We learn more about this from the myth about Loki's son Nárfi ("corpse", "dead") and Váli. Váli was changed into a wolf and tore Nárfi to bits and pieces, and took his bowels and used them to bind Loki to three rocks. Loki is in this context of course yet another name for the winter spirit. This body of Loki, Nárfi, was maimed by the kings, who needed the blood, heart and fur from the bears and wolves they killed to become berserks themselves – and to overcome death. They put remains of the animals in the burial mound, or at least their bowels, and perhaps bones, and placed them on the rocks there. So Loki had to sink down into a cave under a cove of trees (the sacrificial trees on the burial mounds), and lie there like a corpse until Ragnarök, when he was finally set free and along with Höðr/Ullr attacked the gods. This might, by the way, explain all the bear skeletons or just bear skulls found in caves used by pre-historic man.
From Greek mythology we know another example of this death cult. Herakles ("glory of the chosen", "pride of the chosen") killed the Nemean lion and wore his hide as protection – and because of that became invulnerable.
In Scandinavia the deity Skaði lead the procession of hunters chasing Höðr/Ullr, and because of that we also know him as Öndurgoð ("procession god") and Önduráss ("procession spirit"). The hunt lasted for nine days, and because of that in order to survive the hunters had to ask for food and drink from anyone they came across. It was considered very shameful not to give something to this party, and those who refused to were often victims of retaliation. The hunters often killed their livestock, destroyed their tools or even set fire to buildings, and they had the right to do so.
In all the myths dealing with Halloween the gods return from the realm of the dead with something; Heimdallr/Hermóðr returns with two rings and a blanket from Baldr and Nanna; Loki turned Íðunn into a nut and brought her back home; Þórr got his hammer back and Óðinn found the runes. We don't know exactly when they brought these things back, though, and we know that they had to wait before they could get Baldr back.
In ancient times the dead were buried sitting up, along with all their most fine equipment, weapons, gold and other riches, because they believed that the dead needed all of this for their journey to Hel across the river of forgetfulness. When there, in Hel, they no longer needed these items, and because of that, the living entered the burial mounds to collect them. They took these objects and hid them in the woods or elsewhere, for the Winter Solstice.
Because these men had been reborn as gods (Váli), if they hadn't been gods already, that is, they were not allowed to cut their hair or nails until after winter had been killed. That is; until after the Yule tide and in particular Ragnarök. If they did cut their hair or nails it would mean disaster for all the trees and other growths in nature, and the gods would lose all their strength.
On the 9th day of Valaskjálfr the hunt was over and the bear had been sent to his death. It was therefore called the Bear Night. This day marked the end of the religious hunt for Höðr/Ullr. He was now considered dead and banished to Hel. They celebrated the victory over these winter spirits with a feast, and usually ate either bear or wolf meat, depending on what predator they had managed to catch.
On the 25th day, that is when the Sun set on the 24th day of Himinbjörg, the Yule tide began, with the celebration of the Winter Solstice. The queen (or lady of the house) walked three times with the Sun around the house with a wand, a bough from the pine tree, a tree dedicated to Heimdallr, and declared that all the elves (i. e. the spirits of the dead) were welcome. The burial mounds were often built so that at Sunrise on the Winter Solstice the Sunlight entered the innermost chamber and lit it up, waking up the elves, just like Freyr had woken up the seeds in the ground when he sent the Sun beams to propose to Gerð ("fenced-in-field"). The elves (original meaning of the word is "white") came with Heimdallr, the god who had been reborn as Váli on the first day of the year. He took the gifts he had received from the dead (i. e. that he had found in the burial mound) and in the silence of the night he gave them back to the living (i. e. the reborn dead). These items were seen as the gifts from the elves (the spirits of the dead), because the gifts came from the dead – the dead relatives of the living. So the reborn dead regained their properties: things they had owned in past lives.
When the living for some reason didn't deserve these gifts, the Óðinn impersonators returned to the grave mounds and placed the gifts in the barrow opening.
The spirits of the dead were called elves ("white") because the dead were buried in white garments and because the seeds returned after winter in the form of white flowers in the meadow or as fair crops, but most importantly because they were free from guilt after having crossed the river of forgetfulness. They had forgotten everything, all their mistakes in life, on their way to Hel. Baldr was called "the white god" because he was so innocent, but Heimdallr too was called "the white god", because he was still dressed up like a dead person, in white clothes, and because after spending time in Hel he had the colour of the dead. At this time he had long hair, beard and nails too, because he had not been allowed to cut them since Halloween. Heimdallr led the procession of elves because he had once been assigned by Óðinn to create a better man on Earth. He visited three brides, great grandmother, grandmother and mother, and fathered three sons: Þræll ("slave", original meaning of the word is "runner"), Karl ("free man") and Earl ("noble", "man"). Only the latter was seen as worthy by Óðinn, and Heimdallr was assigned to teach and train him, and keep an eye on him and his family. Every year, on the Winter Solstice, he visited Earl and his kin, from his home over the North pole, to tell them how they were doing.
To allow Heimdallr access to the home everyone should leave their doors unlocked on the Winter Solstice. To make sure he would not have to travel on an empty stomach they placed a bowl of porridge on the table in the living room. In addition to that it was illegal to keep any animals with claws inside this night, so that Heimdallr wouldn't wake up any sleepers when dogs began to bark and other animals made noise when he entered. The gifts from the elves were delivered to his good children (since mankind was considered to be his children), and ashes from the grave were delivered to the bad children. He could know who was good and who was bad, because he was able to see the entire world from his throne in Heaven, over the North Pole, and his hearing was so good he could hear the grass grow. He heard and saw everything.
There were many traditions for the Yule eve. You had to use seven different kinds of wood in the fire that night, one for each day of the week. Moreover, you had to eat meat from animals associated with fertility, such as the boar, and you had to sleep on the floor – to allow the elves to sleep in the beds. The decorative food was not to be eaten by the living, because this was for the dead (the elves), and (what was left of) it was not to be eaten until the 11th day of Søkkvabekkr (a day known as “The Horse of Hel”).
Between the Winter Solstice and the Day of Eldbjørg ("fire-rescue") the dead spirits, accompanied by Heimdallr, Loki, Skaði, Þórr and Óðinn, travelled around, visiting all the villages and farms, fighting the spirits of winter. The shadows of Hel and Höðr/Ullr (the spirits of winter) had also returned when the elves/spirits of the dead had been called upon to rise from the grave. The gods ran or rode through the night, not naked this time, but dressed in white garments and furs, screaming and shouting, armed with swords and flaming torches, to fight the spirits of winter. The men and women acted out the myths this way, and this tradition was the gods who lit bonfires in the forest to burn the feathers of Suttungr and Þjazi, and by doing so killed the winter spirits. Just like in the 9 days after Halloween, it was a religious obligation to provide food and drink to this party. On the 7th day of Landviði came the final showdown between the gods and the shadows, the summer and the winter spirits. This was known as Ragnarök, and is still celebrated today as the modern New Year's Eve, the 1st of January.