The God of Winter
Reproduced from Myths of Northern Lands, 1895, pp.131-133
by H. A. Guerber
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 http://www.wvwnews.net/story.php?id=2039, 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.
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).
http://www.vaidilute.com/books/guerber/guerber-11.html