ULLER.
[Sidenote: The god of winter.]
Uller, the winter-god, is 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 traveling all 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 favorite
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 indeed.
“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, when he exercised full sway over Asgard
and Midgard, and even, according to some authorities, took possession
of Frigga, Odin’s wife, as 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, where, 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 the 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.
Snowshoes being shield-shaped, and the ice with which he yearly
enveloped the earth acting also as a shield to protect it from harm
during the winter, won for Uller the surname of the shield-god, and as
he was thus designated he was specially invoked by all persons about to
engage in a duel or in a desperate fight.
In Christian times, St. Hubert, the hunter, was made to take his place
in popular worship, and also made patron of the first month of the
year, which was dedicated to him, and began on November 22d, 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 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, god of winter, was said to have married
Skadi, Niörd’s divorced wife, the female personification of winter and
cold, and their tastes were so very congenial that they never quarreled
in the least.
[Sidenote: Worship of Uller.]
Numerous temples were dedicated to this god 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 all over their lands, as earnest of a good harvest;
and as he was supposed to send out the glorious flashes of light, the
aurora borealis, which illumine the Northern sky during its long night,
he was considered very nearly akin to Balder, the personification of
light.
According to other authorities, Uller was considered 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).