Odin’s Hunt Vs. Ghost Riders in the Sky

On winter nights in old Scandinavia, you did not go outside when the dogs began to howl in the sky. That was Odin’s Hunt passing over. Then, more than a thousand years later, a cowboy song put a spectral herd in the clouds over the American West. Coincidence, or a very old story wearing a new hat? Thomas Mac’s prequel set us wondering about the meaning of “Ghost Riders in the Sky” (the video is at the end of this post).

So what is the meaning of Ghost Riders in the Sky? On its face it is a warning. A cowboy sees the damned chasing the devil’s herd forever and is told to change his ways. Still, whether it began as Odin’s Hunt is the question here. The short answer is probably not, although the resemblance is hard to miss. Jump to the lyrics or to Stan Jones’ own account.

The Wild Hunt in Europe

The Wild Hunt turns up across much of Europe. For example, Norwegians called it the Oskoreia (roughly “the terrible ride”); Swedes spoke of Odens jakt, Odin’s Hunt. Medieval Germans knew it as Wuotanes her, Wodan’s army, later the Wütendes Heer, the Furious Host. The basic story: a known figure, often Odin or a local lord, leads a ghostly troop across the winter sky. The hunters chase enchanted game or doomed maidens, or they sweep up new riders.

Odin’s Hunt

The Wild Hunt does not appear in the Eddas. Instead, it is folk belief, written down mostly by 19th-century collectors, though medieval writers elsewhere in Europe already describe ghostly riding hosts. In Scandinavian versions, a deathly hush falls before Odin’s hounds bay loud and long. The riders may be the dead, elves or Valkyries, and their passing can foretell war or the turn of the season. As Dr. Jackson Crawford puts it in his video on the Wild Hunt, the Hunt is part of the terror of winter. (It is also one of the midwinter customs weighed in Viking Traditions in Christmas Present.)

Ghost Riders in the Sky

“Ghost Riders in the Sky” is a folk and country standard. In fact, everyone from Gene Autry and Johnny Cash to Willie Nelson has covered it. Stan Jones, an Arizona-raised songwriter and actor, wrote it in 1948, and Vaughn Monroe’s 1949 recording was the biggest hit. It tells of a cowboy who sees phantom riders chasing a phantom herd across the sky.

Ghost Riders in the Sky Lyrics

An old cowboy went riding out one dark and windy day,

Upon a ridge he rested as he went along his way,

When all at once a mighty herd of red-eyed cows he saw,

A ploughing through the ragged skies

And up a cloudy draw.

Their brands were still on fire, and their hooves was made of steel,

Their horns were black and shiny and their hot breath he could feel,

A bolt of fear went through him as they thundered through the sky,

For he saw the riders comin’ hard,

And he heard their mournful cry.

Yippee-yi-o, yippee-yi-yay,

Ghost riders in the sky.

Their faces gaunt, their eyes were blurred, their shirts all soaked with sweat,

They’re ridin’ hard to catch that herd but they ain’t caught them yet

‘Cause they’ve got to ride forever on that range up in the sky,

On horses snortin’ fire

As they ride on, hear their cry.

As the riders loped on by him, he heard one call his name,

“If you want to save your soul from hell a-riding on our range,

Then cowboy change your ways today or with us you will ride

A-trying to catch the devil’s herd

Across these endless skies.”

Yippee-yi-o, yippee-yi-yay,

Ghost riders in the sky.

Lyrics: “(Ghost) Riders in the Sky: A Cowboy Legend,” words and music by Stan Jones, © 1948 Edwin H. Morris & Co., Inc.; North American rights administered by MPL Communications. Quoted in full for comparison with the legend of Odin’s Hunt above, as educational, non-commercial commentary by a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (fair use, 17 U.S.C. § 107). All rights remain with the copyright holder.

Odin’s Hunt and the Meaning of Ghost Riders in the Sky

Clearly, the history of Odin’s Hunt goes back centuries. It was passed down from generation to generation long before “Ghost Riders in the Sky” was ever conceived. Still, the question remains: Is the song a ranching version of the Wild Hunt?

Set side by side, the two stories share four things:

• The dead ride the sky. Odin’s riders may be the dead, elves, or Valkyries, and the cowboy’s riders are lost souls who “got to ride forever.”
• A storm sets the scene. The Hunt rides on winter nights, and the cowboy sees his herd on a dark and windy day.
• The chase never ends. The hunters pursue enchanted game, and the riders “ain’t caught them yet.”
• The living are drawn in. The Hunt sweeps up new riders, and the ghost riders warn the cowboy that he will join them.

Stan Jones’ Inspiration

Jones said that when he was 12, an old Native American man near Douglas, Arizona, told him that the souls of the dead ride on as spirits in the sky, like ghost riders. If we take Jones at his word, the song grew from a Southwestern story, not from Odin’s Hunt. Still, the family resemblance is striking: two peoples, an ocean apart, looking up at a stormy winter sky and seeing the dead ride past. (Odin wears many hats and many names; whether one of them is Santa is the question of Odin to Santa Claus.) What do you hear in it? Tell us in the comments.

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