Vardøger, also known as ''vardyvle'' or ''vardyger'', is a spirit predecessor in
Scandinavian folklore
Nordic folklore is the folklore of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland and the Faroe Islands. It has common roots with, and has been mutually influenced by, folklore in England, Germany, the Low Countries, the Baltic countries, Finland and Sapmi. ...
.
Stories typically include instances that are nearly
déjà vu
''Déjà vu'' ( , ; "already seen") is a French loanword for the phenomenon of feeling as though one has lived through the present situation before.Schnider, Armin. (2008). ''The Confabulating Mind: How the Brain Creates Reality''. Oxford Univer ...
in substance, but in reverse, where a spirit with the subject's footsteps, voice, scent, or appearance and overall demeanor precedes them in a location or activity, resulting in witnesses believing they've seen or heard the actual person before the person physically arrives. This bears a subtle difference from a
doppelgänger
A doppelgänger (), a compound noun formed by combining the two nouns (double) and (walker or goer) (), doppelgaenger or doppelganger is a biologically unrelated look-alike, or a double, of a living person.
In fiction and mythology, a doppelg ...
, with a less sinister connotation. It has been likened to being a phantom double, or form of
bilocation. In
Finnish folklore
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
, the concept is known as ''
etiäinen
In Finnish folklore, all places and things, and also human beings, have a haltija (a genius, guardian spirit) of their own. One such haltija is called etiäinen—an image, doppelgänger, or just an impression that goes ahead of a person, doing ...
''.
Etymology
Vardøgr is a Norwegian word defined as ‘‘premonitory sound or sight of a person before he arrives’’. The word is from
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...
, consisting of the elements , "guard, watchman" (akin to "warden") and , "mind" or "soul". Originally, vardøger was considered a
fylgja
In Norse mythology, a fylgja (Old Norse: , plural ) is a supernatural being or spirit which accompanies a person in connection to their fate or fortune.
Description
The word means "to accompany" similar to that of the Fetch in Irish folklore. ...
, a sort of guardian spirit.
References
Other sources
*
Davidson, H.R. Ellis (1965) ''Gods and Myths of Northern Europe'' (Penguin Books)
*Kvideland, Reimund; Henning K. Sehmsdorf (1989) ''Scandinavian Folk Belief and Legend'' (University of Minnesota Press)
* McKinnell, John (2005) ''Meeting the Other in Norse Myth and Legend'' (D.S. Brewer, Cambridge)
*Orchard, Andy (1997) ''Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend'' (Cassell & Co)
*Pulsiano, Phillip; Kirsten Wolf (1993) ''Medieval Scandinavia: An Encyclopedi''a (Routledge Encyclopedias of the Middle Ages)
*
Simek, Rudolf; translated by Angela Hall (2007) ''Dictionary of Northern Mythology'' (D.S. Brewer, Cambridge)
*
Steiger, Brad; (2003) ''Real Ghosts, Restless Spirits, and Haunted Places'' (Visible Ink Press, Detroit, Michigan)
Further reading
* ''Doubles: The Enigma of the Second Self'', Rodney Davies, 1998,
* ''Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home: And Other Unexplained Powers of Animals'', Rupert Sheldrake, 2000,
* ''Phone Calls From the Dead''
hapter on "intention" phone calls D. Scott Rogo
Douglas Scott Rogo (February 1, 1950 – August 18, 1990) was a writer, journalist and researcher on subjects related to parapsychology. Rogo was murdered in 1990 at the age of 40.Hansen, George P.. ''D. Scott Rogo and His Contributions to Parapsy ...
and Raymond Bayless, 1980,
External links
*
Llewellyn ''Unconscious in the Astral''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vardoger
Scandinavian legendary creatures
Paranormal
Forteana
Supernatural legends
Counterparts