NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Fylgja

A fylgja (literally: she, who follows) 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 person's character or way of living it was probably conceived of as a person's soul that was separated from the body. A warlike man consequently had for instance a wolf or a bear for a fylgja. The fylgjur appeared during sleep, but the sagas relate that they could appear when a person was awake as well, and seeing one's fylgja was an omen of one's death. Norse mythology, Viking mythology or Scandinavian mythology refer to the pre-Christian religion, beliefs and legends of the Scandinavian people. ... The soul, according to many religious and philosophical traditions, is a self aware ethereal substance particular to a unique living being. ... Wolf Wolf Man Mount Wolf Wolf Prizes Wolf Spider Wolf 424 Wolf 359 Wolf Point Wolf-herring Frank Wolf Friedrich Wolf Friedrich August Wolf Hugo Wolf Johannes Wolf Julius Wolf Max Franz Joseph Cornelius Wolf Maximilian Wolf Rudolf Wolf Thomas Wolf As Name Wolf Breidenbach Wolf Hirshorn Other The call... Genera Ailuropoda Ursus Tremarctos Arctodus(extinct) A bear is a very large mammal of the order Carnivora, family Ursidae. ...

In Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, many characters are accompanied by a 'daemon', which have many of the above characteristics of fylgjur. Philip Pullman Philip Pullman CBE (born October 19, 1946), is a British writer, educated at Exeter College, Oxford, who is the best-selling author of the His Dark Materials trilogy of fantasy novels and a number of other books, purportedly for children, but attracting increasing attention by adult readers. ... The trilogy (non-North American versions), in order of succession from left to right. ...

When they appeared in the form of a woman, they were, however, guardian spirits for people and clans (ätter). The Scandinavian clan or Ã„tt was a social group based on common descent or on the formal acceptance into the group at a Ting. ...

See also

Category: Creatures in Norse mythology Divided between the Ã†sir and the Vanir, and sometimes including the jÃ¶tnar (giants), the dividing line between these groups is less than clear. ... In Old Norse, the Ã†sir (singular Ãss, feminine Ãsynja, feminine plural Ãsynjur, Anglo-Saxon Ã“s, from Proto-Germanic *Ansuz) are the principal gods of the pantheon of Norse mythology. ... Vanir is the name of one of the two groups of gods in Norse mythology, the other and more well known being the Ã†sir. ... The giants seize Freyja. ... A small forest elf (Ã¤lva) rescuing an egg, from SolÃ¤gget (1932), by Elsa Beskow An elf is a mythical creature of Norse mythology which survived in northern European folklore. ... In Norse mythology, the dwarves (Old Norse: dvergar, sing. ... A statue from 1908 by Stephan Sinding located in Copenhagen, presents an active image of a valkyrie. ... In Norse mythology the einherjar or einheriar, were spirits of warriors who had died bravely in battle. ... The Norns spin the threads of fate at the foot of Yggdrasil, the tree of the world. ... For other meanings of Odin, Woden or Wotan see Odin (disambiguation), Woden (disambiguation), Wotan (disambiguation). ... Thor carries his hammer and wears his belt of strength (MS SÃM 66, 18th century). ... This 19th century representation of Freyr shows him with his boar Gullinbursti and his sword. ... Freya, in an illustration to Wagners operas by Arthur Rackham. ... This picture, from an 18th century Icelandic manuscript, shows Loki with his invention - the fishing net. ... Balders death is portrayed in this illustration from an 18th century Icelandic manuscript. ... TÃ½r, depicted here with both hands intact, is identified with Mars in this illustration from an 18th century Icelandic manuscript. ... This illustration shows a 19th century attempt to visualize the world view of the Prose Edda. ... Ginnungagap (seeming emptiness) was the vast chasm that existed between Niflheim and Muspelheim before creation in Norse mythology. ... Look up Ragnarok in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems from the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. ... The Younger Edda, known also as the Prose Edda or Snorris Edda is an Icelandic manual of poetics which also contains many mythological stories. ... The Norse sagas or Viking sagas (from Icelandic saga, plural sÃ¶gur), are stories about ancient Scandinavian and Germanic history, about early Viking voyages, about migration to Iceland, and of feuds between Icelandic families. ... The Volsung Cycle is the name of a series of Germanic legends based on the same matter as Niebelungenlied, and which were recorded in medieval Iceland. ... The Tyrfing Cycle is a collection of legends united by the magic sword Tyrfing. ... A rune stone Rune stones are standing stones with runic inscriptions dating from the Iron Age (Viking Age) and early Middle Ages. ... This is the approximate extent of Old Norse and related languages in the early 10th century. ... The orthography of the Old Norse language since the introduction of the Latin alphabet in Iceland is a thorny subject. ... Norse mythology provides a rich and diverse source which many later writers have borrowed from or built upon. ... The Viking Age is the name of the period between 793 and 1066 AD in Scandinavia and Britain, following the Germanic Iron Age (and the Vendel Age in Sweden). ... The skald was a member of a group of courtly poets, whose poetry is associated with the courts of Scandinavian and Icelandic leaders during the Viking age, who composed and performed renditions of aspects of what we now characterise as Old Norse poetry. ... In literature, a kenning is a compound poetic phrase, a figure of speech, substituted for the usual name of a person or thing. ... The BlÃ³t was the pagan Germanic sacrifice to Norse gods and Elves. ... Seid (Old Norse: seiÃ°r, sometimes anglicized as seidhr, seidh, seidr, seithr or seith) was a form of shamanism practised by pre-Christian Norse and arguably other Germanic cultures and continued in modern times by people who practice the reconstructionist beliefs of ÃsatrÃº or heathenry. ... Numbers are significant in Norse mythology although not to the extent which they are in some traditions e. ... Norse cosmology, as it is given us in the source material for Norse mythology recognizes the existence of nine worlds, assigned the ending -heimr (home, realm, or world) or in some cases -garÃ°r (homestead, yard or earth). ... // Places Asgard BifrÃ¶st Bilskirnir Breidablik Elivagar Fyris Wolds Gandvik Ginnungagap Helgardh Hlidskjalf Hvergelmir JÃ¶tunheimr Leipter River Kormet Midgard Muspelheim Nastrond Nidavellir Niflheim Ormet Reidgotaland Slidr River Svartalfheim Utgard Valhalla Vanaheim Vimur Yggdrasil Events Fimbulwinter RagnarÃ¶k Artifacts Balmung Brisingamen Draupnir Dromi Eitr Mjolnir SkÃÃ°blaÃ°nir Gram Gungnir...

See also GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

See also