Уllr: Бог славы и лыжного спорта в скандинавской мифологии

Norse deity

In Norse mythology, Ullr (Old Norse: ) is a god associated with skiing. Although literary attestations of Ullr are sparse, evidence including relatively ancient place name evidence from Scandinavia suggests that he was a major god in earlier Germanic paganism. Proto Germanic *wulþuz ('glory') appears to have been an important concept of which his name is a reflex. The word appears as owlþu on the 3rd century Thorsberg chape.

The Old Norse theonym Ullr derives from a Proto Germanic (PGmc) form reconstructed as *Wulþuz ('Glory'), which is attested in the compound owlþu þewaz (ᛟᚹᛚᚦᚢᚦᛖᚹᚨᛉ), meaning either 'servant of Owlþuz' (if interpreted as a theonym), or 'who has glorious servants' (if interpreted as an adjective), found on the Thorsberg chape (3rd c. AD). It is a cognate (linguistic sibling from the same origin) of the Gothic noun wulþus ('glory, wealth'). They ultimately derive from the Proto Indo European (PIE) noun *wul tus ('sight, gaze, appearance'), itself from the root *wel ('to see'). The PGmc term *wulþuz is an exact cognate of the Latin vultus, meaning 'facial expression, appearance'; it is further related, in Celtic languages, to the Old Irish filed ('seer, poet'), the Middle Welsh gwelet ('to see'), and the Middle Breton guelet ('sight'), all derived from a Proto Celtic stem *wel ēt The development from PIE *wul tus to Gothic wulþus shows a semantic shift from 'sight, appearance' to 'glory, wealth', similarly evidenced in Croatian in the relationship between ugled ('respect') and gledati ('see'). The stem *wulþ can also be found in some Germanic personal names, including Old English Wuldwine, Old High German Wuldberth, Wuldhart, Wuldrât, and Gothic Wulþuwulfs, but as a substantive meaning 'glory', rather than as the name of the god. The Old English noun wuldor ('glory') stems from a related PGmc term reconstructed as *wuldraz (itself from PIE *wul trós). Although not used as a proper name, wuldor occurs frequently in names for the Christian God in Anglo Saxon literature, such as wuldres cyning ('king of glory'), wuldorfæder ('glory father'), and wuldor alwealda ('glorious all ruler'). The related Old Norse form Ullinn was most likely originally connected to Ullr (as in the doublet Óðr–Óðinn), philologist Jan de Vries suggesting that the god of rage Óðr–Óðinn stood in opposition to the god of glorious majesty Ullr–Ullinn in a similar manner to the Vedic contrast between Varuna and Mitra.

Ullr's name appears in several important Norwegian and Swedish place names (but not in Denmark or in Iceland). This indicates that Ullr had at some point a religious importance in Scandinavia that is greater than what is immediately apparent from the scant surviving textual references. It is also probably significant that the placenames referring to this god are often found close to placenames referring to another deity: Njörðr in Sweden and Freyr in Norway. Some of the Norwegian placenames have a variant form, Ullinn. It has been suggested that this is the remnant of a pair of divine twins and further that there may have been a female Ullin, on the model of divine pairs such as Fjörgyn and Fjörgynn. Probably Ullr's name also can be read in the former Finnish municipality of Ullava in Central Osthrobothnia Region.

Icelandic scholar Ólafur Lárusson suggested that some of the Icelandic placenames in Ullar , usually interpreted as "wool", might also be named for Ullr, especially those such as Ullarfoss and Ullarklettur that are close to similar placenames in Goða ("gods").

The place name evidence and the *wulþuz cognates have led many scholars to conclude that Ullr was one of the older Norse gods, whose importance had waned by the time of settlement of northern parts of Norway, well before the medieval Old Norse texts were written down. This is reflected in the lack of literary evidence for the name Ullinn. Some scholars have suggested that he was an aspect of the ancient Germanic sky god, perhaps corresponding in northern Scandinavia to Týr in Denmark. Based on the association of Ullr and Ullinn placenames with Vanir deities, Ernst Alfred Philippson suggested that contrary to his placement in the Prose Edda among the Æsir, he was himself one of the Vanir, and the similarity between the Prose Edda description of his characteristics and those of Skaði have suggested to some that there was a link between him and Skaði's husband, Njörðr. Viktor Rydberg speculates in his Teutonic Mythology that Ullr was the son of Sif by Egill Örvandill, half brother of Svipdagr Óðr, nephew of Völundr and a cousin of Skaði, and that Ullr followed in the footsteps of Egill, the greatest archer in the mythology, and helped Svipdagr Eiríkr rescue Freyja from the giants. Rydberg also postulates that Ullr ruled over the Vanir when they held Ásgarðr during the war between the Vanir and the Æsir, but Rudolf Simek has stated that "this has no basis in the sources whatsoever".

Within the winter skiing community of Europe, Ullr is considered the Guardian Patron Saint of Skiers (German Schutzpatron der Skifahrer). An Ullr medallion or ski medal depicting the god on skis holding a bow and arrow, is widely worn as a talisman by both recreational and professional skiers as well as ski patrols in Europe and elsewhere. The town of Breckenridge, Colorado has since 1963 held a week long "Ullr Fest" each January, featuring events designed to win his favor in an effort to bring snow to the historic ski town. Ullr is a playable character in the video game Smite. In the television series The Almighty Johnsons, Ullr is depicted as having been reincarnated into Mike Johnson, played by Tim Balme.

Saxo Grammaticus, Gesta Danorum, Books I IX, translated to English by Oliver Elton 1905. Saxo Grammaticus, Gesta Danorum, from the Royal Library in Copenhagen, Danish and Latin. Snorri Sturluson; translated by Jean I. Young (1964). The Prose Edda: Tales from Norse mythology. Berkeley: University of California Press. Thorpe, Benjamin. (Trans.). (1866). Edda Sæmundar Hinns Froða: The Edda Of Sæmund The Learned. (2 vols.) London: Trübner & Co. 1866.