Vardøger

Vardøger, also known as vardyvle or vardyger, is a spirit predecessor in Scandinavian folklore. [1]

Stories typically include instances that are nearly déjà vu 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, with a less sinister connotation. It has been likened to being a phantom double, or form of bilocation. In Finnish folklore, the concept is known as etiäinen.

Etymology

Vardøgr is a Norwegian word defined as ‘‘premonitory sound or sight of a person before he arrives’’. The word vardøger is probably from Old Norse varðhygi, consisting of the elements vǫrð, "guard, watchman" (akin to "warden") and hugr, "mind" or "soul". Originally, vardøger was considered a fylgja, a sort of guardian spirit. [2]

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