Our Numinous Nature

Rasmus Boström is a professional hunter & outdoor gear ambassador in Älvdalen, Sweden. After readings about Scandinavian bear hunting folklore & shape-shifting in the Old Norse sagas, we learn about a regional language & the area's hunting culture. From there it's hunting history with wolf-posse laws & bear spears. Rasmus then describes the Swedish brown bear & taking part in scat-gathering studies. After some background information about the modern bear hunt with hounds, he tells a harrowing story about tracking a wounded bear. For the last third we switch to a handful of other outdoorsman topics: bird hunting from skis; Ullr the Norse hunting god; marten trapping with deadfalls; a first time hunt custom, and invasive mink hunting on small islands in the name of sea bird conservation.

Outdoor gear & apparel: Astro Sweden & Bearskin on YouTube.

Reading excerpts from The Lycanthropy Reader: Werewolves in Western Culture edited by Charlotte F. Otten and Scandinavian Folk Belief and Legend edited Reimund Kvideland & Henning K. Sehmsdorf.

Art reference images:
"Return of the Bear Hunter" by Adolph Tidemand
"Wild Bird Hunters" by Knud Bergslien
Ullr [Norse hunting god] on the Böksta runestone

"Hårgalåten"
Swedish folk song
Performed by Nyckelharpa Tunes

"Vid Stormyren"
Written by Eric Sahlström
Performed by Nyckelharpa Tunes

"Säkkijärven polkka"
Finnish folk song
Performed by Nyckelharpa Tunes

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Contact: [email protected]