Ullr

[2][5][4] 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').

[2] The Old English noun wuldor ('glory') stems from a related PGmc term reconstructed as *wuldraz (itself from PIE *wul-trós).

[6] 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.

As winter-god, 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.

A late Icelandic composition, Laufás-Edda, offers the prosaic explanation that Ullr's ship was called Skjöldr, "Shield".

Three skaldic poems, Haustlöng, Eilífr Goðrúnarson's Þórsdrápa, and a fragment by Eysteinn Valdason, refer to Thor as Ullr's stepfather, confirming Snorri's information.

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.

Magnus Olsen suggested in addition that the names of some Norwegian places including Ringsaker derive from a nickname *Ringir for Ullr based on his association with ring-oaths, but there is no evidence of this.

[21] 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,[22] 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.

[23] 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.

[24] Within the winter skiing community of Europe, Ullr is considered the Guardian Patron Saint of Skiers (German Schutzpatron der Skifahrer).

Figure on skis and with a bow, possibly Ullr, on the 11th-century Böksta Runestone
The coat of arms of Ullensaker displays Ullr as a charge .
Ollerus traverses the sea on his magic bone; 16th-century woodcut
Illustration from an 18th-century Icelandic manuscript showing Ullr on his skis and with his bow
Early 20th-century Austrian lead medal depicting Ullr, Schutzpatron der Skifahrer
Reverse of the same medal showing the Tyrolean Eagle