Hunting is both necessity, sport and ritual.
A stead diet is mainly vegetable porridge: small game are always a welcome addition. If the local environments permit, I'm sure most heaths wouldn't begrudge losing a few folk for a day if they could bring back a deer.
Sport, in the sense its fun, takes your entire concentration, and provides useful skills. You also must learn to work in a small coordinated group.
Ritual depends a lot on local beliefs, but encountering the Lady on her own terms always has a powerful effect on people, and hunting provides a sense of perspective on life and death. It can be a rite of passage, and successfully hunting dangerous game can add to status.
I've found 'Everyday Life' type books on the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons the most useful sources for Heortling hunting and animal 'mythology'. The Eddas mention hunting, but I can't offhand think of any detailed descriptions. I found Gerald of Wales helpful: 'The Journey Through Wales', 'The Description of Wales' and 'The History and Topography of Ireland'. are all available in Penguin. John Cummins' 'The Hound and the Hawk - The art of Medieval Hunting' is a great source: even though it concentrates on courtly hunting there is loads of detailed info on topics like deer seasonality, and the hunting of obscure beasts like lynx and unicorns.
John
nysalor_at_... John Hughes
Oh to be in Canberra / Now that it's July / Where poets write of Iceland / Turn central heating high. Draft mid-year post-grad theses / for the Australian National U / The leaves, once bright, have fallen / They do too...
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