page_title: Vörðr
section_title: Warden trees
hierarchical_section_title: Vörðr / Warden trees
caption_attribution_description: English: Linden trees Tilia × europaea in Pinzagen (Brixen) South Tyrol - Natural monument in South Tyrol - natural monuments in South Tyrol Deutsch: Zwei Linden und Wetterkreuz oberhalb Pinzagen Pinzagen (Brixen) in Südtirol. Italiano: Due tigli a Pinzagen (Bressanone). This media shows the protected natural monument with the ID&#160;012_G0 in South Tyrol. (commons, de)
context_page_description: In Norse mythology, a vǫrðr is a warden spirit, believed to follow from birth to death the soul of every person.
context_section_description: A very old tree (often a linden, ash or elm) growing on the farm lot could be dubbed a "warden tree" (Swedish: vårdträd), or tuntre and was believed to defend it from bad luck. Breaking a leaf or twig from the warden tree was considered a serious offence. The respect for the tree was so great that the family housing it could adopt a surname related to it, such as Linnæus, Lindelius and Almén. It was often believed that the wights (Swedish vättar) of the yard lived under the roots of the warden tree, and to them, one sacrificed treats to be freed from disease or bad luck.
  The Guardian trees were said to have been taken from sacred groves as saplings by pre Christian Germanic peoples, though today can be planted from anywhere.
caption: Linden tree
exif: {"Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D850", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2018:05:07 00:45:00", "Image Artist": "Wolfgang Moroder", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ReferenceBlackWhite": "[0, 255, 0, 255, 0, 255]", "Image Copyright": "Wolfgang Moroder", "Image ExifOffset": "368", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 3, 0, 0]", "Image GPSInfo": "1020", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1134", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5391", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/80", "EXIF FNumber": "11", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Aperture Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF RecommendedExposureIndex": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0231", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2018:05:01 13:09:23", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2018:05:01 13:09:23", "EXIF OffsetTime": "+01:00", "EXIF OffsetTimeOriginal": "+01:00", "EXIF OffsetTimeDigitized": "+01:00", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "2", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "other", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "35", "EXIF SubSecTime": "99", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "99", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "99", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "8256", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "5504", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[2, 0, 2, 0, 0, 1, 1, 2]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "35", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}