Myths of the Norsemen Part 20

"On to the Brocken the witches are flocking-- Merry meet--merry part--how they gallop and drive, Yellow stubble and stalk are rocking, And young green corn is merry alive, With the shapes and shadows swimming by.

To the highest heights they fly, Where Sir Urian sits on high-- Throughout and about, With clamour and shout, Drives the maddening rout, Over stock, over stone; Shriek, laughter, and moan, Before them are blown."

Goethe's Faust (Anster's tr.).

As the swallow, cuckoo, and cat were held sacred to Freya in heathen times, these creatures were supposed to have demoniacal attributes, and to this day witches are always depicted with coal-black cats beside them.

CHAPTER XI: ULLER

The G.o.d of Winter

Uller, the winter-G.o.d, 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d 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."

Saemund's Edda (Thorpe's tr.).

As winter-G.o.d, 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 G.o.d 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 s.h.i.+p, 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 s.h.i.+eld, and as the ice with which he yearly enveloped the earth acts as a s.h.i.+eld to protect it from harm during the winter, Uller was surnamed the s.h.i.+eld-G.o.d, 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 wors.h.i.+p 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 pa.s.sed 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 G.o.ddess 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, Niord's divorced wife, the female personification of winter and cold, and their tastes were so congenial that they lived in perfect harmony together.

Wors.h.i.+p of Uller

Numerous temples were dedicated to Uller in the North, and on his altars, as well as on those of all the other G.o.ds, 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, princ.i.p.ally because he too spent part of the year in the dismal depths of Nifl-heim, with Hel, the G.o.ddess 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 G.o.d, 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).

CHAPTER XII: FORSETI

The G.o.d of Justice and Truth

Son of Balder, G.o.d of light, and of Nanna, G.o.ddess of immaculate purity, Forseti was the wisest, most eloquent, and most gentle of all the G.o.ds. When his presence in Asgard became known, the G.o.ds awarded him a seat in the council hall, decreed that he should be patron of justice and righteousness, and gave him as abode the radiant palace Glitnir. This dwelling had a silver roof, supported on pillars of gold, and it shone so brightly that it could be seen from a great distance.

"Glitner is the tenth; It is on gold sustained, And also with silver decked.

There Forseti dwells Throughout all time, And every strife allays."

Saemund's Edda (Thorpe's tr.).

Here, upon an exalted throne, Forseti, the lawgiver, sat day after day, settling the differences of G.o.ds and men, patiently listening to both sides of every question, and finally p.r.o.nouncing sentences so equitable that none ever found fault with his decrees. Such were this G.o.d's eloquence and power of persuasion that he always succeeded in touching his hearers' hearts, and never failed to reconcile even the most bitter foes. All who left his presence were thereafter sure to live in peace, for none dared break a vow once made to him, lest they should incur his just anger and be smitten immediately unto death.

"Forsete, Balder's high-born son, Hath heard mine oath; Strike dead, Forset', if e'er I'm won To break my troth."

Viking Tales of the North (R. B. Anderson).

As G.o.d of justice and eternal law, Forseti was supposed to preside over every judicial a.s.sembly; he was invariably appealed to by all who were about to undergo a trial, and it was said that he rarely failed to help the deserving.

The Story of Heligoland

In order to facilitate the administration of justice throughout their land it is related that the Frisians commissioned twelve of their wisest men, the Asegeir, or elders, to collect the laws of the various families and tribes composing their nation, and to compile from them a code which should be the basis of uniform laws. The elders, having painstakingly finished their task of collecting this miscellaneous information, embarked upon a small vessel, to seek some secluded spot where they might conduct their deliberations in peace. But no sooner had they pushed away from sh.o.r.e than a tempest arose, which drove their vessel far out to sea, first on this course and then on that, until they entirely lost their bearings. In their distress the twelve jurists called upon Forseti, begging him to help them to reach land once again, and the prayer was scarcely ended when they perceived, to their utter surprise, that the vessel contained a thirteenth pa.s.senger.

Seizing the rudder, the newcomer silently brought the vessel round, steering it towards the place where the waves dashed highest, and in an incredibly short s.p.a.ce of time they came to an island, where the steersman motioned them to disembark. In awestruck silence the twelve men obeyed; and their surprise was further excited when they saw the stranger fling his battle-axe, and a limpid spring gush forth from the spot on the greensward where it fell. Imitating the stranger, all drank of this water without a word; then they sat down in a circle, marvelling because the newcomer resembled each one of them in some particular, but yet was very different from any one of them in general aspect and mien.

Suddenly the silence was broken, and the stranger began to speak in low tones, which grew firmer and louder as he proceeded to expound a code of laws which combined all the good points of the various existing regulations which the Asegeir had collected. His speech being finished, the speaker vanished as suddenly and mysteriously as he had appeared, and the twelve jurists, recovering power of speech, simultaneously exclaimed that Forseti himself had been among them, and had delivered the code of laws by which the Frisians should henceforth be judged. In commemoration of the G.o.d's appearance they declared the island upon which they stood to be holy, and they p.r.o.nounced a solemn curse upon any who might dare to desecrate its sanct.i.ty by quarrel or bloodshed. Accordingly this island, known as Forseti's land or Heligoland (holy land), was greatly respected by all the Northern nations, and even the boldest vikings refrained from raiding its sh.o.r.es, lest they should suffer s.h.i.+pwreck or meet a shameful death in punishment for their crime.

Solemn judicial a.s.semblies were frequently held upon this sacred isle, the jurists always drawing water and drinking it in silence, in memory of Forseti's visit. The waters of his spring were, moreover, considered to be so holy that all who drank of them were held to be sacred, and even the cattle who had tasted of them might not be slain. As Forseti was said to hold his a.s.sizes in spring, summer, and autumn, but never in winter, it became customary, in all the Northern countries, to dispense justice in those seasons, the people declaring that it was only when the light shone clearly in the heavens that right could become apparent to all, and that it would be utterly impossible to render an equitable verdict during the dark winter season. Forseti is seldom mentioned except in connection with Balder. He apparently had no share in the closing battle in which all the other G.o.ds played such prominent parts.

CHAPTER XIII: HEIMDALL

The Watchman of the G.o.ds