The Norse god Odin in his many forms, astride his eight-legged steed Sleipnir, was deeply associated with the Wild Hunt, particularly in Scandinavia. Odin's name is derived from the Old Norse Odhr which means "Fury, ecstasy, inspiration".

As it was thought that the souls of the dead were wafted away on the winds of a storm, Odin became regarded as the leader of all disembodied spirits - the gatherer of the dead and a pyschopomp. Eventually, storms became associated with his passing. The hunt was known as Odin's Hunt, the Wild Ride, the Raging Host or Asgardreia and was said to presage misfortune such as pestilence, death or war.

A death allusion might be made from the manner in which a dead man is borne in his coffin, through the air, by four pallbearers with two legs each.

Otto Höfler (1934) and other authors of his generation emphasized the identification of the hunter with Odin, looking for the traces of an ecstatic Odin cult in more recent customs from German-speaking areas.

Berserkers are most commonly associated with the cult of Odin from ninth century Norway onward. By donning animal skins or believing themselves transformed into animals by their rage, they can easily be seen as the hounds of Odin's Wild Hunt. Witness Snorri's description:

"[Odin's] own men went without byrnies, and were as
mad as dogs or wolves, and bit on their shields, and
were as strong as bears or bulls; menfolk they slew,
and neither fire nor steel would deal with them: and
this is what is called Bareserks-gang."15