The God of Winter
Uller, the winter-god, was the son of Sif, and the stepson of Thor. His
father, who is never mentioned in the Northern sagas, must have been
one of the dreaded frost giants, for Uller loved the cold and delighted
in travelling over the country on his broad snowshoes or glittering
skates. This god also delighted in the chase, and pursued his game
through the Northern forests, caring but little for ice and snow,
against which he was well protected by the thick furs in which he
was always clad.
As god of hunting and archery, he is represented with a quiver full of
arrows and a huge bow, and as the yew furnishes the best wood for the
manufacture of these weapons, it is said to have been his favourite
tree. To have a supply of suitable wood ever at hand ready for use,
Uller took up his abode at Ydalir, the vale of yews, where it was
always very damp.
"Ydalir it is called,
Where Ullr has
Himself a dwelling made."
Sæmund's Edda (Thorpe's tr.).
As winter-god, Uller, or Oller, as he was also called, was considered
second only to Odin, whose place he usurped during his absence in
the winter months of the year. During this period he exercised full
sway over Asgard and Midgard, and even, according to some authorities,
took possession of Frigga, Odin's wife, as related in the myth of Vili
and Ve. But as Uller was very parsimonious, and never bestowed any
gifts upon mankind, they gladly hailed the return of Odin, who drove
his supplanter away, forcing him to take refuge either in the frozen
North or on the tops of the Alps. Here, if we are to believe the poets,
he had built a summer house into which he retreated until, knowing
Odin had departed once more, he again dared appear in the valleys.
Uller was also considered god of death, and was supposed to ride in
the Wild Hunt, and at times even to lead it. He is specially noted
for his rapidity of motion, and as the snowshoes used in Northern
regions are sometimes made of bone, and turned up in front like the
prow of a ship, it was commonly reported that Uller had spoken magic
runes over a piece of bone, changing it into a vessel, which bore
him over land or sea at will.
As snowshoes are shaped like a shield, and as the ice with which he
yearly enveloped the earth acts as a shield to protect it from harm
during the winter, Uller was surnamed the shield-god, and he was
specially invoked by all persons about to engage in a duel or in a
desperate fight.
In Christian times, his place in popular worship was taken by
St. Hubert, the hunter, who, also, was made patron of the first month
of the year, which began on November 22, and was dedicated to him as
the sun passed through the constellation of Sagittarius, the bowman.
In Anglo-Saxon, Uller was known as Vulder; but in some parts of Germany
he was called Holler and considered to be the husband of the fair
goddess Holda, whose fields he covered with a thick mantle of snow,
to make them more fruitful when the spring came.
By the Scandinavians, Uller was said to have married Skadi, Niörd's
divorced wife, the female personification of winter and cold, and their
tastes were so congenial that they lived in perfect harmony together.
Worship of Uller
Numerous temples were dedicated to Uller in the North, and on his
altars, as well as on those of all the other gods, lay a sacred ring
upon which oaths were sworn. This ring was said to have the power of
shrinking so violently as to sever the finger of any premeditated
perjurer. The people visited Uller's shrine, especially during the
months of November and December, to entreat him to send a thick
covering of snow over their lands, as earnest of a good harvest; and
as he was supposed to send out the glorious flashes of the aurora
borealis, which illumine the Northern sky during its long night,
he was considered nearly akin to Balder, the personification of light.
According to other authorities, Uller was Balder's special friend,
principally because he too spent part of the year in the dismal depths
of Nifl-heim, with Hel, the goddess of death. Uller was supposed to
endure a yearly banishment thither, during the summer months, when
he was forced to resign his sway over the earth to Odin, the summer
god, and there Balder came to join him at Midsummer, the date of his
disappearance from Asgard, for then the days began to grow shorter, and
the rule of light (Balder) gradually yielded to the ever encroaching
power of darkness (Hodur).