Vardøger, also known asvardyvle orvardyger, is a spirit predecessor inScandinavian folklore.[1]
Stories typically include instances that are nearlydéjà 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 have seen or heard the actual person before the person physically arrives. This bears a subtle difference from adoppelgänger, with a less sinister connotation. It has been likened to being a phantom double, or form ofbilocation. InFinnish folklore, the concept is known asetiäinen.
Originally, vardøger was considered afylgja and/orvǫrð, a sort of guardian spirit.[2][3] Thus, a vardøger is the representation of a human's inner essence, which manifests as an animal that most closely resembles the personality of the human.[citation needed]
Vardøgr is a Norwegian word defined as ‘‘premonitory sound or sight of a person before he arrives’’. It can also be interpreted as "harbinger". The wordvardøger is fromOld Norsevarðhygi, consisting of the elementsvǫrð, "care taker, guard, watchman" (akin to "warden") andhugr, 'the mind, will, thought, spirit'. The same concept exists in Sweden but under the name ofvård which also derives from Old Norsevǫrð.