" PAPA'S VARDOGR."

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXI, Issue LXII, 13 May 1912, Page 2

" PAPA'S VARDOGR."

When Amundsen reached the South Pole, it is quite possible that his arrival there had been anticipated by the arrival of his ghost. There is a wellknown Scandinavian phenomenon^ instances of which are so frequent that in the east of Norway it is talked about quite as a matter of course. A person is reported to "have a vardogr." That implies "a certain property attaching itself to particular persons, by which their arrival, at a particular place is announced beforehand by distinctive sounds, such as are usually or naturally made by the person in question." So Blackwood defines the case in an interesting article. To have a "vardogr" does not involve unpleasantness either to the possessor or his friends. This forerunner appears at the place the owner most frequents, or thinks most agreeably about —usually his own home —and very often it is only his near relations who notice it at all. Thus a father is expected home from a long voyage, and the mother and children all hear his well-known step one evening. He puts down a box, speaks to. the servant as he enters, and the chil-. dren rush out crying. 'Oh, there is Papa!" But there is no one there; the servant has heard nothing! the children begin to cry with disappointment, but the mother, more accustomed to the phenomenon, says, "God to bed, children; it is only papa's 'vardogr'; and now we know for certain that he will be home to-morrow." Sometimes the "vardogr" is a visible appearance, but more often it is observed through the sense of hearing, and the actual person arrives at a fixed time afterwards, repeating the same sounds. The "vardogr" comes springing up the steps, puts the key in the lock, and opens the door. Precisely half-an-hour later the son nf the house may be expected home, opening the door with his latchkey. "This happens so often," says a sister, "that we don't think much about it." Or the sound of sledge-bells conies up the road, and stops at the stable, where a short time afterwards the person that the "vardogr" belongs to is going to put his horse. "My double rings people's door-bells," reports one correspondent; "at least, so my friends say; I cannot, of course, verify this, as I only come along afterwards." Outside of Scandinavia, says the Blackwood narrator, the only place where such things occur regularly is in one Scottish village, which shows strong traces of old Norwegian influence. In Norway they are accepted so simply that two highlyeducated and accomplished people, giving an account of common superstitions, when asked to include some reference to the "vardogr." were quite surprised. "Oh." they replied, "that isn't a superstition—that's a fact."