§ Placenta origins) that the concept of the supernatural fylgja cannot be completely dissociated from this secondary meaning; in fact, there may well be a connection to the hamr, referring to the skin used by shapeshifters (hamramr, cf.
[2][3] The fylgja is a ghost who associates with (or, for a lack of better word, stalks or shadows) a particular individual,[5] and may be characterized as a "guardian spirit".
[6][1] However, contrary to its name meaning 'follower', it generally moves ahead of its host, making a kind of "contact" with the person before they arrive at some key spot.
A closely related type of fylgja is the "dream woman", as appears in Gísla saga (Cf.
When fylgjur appear in the form of women, they are then supposedly guardian spirits for people or clans (ættir).
Both Andy Orchard and Rudolf Simek note parallels between the concept of the female guardian hamingja—a personification of a family's or individual's fortune—and the fylgja.
[25] Here, the dreamer (Ingólfr Þorsteinsson) sees himself riding on a red horse, which he optimistically regards as a good portent.
But his wife disagrees, and explains the horse to be a marr (mentioned above, ≈nightmare, mare), and is a man's fetch, furthermore, the red color betrays bloody-mindedness.
She unsuccessfully tries to dissuade him from attending the meeting to select the chieftain (goði), and though Ingólfr is elected, he is immediately killed by an assassinator.
[26] The sagas also 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.
Thus in Hallfreðar saga, its protagonist Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld ("the troublesome-poet") had a vision of a woman clad in armour whom he recognized to be his own fylgjukona and he perceived that her appearance signified his imminent death aboard the ship.