Vardøger

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

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 have 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.

Originally, vardøger was considered a fylgja, a sort of guardian spirit. Thus, a vardöger is the representation of a human's inner essence, which manifests as an animal that most closely resembles the personality of the human.

Etymology
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 word is from Old Norse, consisting of the elements , "guard, watchman" (akin to "warden") and , "mind" or "soul".

Other sources

 * Davidson, H.R. Ellis (1965) Gods and Myths of Northern Europe  (Penguin Books) ISBN 978-0140136272
 * Kvideland, Reimund; Henning K. Sehmsdorf  (1989) Scandinavian Folk Belief and Legend  (University of Minnesota Press) ISBN 9780816615032
 * McKinnell, John (2005) Meeting the Other in Norse Myth and Legend  (D.S. Brewer, Cambridge) ISBN 978-1843840428
 * Orchard, Andy (1997) Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend (Cassell & Co) ISBN 0-304-34520-2
 * Pulsiano, Phillip; Kirsten Wolf    (1993)  Medieval Scandinavia: An Encyclopedia (Routledge Encyclopedias of the Middle Ages) ISBN 978-0824047870
 * Simek, Rudolf; translated by Angela Hall (2007) Dictionary of Northern Mythology (D.S. Brewer, Cambridge) ISBN 0-85991-513-1
 * Steiger, Brad; (2003) Real Ghosts, Restless Spirits, and Haunted Places (Visible Ink Press, Detroit, Michigan) ISBN 978-1-57859-401-6