Hekate and the Wild Hunt?

I recently came across the following question:

"Was Hekate’s retinue of Dogs or the dead a version of the same myth that spawned The Wild Hunt in Central and Northern Europe?"

I severely doubt it. The first mentions of anything like the Wild Hunt dates back to 1126 made by Christian clerks, if I remember well. From there, the rumor spread and was picked up by Jacob Grimm and popularized in 1835 in his book 'Deutsche Mythologie'; German Mythology. That became the foundation of the modern myth.

The Wild Hunt in this capacity is a ghostly or supernatural group of huntsmen passing in wild pursuit. The hunters may be either elves or fairies or the dead. Seeing the Wild Hunt was considered an omen of a catastrophe such as war or plague, or at best the death of the one who witnessed it. Witnesses might also be dragged along and taken to the Underworld.

Hekate, at Her core, is a Goddess associated with birth, not with death (although the two were closely related in ancient Hellas as many children died during or just after childbirth, and so did their mothers). Near the end of the reign of Hellas, Her dogs became associated with the dead, but in the centuries prior, Hekate and Her dogs were protectors of children and the house. They warned of danger--not as destructive omens but as an early warning to ensure safety. She was highly honoured in that capacity and it's why she is one of the household Goddesses and receives such large honours every month.

Interesting to note, perhaps: men feared dogs. Almost during the entire reign of Hellas, men considered dogs half domesticated and half wild. Perhaps the best example of this comes from Homeros' 'Iliad':

"[...]in the end fierce hounds will tear me in pieces at my own gates after some one has beaten the life out of my body with sword or spear-hounds that I myself reared and fed at my own table to guard my gates, but who will yet lap my blood and then lie all distraught at my doors."[XXII, 66-76]

I posted yesterday about why women were so tightly controlled in ancient Hellas and the answer was that men feared them because they couldn't predict their behavior and control them very well. Dogs were feared for many of the same reasons: they were connected to both birth and death, they were connected to ritual pollution (miasma), they were connected to the house (a female domain) and they were loud! This is why they were associated with female divinities like Hekate, Artemis, etc. Dogs were connected to women, period, and as the epithomy of all things female, Hekate was most associated with her. Men feared Hekate as much as they welcomed and honoured Her, after all.

Do you remember the discovery of a well full with the remains of babies and dogs? This is perhaps the best example of the perception the ancient Hellenes had of the connection between birth, death, dogs and Hekate. Through the sacrifice of a dog, the miasma incurred by the death of the infant was lifted, and it is my firm believe that this was also the way through which the Kourotrophos Hekate was called to carry the child safely to the Underworld. I have no doubt that the women took care of these gruesome tasks on their own: this was spongy female business and they did it out of pity for the child and protection of the household--as men expected them to do. 

To me, the Wild Hunt and Hekate's worship differ greatly. The Wild Hunt is a retinue of men, of warriors, who cross the land as an omen of destruction and death. Dogs are only attested to join them in a few local myths. Hekate is but one woman--the epithomy of all women represented to men, their true power, unbridled; a warning of what would happen to any women if she was not tightly controlled. Her retinue of dogs differs in size from one to a hand full. Her purpose for appearing is to warn and keep safe; to protect. I can't see the two being connected in more than cursory observance.