It is believed that spirits of the dead can exercise magical powers.
The soul can assume bodily form, including those of animals.
Teutons would bury the body of an individual beneath the threshold of their houses; they thought the soul of the deceased remained close to the site of burial and that they would confer their protection to the house and inhabitants.
Elsewhere, it was thought that souls of the dead gather far away from the living. This belief may have given rise to the myth of the wild hunt. (The hunt may sometimes be discerned in storm clouds.)
In some Germanic cultures, Britain was cited as the realm of the dead. The Frankish authorities of a number of villages in Britain were known to have received no tribute on the grounds that it was the duty of the British to ferry the souls of the dead over the channel.
According to folklore, towards midnight there would be a knock at the door to beckon the villagers to the shore, where ships would be awaiting them, prepared and unmanned. Once the crew was aboard and had set sail from the harbour, the ships would sink into the water almost to the gunwhales. It took only an hour to reach the opposite shoreline. The passangers they took on were never visible to them, but a voice was heard to solemnly state the name and origin and each soul.
Souls of the living are capable of leaving their bodies. The separated fylgja can still speak and move, and may assume bodily form. Though it may leave the body, it shares the body’s fate. Any damage to one always harms the other.
The fylgja is also known in some cases to be an independent being. For instance, it may be the incarnate soul of an ancestor or even the spirit of a religion. It may appear as an armed woman or a goddess riding through the air.
Originally protective spirits, fylgjur became feared as demons after conversion.
The Frankish authorities of a number of villages in Britain were known to have received no tribute on the grounds that it was the duty of the British to ferry the souls of the dead over the channel.
@engrprof, does this answer your questions about fylgja?
This is interesting. Thanks.
Suppose I could get a break on my taxes because I have to ferry the spirits of the dead?
Spirits.
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Mooncustafer 