Frith
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- This article deals with the Germanic concept. For an entry on the druidic homonym, see Frith (druidry)
Frith is an Old English word often (and usually over-simplistically) translated as "peace". In terms of Anglo-Saxon and post-Anglo-Saxon culture, however, the term has a considerably broader scope and meaning, and merits closer examination. Frith has a great deal to do not only with the state of peace but also with the nature of social relationships conducive to peace.
Moreover, it has strong associations with stability and security. The word friūgeard meaning "asylum, sanctuary" was used for sacrosanct areas. A friūgeard would then be any enclosed area given over to the worship of the gods.
Frith is inextricably related to the state of kinship, which is perhaps the strongest indicator of frith. In this respect, the word can be coterminous with another significant Anglo-Saxon root-word, sib (from which the word 'sibling' is derived) - indeed the two are frequently interchanged. In this context, frith goes further than expressing blood ties, and encompasses all the concomitant benefits and duties which kinship engenders.
Frith is also used in the context of fealty, as an expression of the relationship between a lord and his people.
Frith also has a legal significance: peace was effectively maintained in Anglo-Saxon times by the frith-guild, an early manifestation of summary justice.
Many other words are derived from this root, including frodom (freedom); the German word for cemetery, Friedhof (peace-yard); and the Christian name Frederick (peace-ruler).
In Scandinavian, the words fred (no state of war) and frid (no state of disturbance) still mean "peace".
In the novel Watership Down by Richard Adams, rabbits refer to the sun, which they regard as a solar deity, as Frith.
External links
- An Asatruar site on the word frith (http://wodening.ealdriht.org/eric/frith.html)
- A second Asatruar site on the word frith (http://www.friggasweb.org/frith.html)