That ol’ Yuletide spirit
Yule-Father finished attaching his sleigh to his eight-legged horse just as the dwarves had placed the last bag of finely crafted treasures on the back. The sleigh was huge and intricate in design and function, as it had also been built by the dwarves. A beastly appearing man was to Yule-Father’s left, sitting astride a huge goat, brandishing a fist-full of birch branches in his right hand with a woven basket strapped to his back. He held the giant goat's bridle firmly in his left hand. To Yule-Father’s right was another large man, cloaked and hooded, adorned with bells about his body saddling a giant wolf. He glanced over at his grandson on the goat, bells jingling, and gave a quick wink. Krampus either didn’t notice or gave no sign of noticing, his face ever a hoary scowl. The sun was quickly setting though it seemed to have only been up briefly, for today was the shortest day of the year. Today marked the beginning of Yule, and the Yule-father and his host were preparing for their great,wild hunt.
A few others began to gather about the magnificent sleigh. Most had the appearance of humans, though not all. The steeds were as varied as the host. Some rode horses and reindeer and even others, oxen, goats or boars. Yule-Father looked about the gathered host, and with a twinkle in his good eye shouted “On thunder and lightning we ride! On wisdom and love, we ride! On liveliness,and kinship we ride!” he was interrupted by the cowled, bebelled man. Knecht’s bells jingled as he lifted his head to shout “On purse-strings we ride!”
The Yule-Father let out a full belly laugh at this. “Hoohohooo, right you are, Loki, right you are” The cloaked man on the giant wolf responded by bringing a finger to his lips and whispering “Not tonight All-Father , tonight I am Knecht Ruprecht, as you are Yule-Father.” The old man with the long white hair and beard nodded to Knecht as he donned a red knit cap with white lining “Right you are as always” With another twinkle in his good eye the jolly old man in red shouted “On magic, we ride!”
And his host responded, echoing his words back to him “On magic,we ride!”
Krampus, son of Hel, took off first, eager to thrash the wicked. He was followed closely by a menagerie of beasts and men, both as steed and rider. Yule-Father shouted to Sleipner, and the eight legged horse took to the sky. Knecht Ruprecht spoke in the ear of his son, the great wolf, and they too were skybound.
Lightning, rain and thunder were the hosts' companions that night as they sought out the wicked. Humans, asleep in their beds, knew little of their passing for the most part. A few good spirits, here and there, would rise up from their bodies to join the great hunt. Men and women of good repute, called to action, called to join. Their bodies lay still in their beds, yet their spirits joined in the great hunt. Some would bond with animal spirits drawn to the same call in their slumber, others yet simply flying in the sky without a mount. Krampus and his cohort would dive into a dwelling more often than a new soul would join the hunt. The snow,lightning and thunder were a permanent fixture of the night sky during their excursion.
Every now and then Yule-Father would land on a rooftop, his sleigh created from dwarven magic not even disturbing the snow on the shingles. Sometimes he and his comrades would shrink themselves down and slide down the chimney, other times Knecht would use magic to open the door. They would go in, raid the pantry, eat all the food and drink. All the better if there was mead and ale to be had. Silent as mice were they,throughout. After they had finished feasting, Knecht would produce a parchment, as if from thin air. He would proceed to read off the list the names of the children in the household that had been well behaved and honorable. With each name mentioned Yule-Father would reach into his sack and pull out a wondrous treasure created by the finest dwarven craftsmen. Once Knecht finished with the names of those that had been in keeping with the Norse ideals of goodness and righteousness he read off the other names. These names weren’t bad enough for Krampus and his company, but not deserving of Yule-Father’s finely fashioned gifts either. These children (and parents) received gifts of coal, or socks. In the harsh cold of the north, either is a welcome present, though not generally something someone would wish for as an oblation. Nonetheless, it was better than being beaten with a handful of birch rods or spending a night in Hel before your time. From village to village, county to county and across the entire world the wild hunt did ride, seeking out the wicked and rewarding the pure, each village gathering more like minded sleeping souls to the hunt. Each village was ravaged by Krampus and his entourage beforehand.
In one of the last homes, in one of the last villages a small child walks into the small area about the hearth of his home and spies upon Yule-Father, Knecht and their kindred feasting upon his families winter rations. “Are you the All-Father” the timid child asks from the shadows cast off from the hearth flames. The man in red, trimmed in white responds with “I have many names, little one. Tonight I am the Yule Father.”
“Why do you eat all of our food we put away for the winter, and drink all of our fathers mead?” Yule-Father started to say something when the small child pointed to the mantle above the hearth “My mother knew you would come tonight, she left out krumkake and spiced goats milk for you” Yule-Father’s face turned bright red at this. “Knecht, the list” Knecht’s bells jingled as he unrolled his scroll with a snap of his wrist. “Sehr gut” was his reply. Yule-Father’s face was no longer smiling and jovial but rather embarrassed. He hadn’t even bothered to look for offerings, caught up in the frenzy and drunken atmosphere of the wild hunt. Yule-fathers face took on the visage of one defeated. The rest of his host, both real and astral, stood in silence. Knecht produced a plume from thin air and quickly jotted a name on his scroll while all eyes were focused on Yule-Father and the child. The old man in red and white got down on one knee and opened his bag, beckoning to the child to approach. Krampus and his entourage burst through the front door and began beating Yule-Father with his birch branches. Yule-Father roared in pain and anger “What new treachery is this Loki!” Yule-Father attempted to ward off the beatings from the birch branches with his arms, his good eye glowing red as coal in a fire. “Tonight, I’m not Loki, I’m Knecht, and you aren’t the All-father, you’re just another name on the wild hunts list. The majority of the huntsmen, especially the astral forms of humans stepped back in shock and disbelief. Not so with Krampus and his cohort. They encircled Yule-Father, Krampus removing his basket from his back, tongue lolling out of his mouth while beckoning for his newest victim to enter the basket on his own. Yule-Father clapped his hands together, transforming into a raven and flying up the chimney. He had left his spear, Gungnir, on his sleigh. If he could reach his sleigh he could either deal with Loki’s treachery directly or escape back to Asgard. Flying out the top of the chimney Loki’s giant wolf awaited, catching the bird in its powerful jaws. Yule-Father screamed in pain. Knecht, Krampus and the other members of the hunt appeared on the rooftop in an instant, the spirits of the humans still maintaining a distance and not actively participating in the assault on the all-father.
“Come now, brother” Knecht said smoothly, now appearing fully as Loki, his Yule alter ego completely gone “Surely a few nights with your beloved niece won't be so bad.” Krampus approached Fenris, reaching out to retrieve the raven from its large maw, basket and birch switches in his off hand. The raven transformed into water, spilling out from the wolf's teeth and onto the snowy rooftop, running down towards the edge of the roof. There the water transformed yet again into the Yule-Father. “You would lay hands on me, the Yule-Father?” he asked calmly, masking his outrage with feigned grief. He stole a quick glance at Gungnir standing straight up like a bannerpost in his sleigh. The fenris wolf made a violent spectacle of barks,growls and gnashing of teeth.
Loki smiled once again as Krampus and his troop surrounded Yule-Father once again, some floating just above the rooftop, others floating in the sky beyond the edge of the roof. “You should go into the bag peaceably brother, you know there’s no fighting the hunt. It draws its power from you yourself”
With those words from his blood brother Loki, Odin understood and accepted his fate. His baleful red eye returned to the color of the deepest ocean, reflecting the moon. “Peaceably” Yule-Father responded with disdain, still proud but with just the slightest hint of defeat in his voice. He walked tall towards Krampus’ open bag, and as he ducked to enter, he had a mischievous grin on his face, for Loki wasn’t the only Asgardian known to be a trickster when it suited him. Once inside the bag, which of course was bigger on the inside, he settled into a corner, away from the crying children that had been really bad and fell into a deep sleep-like trance. Once in his sleep, he released his spiritual essence to the four corners of the world, entering every man and woman with children.
With the Yule-Father’s spirit within them, they would leave amazing gifts, claiming not to know where they had come from or how they had arrived. They would only eat and drink what was offered to them, and nothing else.
Loki went to Hel after the third day and was delighted when his daughter told him Odin just sat in a corner the entire time, never speaking a word and seemingly in a deep depression. Yule-Father, now Odin again, saw the joy in Loki’s eyes and played along. He would have to do this again next year.
Loki already had plans to include Yule-Father’s name on the hunts list for every Yule from now till Ragnarok.
For whatever reason my podcast isn't updating here, so here's the link if anyone's interested
https://anchor.fm/itsalwaysdarkest/episodes/That-ol-yuletide-spirit-e1c5ul1