe, and involves a group of huntsman who are presumed ghosts, who pass through the wild in pursuit of humans as game. 

These hunters may be assumed as fairies, elves or even the dead.  The leader of the Hunt is Odin, and all of whom are lost spirits, both male and female.  Odin passes through persistent darkening skies, amidst great mid-winter storms of angry wind, clapping thunder and violent lightening.
  

Odin appears on his gallant white horse, called Sleipnir, who carries him swiftly through the air, leading his army of lost souls.  Sleipnir also possessed 8 legs, which must have aided him in his ability to carry Odin very swiftly, with his feet never touching the earth.

Odin's ever-present companions are two black ravens, Huginn and Muninn, who were the carriers of news - the good or bad behavior of the mortals, below - and report back to Odin, after listening to people through their rooftops.   Huginn and Muninn's role as Odin's messengers have long been associated with shamanic practices, the Norse raven banner, general raven symbolism among the Germanic peoples, and the Norse concepts of the fylgja (is a spirit who accompanies a person in connection to their fate or fortune) and the hamingja (either the personification of the good fortune or luck of an individual or family, or the altered appearance of shape-shifters).

In his nocturnal procession, are huge, vicious, black hounds that bay ceaselessly through the icy winds, and have been described as having red eyes the size of saucers. 

"The Bearer of Death is a term used in describing the Hellhound. Hellhounds have been said to be as black as coal and smell of burning brimstone. They tend to leave behind a burned area wherever they go. Their eyes are a deep, bright, and almost glowing red. They have razor sharp teeth, super strength and speed, and are commonly associated with graveyards and the underworld. Hellhounds are called The Bearers of Death because they were supposedly created by ancient demons to serve as heralds of death. According to legend, seeing one leads to a person's death. Sometimes it is said to be once; other times it requires three sightings for the curse to take effect and kill the victim. These factors make the Hellhound a feared symbol and worthy of the name “Bearer of Death”. The Hellhound has been seen several times throughout history, and it is not specific to any one place. The most recent sightings occurred in Connecticut, Kentucky, Louisiana, Ohio, and Vilseck, Germany, in or near cemeteries."  -wiki

Artwork by Howard Johnson, source: pinterest

Finally, as part of his war-band, and at this side, Odin is also accompanied by his warrior wife, Frigga [Frig or Frigg].   Frigg is known as the goddess of motherhood and marriage, and the keeper of domestic arts.  She possesses the power of prophecy, but does not disclose this information.  Frigg is the wife of Odin, queen of the Æsir, and goddess of the sky.  To underline the importance of Frigg as part of the Wild Hunt, one must consider that she is the only one who is permitted to sit on Odin's high seat "Hlidskjalf" and look out over the universe. 

If you were unfortunate enough to witness the Wild Hunt, you may be the hapless augur of such events like war, pestilence or the plague and surely, death will follow.  

Some mortals who did not meet their demise as witnesses, would mysteriously vanish, and may have been carried into the Underworld or a Fairy Kingdom, as the soul was pulled from the body to join the army of the soul-less. 

Melissa Snark, wrote:  "As people continued to settle in the region, Odin’s path for the Wild Hunt remained unchanged. Once he traveled a road, he would continue to travel it for eternity, so people who tried to build their houses on the old roads he once used would find their home’s burnt down as a result of his hunt. In fact, it was best to leave his routes completely untouched, as anything within his path would be set ablaze in his wake.


To protect themselves during the Wild Hunt, people learned to throw themselves at the ground when the host stampeded through the area to avoid getting hit. They also took to carrying a piece of steel and a piece of bread with them as they made their way to church for Yule. They believed that throwing the bread for the dogs if they encountered them first would offer some protection. If, on the other hand, they first encountered a rider wearing a broad-rimmed hat, they would throw the piece of steel in front of them. Still others believed they could avoid being swept up altogether by the hunt if they asked the riders for parsley."

There is a bright side, however.  If one joined the Wild Hunt, in earnest and sincerity, one may be rewarded with silver or gold.  

Google Images, Artists not cited

“When the winter winds blow and the Yule fires are lit, it is best to stay indoors, safely shut away from the dark paths and the wild heaths. Those who wander out by themselves during the Yule-nights may hear a sudden rustling through the tops of the trees – a rustling that might be the wind, though the rest of the wood is still.“But then the barking of dogs fills the air, and the host of wild souls sweeps down, fire flashing from the eyes of the black hounds and the hooves of the black horses.” -Kveldulf Hagen Gundarsson 

Peter Nicolai Arbo (1831–1892) - Title "Norsk bokmål: Asgårdsreien,  1872

Gif images - tumblr

The Ghost Ship of Christmas

The Rouse Simmons was a three-masted schooner famous for having sunk in a violent storm on Lake Michigan in 1912. The ship was bound for Chicago with a cargo of Christmas trees when it foundered off the coast of Two Rivers, Wisconsin, killing all on board.

The Rouse Simmons Wreck

The legacy of the schooner lives on in the area, with frequent ghost sightings and tourist attractions whereby its final route is traced. It was known as "The Christmas Tree Ship" and was one of many schooners to transport Christmas trees across the lake. However, with railroads, highways, and tree farms proving much more economical, the tree-shipping industry was on a steep decline and they had stopped sailing by 1920.

The Rouse Simmons Schooner

The Rouse Simmons was built in Milwaukee in 1868 by Allan, McClelland, & Company, and named after a Kenosha businessman Rouse Simmons. 

Charles Hackley

The schooner was soon purchased by wealthy lumber magnate Charles H. Hackley of Muskegon, Michigan and joined his sizeable fleet. Hackley's ships served across most of Lake Michigan's coastline, and the Rouse Simmons became a workhorse, shipping lumber from company mills to several ports around the lake for around 20 years. At its peak the schooner was making almost weekly runs between Grand Haven and Chicago.

After its service for Hackley the ship exchanged hands several times. Many similar schooners were also frequently sold and they became known as "tramp ships". In 1910 Herman Schuenemann bought an interest in the ship, expanding that to an eighth in 1912. The other shares were owned by Captain Charles Nelson of Chicago, who owned one eighth and would sail alongside Schuenemann on the fatal journey, and three fourths (the commanding share) were owned by Mannes J. Bonner, a businessman from St. James, Michigan.

The Schuenemann brothers, Herman and August, had been trading Christmas trees in Chicago since around the start of the 20th century. August died in November 1898 aboard the S. Thal – a 52-ton, two-masted schooner – when it sank in a storm near Glencoe, Illinois. His younger brother continued the family business.

Christmas trees aboard the Rouse Simmons

While many rival traders had sold to wholesalers and local grocers, Schuenemann sold directly to Chicago residents at dockside by Clark Street Bridge. By cutting out the middleman in this way the trees could be sold cheaply while still making a profit. The venture used the slogan "Christmas Tree Ship: My Prices are the Lowest", with electric Christmas lights and a tree atop the main mast. The trees were sold for between 50 cents and $1, but Herman Schuenemann, affectionately known as "Captain Santa", also gave away some of the trees to needy families.

Final journey

Schuenemann loaded the schooner with 5,500 trees from Thompson Harbor near Manistique, Michigan and planned to make the week-long journey to Chicago. The difficult weather had discouraged his competitors from making their own journeys, and snow had covered the tree farms in Michigan and Wisconsin.  He hoped that the resultant shortage of Christmas trees would lead to a huge profit and solve his financial problems.

Already by 1912, November had a reputation for especially violent storms on the Great Lakes. November, 1912, however had been relatively quiet, with only one significant storm so far, which affected especially southeastern Michigan and northwestern Ohio. (The reports that say another storm had already taken many lives and ships that month[are erroneous, confusing 1912 with the Big Blow of 1913.) Still, a second storm was brewing. The conditions of the day were very poor, with many ships anchoring in port for shelter to avoid being battered by the 60 mph winds that could be anticipated in a November gale.

Local legends say that some sailors refused to board the ship and that the vessel was unseaworthy. Two years previous the schooner had been towed to port by The Grand Haven Tribune after it was found riding low in the water. Despite this the journey began at noon, with trees crammed into every possible corner of the ship. The weight of the trees was far above recommendations, especially in the bad winter weather, and was certainly going to contribute to the tragedy. 

During the night, with storms hitting the Simmons hard, two sailors were sent to check the lashings on deck. Both seamen were swept overboard by a giant wave that collected them, many bundled trees, and a small boat. Now that the schooner was slightly lighter and more maneuverable Captain Schuenemann directed it towards Bailey's Harbor. Suddenly, and tragically, the storms worsened; ice formed on the sodden trees and winds battered the hull.

When the Kewaunee Life Saving Station spotted the Rouse Simmons on 23 November 1912 it was low in the water with tattered sails, flying its flag at half mast to signal that it was in distress. Logs from the station show that a surfman spotted the Simmons at 2:50pm and alerted station keeper Nelson Craite. Craite found that the station's gas tugboat had left earlier in the day and, at 3:10pm, Craite telephoned the nearest other Station. George E. Sogge of Two Rivers, located just south of Kewaunee, sent out the power boat Tuscarora on a rescue mission, but the Simmons was not seen again.

The Simmons was not the only ship to go down during the storm, with the South Shore, the Three Sisters, and the Two Brothers suffering similar fates.

Wreck and debris

A message in a bottle from the Rouse Simmons washed onto the shore at Sheboygan. It had been corked using a small piece of cut pine tree and, other than the occasional trees caught in fishing nets, was the only remains of the vessel discovered for many years. The message read:

"    Friday … everybody goodbye. I guess we are all through. During the night the small boat washed overboard. Leaking bad. Invald and Steve lost too. God help us. ”

In 1924 a fishing net trawled up a wallet belonging to Captain Schuenemann. The wallet, well preserved because it was wrapped in oilskin, contained business cards, a newspaper clipping and an expense memorandum.  In 1971 the wreck itself was discovered by scuba diver Gordon Kent Bellrichard from Milwaukee.

Bellrichard was searching for the Vernon, a 177-foot, 700-ton steamer that had sunk in a storm in October 1887, and had been told about an area in which local fishermen had frequently snagged their nets. When his sonar appeared to have located something he dived down to a shipwreck on the bed of the lake 172 feet below. Despite his light failing, Bellrichard managed to survey the wreckage with his hands and concluded that he had instead found the Simmons.

The Wreckage of the Rouse Simmons

A forensic study of the wreck suggested that the ship had steerage and was sailing for shelter when it sank. The mizzen mast snapped off above the deck and the upper portion was not located. The main mast was found forward and to the port side of the wreck with the base missing. The foremast is intact and lies nearly parallel but on top of the main mast suggesting at least one of these masts fell out of the mast step as the ship went down.

Many of the trees are still in the ship's hold, though two were extracted and shown as exhibits. Several items recovered from the Rouse Simmons are now housed in Rogers Street Fishing Village Museum in Two Rivers, including the ship's wheel. The ship's anchor was retrieved and now stands at the entrance to the Milwaukee Yacht Club.  The remains of the wreck are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Legacy

The Christmas Tree Ship lived on through Schuenemann's wife, Barbara, and their two daughters. However, in the latter years they chose to transport the trees by train and merely used a boat as a platform for sale. The practice of transporting trees by schooner ceased in 1920, and the increasing popularity of railways, highways and tree farms soon made it easier and more affordable for everyone to buy a tree.

Source: wiki