Английская Википедия:Fylgja

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In Norse mythology, a fylgja (Old Norse: Шаблон:IPA-non, plural Шаблон:Lang Шаблон:IPA-non) is a supernatural being or spirit which accompanies a person in connection to their fate or fortune.

Description

The word Шаблон:Wikt-lang means "to accompany" similar to that of the Fetch in Irish folklore.

The fylgia is a ghost who associates with (or, for a lack of better word, stalks or shadows) a particular individual, and may be characterized as a "guardian spirit".Шаблон:Sfnp However, contrary to its name meaning 'follower', it generally moves ahead, making some sort of "contact" with the individual before they arrive at some key spot. And yet the fylgja will follow after the individual when that person is near death.Шаблон:Sfnp

A fylgia is sometimes associated with a particular family or clan, and is then called an Шаблон:Lang (pl. Шаблон:Lang 'family followers'). And a closely related type of fylgia is the "dream woman", as appears in Gísla saga (cf. below).Шаблон:Sfnp It is contended that the Icelandic mar or mara (the folkloric "[night]mare") is a dream fylgja which has strayed from its assigned host and visiting the dreams of others, which tend to be more sinister than when visiting its usual host or ward.Шаблон:Sfnp

Placenta origins

The Icelandic word fylgja can also mean "placenta" or "afterbirth of a child" and the folkloric supernatural connection made between child and afterbirth may be the origins of the fylgja as a concept.Шаблон:Sfnp In some instances, the fylgja can take on the form of the animal that shows itself when a baby is born or as the creature that eats the afterbirth. In some literature and sagas, the fylgjur can take the form of mice, dogs, foxes, cats, birds of prey, or carrion eaters because these were animals that would typically eat such afterbirths.

Animal forms

Thus, while the fylgja usually was a lady ghost, in the shape of women, it sometimes took on the shape of animals (also female). The animal fylgja typically came in the form of a dog, but also as various other land or even sea creatures.Шаблон:Sfnp The particular animal type that the fylgja takes on may reflect the character of the person they represent, akin to a totem animal. Hence fox-like fylgja shadowed a deceitful person, a swan-like from shadowed a beautiful woman.Шаблон:Sfnp Men who were viewed as a leader would often have fylgja to show their true character. This means that if they had a "tame nature", their fylgja would typically be an ox, goat, or boar. If they had an "untame nature" they would have fylgjur such as a fox, wolf, deer, bear, eagle, falcon, leopard, lion, or a serpent.

The animal fylgja is also said to appear in front of its owner, often in dreams, and offer portents of events to come. As such it is a representation of the future itself, not the character of a person. Like a person's fate the fylgja is not changeable, nor can it improve or act on its own.

Fylgjur may also "mark transformations between human and animal" or shape shifting. In Egil's Saga, there are references to both Egil and Skallagrim transforming into wolves or bears, and there are examples of shape shifting in the Saga of King Hrolf Kraki, where Bodvar Bjarki turns into a bear during a battle as a last stand. These transformations are possibly implied in the saga descriptions of berserkers who transform into animals or display bestial abilities.

Else Mundal has argued that the animal fylga and the woman-ghost type fylgja are of different origins, and the solitary animal fylga is actually that individual's alter ego present since birth, which perishes together when that person dies. Шаблон:Refn

Skotta and móri

In Jón Árnason's classification, he placed the "fylgja" branch of stories under the broader class of "draugr" ('ghost' or "goblin stories" Шаблон:Sfnp); and under this "fylgja" branch (Шаблон:Lang or "followers"Шаблон:Sfnp) he collected many number of stories of ghosts which were of the female skotta and male móri types. However, modern commentators have distinguished the móri and the skotta as wicked ghosts, which are separate from the fylgja.Шаблон:Refn

The name skotta is explained from their odd habit of wearing the Шаблон:Linktext, the woman's headdress Icelandic national costume: instead of wearing it curved forward as she is supposed to, she wears a brown-redШаблон:Efn faldur curled backward like a tail (skott, "tail"). They also wear red stockings and suck their fingers, but otherwise, she is dressed properly.Шаблон:SfnpШаблон:Sfnp

Just as the skotta favored wearing a brown[ish] faldur, the male móri were also characterized by their wearing brown (Шаблон:Lang) clothing, hence this particular appellation. Though the móri was also known by other names such as lalli, or goggur or by other kennings.Шаблон:SfnpШаблон:Sfnp

Occurrences

Fylgjur usually appear in the form of an animal or a human and commonly appear during sleep, but the sagas relate that they could appear while a person is awake as well, and that seeing one's fylgja is an omen of one's impending death. However, when fylgjur appear in the form of women, they are then supposedly guardian spirits for people or clans (ættir). According to Else Mundal, the female fylgja could also be considered a dís, a ghost or goddess that is attached to fate.

Gabriel Turville-Petre cites multiple instances where an evil wizard or sorcerer's fylgja is a fox, because the image is sly and hiding something, or an enemy's fylgja is a wolf. In The Story of Howard the Halt Шаблон:Lang, the character Atli has a dream about eighteen wolves running towards him with a vixen as their leader. As it turns out, the dream presages that Atli will be attacked by an army with a sorcerer at the front.

Connection with fate

Both Andy Orchard and Rudolf Simek note parallels between the concept of the female guardian hamingja—a personification of a family's or individual's fortune—and the fylgja. An example of such an occurrence would be in Gisli Surrson's Saga where the main character, Gisli, is visited by two beautiful women, one who is trying to bring good fortune and one that is trying to edge him towards violence. Шаблон:Cn-span The fylgjur in this saga are the already described "dream-women".Шаблон:Sfnp The good 'dream-woman' and the bad here are also difficult to distinguish from the dísir according to Carolyne Larrington.Шаблон:Refn

See also

• Anima and animus
• Augoeides
• Daemon
• Dís
• Familiar spirit
• Fetch (folklore)
• Luonto
• Norns
• Totem
• Valkyrie
• Vörðr

Bibliography

• Шаблон:Cite book
• Шаблон:Cite book
• Шаблон:Citation
• Pulsiano, Phillip (1993) Supernatural Beings in Medieval Scandinavia: An Encyclopedia (Taylor & Francis) Шаблон:ISBN
• Mundal, Else; translated by (1974) Fylgjemotiva i norrfin litteratur (Universitetsforlaget, Oslo) Шаблон:ISBN
• Turville-Petre, G. (1958) Dreams in Icelandic Traditions (Folklore Enterprises; pp. 93–11)

Further reading

• Andrén, Anders; Jennbert, Kristina; Raudvere, Catharina (2006) Old Norse religion in long-term perspectives (Chicago: Nordic Academic Press; pp. 137–138)
• The Story of Howard the Halt (Icelandic Saga Database)
• Jochens, Jenny (1996) Old Norse Images of Women (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania)
• Connor Finn; The Secret of Snow. (Fictional novel involving fylgja)
• William Friesen, 'Fylgjur in Icelandic Saga', Scandinavian Studies, 87 (2015), 255–80, Шаблон:Doi.
• Zuzana Stankovitsová, 'Following up on Female fylgjur: A Re-examination of the Concept of Female fylgjur in Old Icelandic Literature', in Paranormal Encounters in Iceland 1150-1400, ed. by Miriam Mayburd and Ármann Jakobsson (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2020), pp. 245–62 Шаблон:ISBN (cf. Zuzana Stankovitsová, '“Eru þetta mannafylgjur”: A Re-Examination of fylgjurin Old Norse Literature' (unpublished MA thesis, University of Iceland, 2015)).