Working with the Gods: Ullr

As i left December writing about Skadi the goddess of winter, it seems proper to start the year, writing about Ullr, the god of winter, since we are still very much into the winter season.

Ullr is the northern god of Winter, Hunting, Archery, Skating and Skiing. The sound of the snow falling and the cold winter wind that follows it, along with the sound of the ice breaking and moving in the mountains or beneath your feet in any frozen lake or river, the silent atmosphere in the woods after a snowstorm and the scent of wet trees, it all has the magic touch of Ullr.

Ullr is a very old god, he has been in the northern tales far beyond memory, when the world was still in the Iron Age, the northern peoples start to write the myths about Ullr and his powers were already the stuff of legend back then. All over Scandinavia, his name can be heard in many places still, regions and sites, so he must have been a very important god. He was associated with skiing, a very important way to move from one place to an other in the snow, because the snow is very thick and with the weight of our body, we are buried under the snow and its too hard to move, it can take days and people often died. So skiing was a safer and faster way to move and also to hunt. Ullr was also associated with the shield, maybe because shields were used as a ski board or because when winter comes, it involves the world as a shield.

Ullr's name comes from the word wuldor, the Old Hight German word for "glory". It was once pronounced "Ool", and to the Anglo-Saxons, his name was Vulder and in some places in Germany, he was known as Holler, and some say that he was the husband of the Germanic goddess Holda.
Ullr is seen as an Aesir because he is the son of Sif and his stepfather is Thor, but als may be seen as a Vanir because of his nature for being an hunter.
Ullr lives in Ydalir, meaning, Yew-grove, for the yew wood has always been good for the making of bows.

Odin was once exiled and Ullr was chosen to seet in the throne of Valhalla and lead in his place until Odin returned. Since then, Ullr seets in that same throne every time Odin isn't around, the shows the importance this god may had over the northern peoples in ancient times.

As you may guess, Ullr is the god of winter and winter sports, and as such, he can be called upon those who need safety when dealing with such matters, climbing a mountain, hunting in the woods, even winning a contest of skiing, fishing on ice and he is also a god of oaths, when making an oath, he will watch over it and make sure that your oath or the oaths others made to you under Ullr's watchful eyes, won't break.

Working with the Gods: Skadi

Winter finally came and why not begin this journey with the northern goddess of winter? It seems to me appropriated.

Who is Skadi?

Skadi is the goddess to whom bowhunting, skiing, winter and the mountains are associated with. She is of the Jotnar kin.
The Aesir gods have been at war with the Jotnar kin for many generations and one of the casualties of that war, was Skadi's father. To have her vengeance, Skadi went to Asgard to kill the god Odin for killing her own father. Odin instead of a having a brutal combat with her, he offered her wealth in all sorts of manner and she could even pick a husband from among the Aesir gods, but those would be behind a curtain, so she had to choose by looking at their feet. In this way, she chose to be her husband, the god of the seas, Njord, she was deceived, because Njord's feet were so beautiful, not like the rough feet of Tyr, used to walk in all sorts of battle fields, or Thor's feet, full of scars for having fought the giants most of his time, by looking at Njords feet, she thought that those belonged to Baldr, the most beautiful of all the gods.
Njord and Skadi had so many differences, she loved the mountains and the cold wind, the howl of the wolves and hunting in the shadowed woods and skiing in the frozen lakes. Njord was fond of the sea, hearing the sound of the waves, sitting on top of the rocks at the beach with the salty wind gently touching his face, the sound of the seagulls and the merry singing of sailors near by or at his halls. So Skadi and Njord would have to divide their time and share the likings of each other, Skadi would pass some days of the week at her husband's halls and Njord would pass the rest of those days of the week in her Wife's Halls, so in this manner, they could be together and share the places each one loved and do the things they would feel most happy to do. But Skadi wasn't happy when she was by the sea, the salt scorched her skin, the crying of sea birds ritated her, the sand of the beach bothered her, for eating was always seafood and she hated it and the sun saddened her. On the other hand Njord felt sick with the cold of the mountains when he was at his wife's halls, he couldn't sleep with the wolve's howls, the land was covered with snow, ice and frost, it was a wasteland of sadness to him, no bird singing and it was always meat for dinner. With all these inconveniences, they had no time nor the mood to give love and attention to each other and so they split up because together, they had no happiness.

Working with Skadi.

Skadi loves animal fur, especially white fur skins to wear ( this is because she lives out there in the cold mountains, and in those places, only animal fur will keep someone warm enough to survive). She likes cold drinks and wine. Be very polite to her and courteous, she likes strong and respectful people. She preferes to work with a female spirit-worker,  but she takes both gender, as long as the person is ready to go off with her into the snow. She preferes to come during winter time or if you live in a cold area which has snow most of the year, she will also come.