ULLR


SOURCES

Poetic Edda

5. Ýdalir heita        ţar er Ullur hefir
sér um görva sali  

   - Grimnismal 

5. Ydalir call they        the place where Ull
   A hall for himself hath set

   - Grimnismal (Bellows translation)

30. “So be it with thee, Atli! 
    as toward Gunnar thou hast held
    the oft-sworn oaths,
    formerly taken -
    by the southward verging sun,
    and by Sigtý’s hill,
    the secluded bed of rest,
    and by Ullr’s ring.”

   - The Lay of Atli (Thorpe translation)


Prose Edda

Ullr heitir einn, sonr Sifjar, stúpsonr Ţórs. Hann er bogmađr svá góđr ok skíđfćrr svá, at enginn má viđ hann keppast. Hann er ok fagr álitum ok hefir hermanns atgervi. Á hann er ok gott at heita í einvígi.

- Gylfaginning

Ullr is one called, son of Sif, stepson of Thor. He is such a good bowman, and so snowshoe-swift, that none may with him contend. He is also fair in appearance and has a warrior's accomplishments. Upon him it is good to call in single combat.

- Gylfaginning (translation by Joe Mandato)

---------------------------------------

Hvernig skal kenna Ull? Svá, at kalla hann son Sifjar, stjúp Ţórs, öndurás, bogaás, veiđiás, skjaldarás

- Skáldskaparmál

How should Ull be known? Thus, by calling him the son of Sif, stepson of Thor, snowshoe-god, bow-god, hunt-god, shield-god.

- Skáldskaparmál (translation by Joe Mandato)

---------------------------------------

In Skáldskaparmál, Thor is called "stepfather of Ullr" and "Ullr's kinsman", Sif is called "the mother of Ullr", a shield is called the "Ship of Ullr"


Saxo Grammaticus

Book 3:

So, not wishing Odin to drive public religion into exile, they exiled him and put one Oller (Wulder?) in his place, to bear the symbols not only Of royalty but also of godhead, as though it had been as easy a task to create a god as a king. And though they had appointed him priest for form's sake, they endowed him actually with full distinction, that he might be seen to be the lawful heir to the dignity, and no mere deputy doing another's work. Also, to omit no circumstance of greatness, they further gave his the name of Odin, trying by the prestige of that title to be rid of the obloquy of innovation. For nearly ten years Oller held the presidency of the divine senate; but at last the gods pitied the horrible exile of Odin, and thought that he had now been punished heavily enough; so he exchanged his foul and unsightly estate for his ancient splendour; for the lapse of time had now wiped out the brand of his earlier disgrace. Yet some were to be found who judged that he was not worthy to approach and resume his rank, because by his stage-tricks and his assumption of a woman's work he had brought the foulest scandal on the name of the gods. Some declare that he bought back the fortune of his lost divinity with money; flattering some of the gods and mollifying some with bribes; and that at the cost of a vast sum he contrived to get back to the distinction which he had long quitted. If you ask how much he paid for them, inquire of those who have found out what is the price of a godhead. I own that to me it is but little worth.

Thus Oller was driven out from Byzantium by Odin and retired into Sweden. Here, while he was trying, as if in a new world, to repair the records of his glory, the Danes slew him. The story goes that he was such a cunning wizard that he used a certain bone, which he had marked with awful spells, wherewith to cross the seas, instead of a vessel; and that by this bone he passed over the waters that barred his way as quickly as by rowing.


Links:

Click here for the chapter on Ullr chapter from "Our Troth".

Image of Ullr from an illuminated manuscript.

Click here to return to the Vingolf Home Page