Fylgja
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A Fylgja (literally: she who follows; plural: Fylgjur) is, according to Scandinavian mythology, a supernatural creature which accompanies a person. It usually appears 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 and thus not identical with it. Consequently, a warlike man might have a bird raven, a horse, a wolf or a bear for a fylgja. The Fylgja commonly appears 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 (ätter).
Fylgja, Dis and Valkyrie seem to be different personifications of the same idea as they accompany their protégée from the moment of birth till death and beyond. The following spirit, the Fylgja, is invisibly – i.e. not in her human shape – present at her protégée’s birth, she follows and thus protects him during his lifetime, terrifies him to death when in battle his time has come, visits him in his grave with loving care, now in her human shape, revives him with a drink of ‘’alu’’ (beer) and takes him to Valhalla, where he joins Woden’s warriors. This motif is well known from Gotland's picture stones [‘’valknutr’’] , where the Valkyrie revives her slain hero in presence of a horse with valknuts (Woden’s knots between its legs) and takes him (probably on horseback) to Valhalla, where to fight against the frost giants.
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[edit] Relationship of heroes and their Fylgjur
The Franks Casket renders this relation between Fylgjur and their heroes in each of its pictures: In the picture of the Magi she appears as a swan right where we should expect the angel. In the depiction of Wayland’s revenge, where according the saga the swan maiden is his spouse, she is hidden between two rune like symbols (shaped like a bird’s footprint), referring to her. - Not surprisingly now, Romulus and Remus (left) are accompanied by two wolves – one Fylgja for each of them. - Under the arch on the back panel (Titus conquers Jerusalem) we have 3 pairs of beasts of the battle field: horse, wolf and raven as it seems, interlinked by ‘’valknutr’’, Woden’s trade mark. Very significantly the Valkyrie’s symbol is placed on the top of the arch. – On the right side of the casket a hero is frightened to death by the sight of his Valkyrie. She, now in her human shape, comes to his grave with a chalice at hand, accompanied by a horse which is identified by two ‘’valknutr’’ (knots of death) as Woden’s Sleipnir. – Finally, on the lid, we see another hero, Ægil, a Wayland brother and likewise partner of a Valkyrie. He seems to be fighting off the frost giants, assisted by a lady under an arch, his Valkyrie. While her arch is identified by double headed animals (wolf and raven ?), Valhalla is branded by two ‘’valknutr’’, which may be translated as Woden’s “knots of death”.
[edit] Cultural references
In Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, numerous characters are accompanied by a 'daemon' which have many of the above characteristics of fylgja.
[edit] See also
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[edit] Literature
- Alfred Becker: “Franks Casket. Zu den Bildern und Inschriften des Runenkästchens von Auzon ( Regensburg, 1973)
- Wolfgang Golther, Handbuch der Germanischen Mythologie (1895), S. 98 ff.
