Hello everyone! I hope you all have been enjoying the fabulous guest bloggers we’ve been having this week. We still have more to come with Vaughan Williams tomorrow and then Friday is the 13th… Spooky! I know that Gracen has a great blog planned for you all then, and I’d also like to wish everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day since that’ll be on Saturday. Wow! Such a busy week.
Today, I’ll be discussing a mythological being I found out about a while back when we had Elizabeth Black with us. It is called the Fylgja. The Fylgja is a guardian spirit of Norse mythology. They carry a connection to a person or sometimes family and protect or prevent harm from befalling its human. Fylgjur usually appear to their person in the shape of a woman or an animal. While researching this, I read that they are most often seen in the animal form during sleep; although, they could be awake, but if one were to see their fylgja, it is an omen of their encroaching death. Though, when the fylgjur appear as women, they are looked on as guardians, which is fascinating since valkyrjur (valkyries) were also females that would appear to the Vikings in female shape and lead the men to Valhalla. Valkyrjur were also connected with animals.
I’ve been very intrigued by this subject ever since Elizabeth Black guest blogged with us about different mythological creatures that are out there for paranormal authors to partake in that step outside the norms of vampires, werewolves, and ghosts, which I love so much. I couldn’t imagine not writing about these more common mythological creatures, but I’ve decided to eventually write a novel on the fylgja. I definitely plan on dipping into how the fylgjur and valkyrjur’s similarities, but that’ll have to wait until next week! I can’t give too much away so soon, can I?
Some great links to find out more about fylgja are:
http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/mythology/text/Supernatural_Beings.htm
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/222990/fylgja
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fylgja
What do you think about this topic regarding fylgja? Are you interested in me doing another blog on the relationship with the Viking and the fylgja and valkyrja? What are some mythological creatures that you’ve heard about recently that delve outside of the normal of the paranormal genre that you really enjoy or that you’d like to find more information about? Let me know! I’d love to discuss this. =)
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Fylgjur and Norse mythology
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6 deadly screams:
Hi Sarah,
I'm pretty much a creature junky. If I could own all the different lore books out there, I would, however I have to settle for the ones I currently own. They are the line that TSR started for Dungeons and Dragons gamers and are now produced by Wizards of the Coast. Most of the fantasy fiction I read comes from the Forgotten Realms and such line.
I haven't had the chance to read through those books in awhile, so any chance I have to learn about new ones is a great opportunity. I also like it when people research the ins and out of a topic, especially if an obscure detail is discovered. So, if you wish to go into more detail on the Fylgja, I'm game!
Carrie
I enjoy learning about new paranormal creatures and beings and would pick up a story that featured a Fygja. Though I love shifters and Vampires and their multitude of worlds I am up for new creatures.
Thanks for your comment, Carrie. I know what you mean about the lore books. I have some, and I have to force myself not to buy more when I go to the store.
I really like learning about different creatures as well, especially the rather obscure ones. I will definitely dig more into the Fylgja. :D Thank you for your input.
Hi Lindseye! Thank you for your comment! I'm the exact same way. I very much love werewolves and vampires. I couldn't imagine writing anything else, but it's fun to learn about new creatures, too. That's really encouraging to me that you'd want to read about a Fylgja. =) I'll put my muse on the job.
What an interesting article. Do you know how this word would be pronounced?
Fascinating.
Hi, Pheebles. Thank you for your comment! My guess is it's fulg-ya.
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