Fylgja
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A fylgja (literally: she who follows; plural:fylgjur) was, according to Scandinavian mythology, a supernatural creature which accompanied a person. It usually appeared in the form of an animal, and as it was believed to correspond to a person's character or way of living, it can be conceived of as a form of a person's soul, separate from the body. Consequently, a warlike man might have had a wolf or a bear for a fylgja. The fylgjur commonly appeared during sleep, but the sagas relate that they could appear while a person was awake as well, and that seeing one's fylgja was an omen of one's impending death. However, when they appeared in the form of women, they were then supposedly guardian spirits for people or clans (ätter).
In Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, numerous characters are accompanied by a 'daemon' which have many of the above characteristics of fylgjur.
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Norse mythology |
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| List of Norse gods | Æsir | Vanir | Giants | Elves | Dwarves | Troll | Valkyries | Einherjar | Norns | Odin | Thor | Freyr | Freyja | Loki | Balder | Týr | Yggdrasil | Ginnungagap | Ragnarök | |
| Sources: Poetic Edda | Prose Edda | The Sagas | Volsung Cycle | Tyrfing Cycle | Rune stones | Old Norse language | Orthography | Later influence | |
| Society: Viking Age | Skald | Kenning | Blót | Seid | Numbers | |
| People, places and things |
