his place in popular worship 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 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 to be 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 was said to have married Skadi, Nioerd's
divorced wife, the female personification of winter and cold, and their
tastes were so congenial that they lived in perfect harmony together.

Worship of Uller

Numerous temples were dedicated to Uller 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 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,
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).

CHAPTER XII: FORSETI

The God of Justice and Truth

Son of Balder, god of light, and of Nanna, goddess of immaculate
purity, Forseti was the wisest, most eloquent, and most gentle of all
the gods. When his presence in Asgard became known, the gods 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 p