F FigureNames in medieval languagesHistorical originName meaningRelationshipsEarly and English AttestationsNorse AttestationsGerman Attestations Fafnir , (in Þiðreks saga) Albert Murrey Sturtevant derives the name from PN , meaning "embracer", because he lay embracing his treasure. The dragon killed by Sigurd/Siegfried. In the Norse tradition, the dragon was originally a giant who guards a cursed treasure, and his brother the smith Regin uses Sigurd to kill Fafnir. In the German tradition, the dragon is nameless, but in the Þiðreks saga, the dragon is named Regin. Reginsmál, Fáfnismál, Völsunga saga, Norna-Gests þáttr Unnamed in Nibelungenlied, Lied vom Hürnen Seyfrid, as Reginn in Þiðreks saga Fasolt (Fasold) , later , Probably originally a weather demon connected to the South Tyrolian mountain . Name probably from same stem as OHG faso ("fringe, edge, thread"), from PIE *pēs ("to blow") referring to Fasolt's braided hair. A giant with long flowing hair and brother of Ecke. In the Eckenlied, Dietrich encounters him hunting a maiden through the forest, and defeats him defeats him by cutting off his locks. Fasolt attempts to have Dietrich treacherously killed after learning that he has killed his brother Ecke. Dietrich eventually kills him. In Þiðreks saga, Fasolt instead joins Dietrich's band of heroes, and is eventually killed by Hertnið. Eckenlied, Þiðreks saga, Dietrich und Fasolt. Fasti Fasti is a form of Fastr which means "strong", but it also means "boar". Wessén derives the name of Vǫttr and his brother/co-jarl Fasti from old Scandinavian legal language, where vǫttr means "juror" and fasti means "witness in real estate transactions".According to the Ynglinga saga, the Danish king Fróði had appointed Fasti and Vǫttr as jarls and protectors of Denmark while he was away. They caught the Swedish king Óttar/Ohthere with his raiding fleet in the Limfjord where they raided in Vendill, and after a fierce battle they slew him, and laid him on a mound to be devoured by wild animals, and sent a wooden crow back to Sweden in his stead, after which they called him Vendill crow. Historia Norwegiæ tells that the Swedish king was killed by a Danish jarl who was also named Óttar and his brother Fasti in a Danish province named Vendill. Klaeber comments that this is based on the same tradition as Wulf ("wolf") and Eofor ("wild boar") and that the names are more authentic than the appellatives presented in Beowulf. However, the ON account is aberrant because the battle has been moved from Ongentheow/Egil2 to Óttar/Ohthere, which is shown by the fact that it was Egil2 who was originally called Vendelcrow (Íslendingabók) and also in the fact that the location Vendill must have been moved from the Swedish Vendel to Vendsyssel in Denmark. Cognate with Eofor of Beowulf Ynglingatal, Historia Norwegiæ, Ynglinga saga 27 Fenja The name probably means "heath-dweller" or "fen-dweller".Grottasǫngr informs that the giantesses Fenja and Menja were sisters and that they were the nieces of the giant Þjazi, and were daughters of two male giants. In the Prose Edda, Snorri tells that the mythical Danish king Fróði had bought them from king Fjölnir in Sweden. He made them grind an enormous mill that produced anything Fróði wanted. However, he never let them rest, so in revenge they produced an army led by a sea-king named Mýsingr who killed Fróði, and ended the era of peace called the Fróði-peace. He ordered them to grind salt and also refused them to rest. In the end they produced so much salt that the ship sank and the sea turned salty. Grottasǫngr, Skáldskaparmál (40), scaldic poetry by Þórmóðr Bersason FilimerNo scholar contests the archaeological evidence of the migration that corresponds to the one led by Filimer, and it probably took place in the late 2nd c. or in the second third of the 3rd c. at the latest. First element PGmc *filu ("much"), second element PGmc *maru ("famous"). According to Gothic tradition the fifth king after Berig and the son of Gerdarig, he led the migrations of the Gothic army and their families to more fertile lands that they found in Scythia, a land the inhabitants called Oium. Getica Finn1 Possibly originally a historical person. "Finn," referring to the nomadic non-Germanic inhabitants of Scandinavia. From PGmc *fënþan ("to go"), cf. OHG fẹndo ("one who goes by foot"). The name is probably of North Germanic origin, but can be found in West Germanic place names. He has been connected with the Scandinavian legend of the giant mason Finn in Sweden. Finn invited his brother-in-law the Danish ruler Hnæf and a retinue of 60 other Danes to a feast in his hall. In the morning, Finn attacks the guests in the hall but they defend themselves for five days without losses. Eventually Hnæf is slain, but Finn has so few men left that he is unable to continue the attack, so he has to agree on peace with Hnæf's successor Hengest. The remaining Danes stay in Friesland over the winter, but Hengest longs for revenge, and eventually his warriors Guthlaf and Oslaf exhort him to avenge their fallen kinsmen. Finn is attacked and killed, and Finn's wife Hildeburh is taken home together with the Frisian royal treasure. Finnsburg Fragment, Beowulf, Widsith Finn2 See Finn1The Saami king of Finnmark, and the father of Hvít. Hrólfs saga kraka Fjölnir , The meaning of the name is contested, but it may be derived from fjǫl ("many") and mean "the rich, mighty one". It is also one of Odin's names.A Swedish king who was the son of the Norse god (Yngvi-)Freyr and the giantess Gerðr, and he was the father of Sveigðir. He visited king Fróði at a feast, but was so drunk that he fell into a vat of mead and drowned. Saxo in Gesta Danorum gives the same account of a Swedish king Hundingus who visited Haddingus, but he had probably transposed the tradition of Fjölnir to different legendary characters. Grottasǫngr, Skáldskaparmál (40), Ynglingatal (I), Historia Norwegiæ, Íslendingabók, Ynglinga saga (11), Gesta Danorum (I) Fjörnir The name is a poetic word for "helmet" or rather "life protector" from From ON fjǫr ("life"). Gunnar's cup-bearer. When Gunnar and his brother Högni are about to leave for their fateful visit to their sister gudrún and Atli (Attila), her husband, Atlakvíða and Völsunga saga has Gunnar ask Fjörnir to find them some good wine to drink because it may be the last time they have a banquet. Atlakvíða, Völsunga saga Folcwalda The first element is from PGmc *fulkan ("crowd", "army") and the second from PGmc *waldanan ("to rule").He is mentioned in Widsith (line 27) and in Beowulf (line 1089) as the father of Finn1, in reference to legend told in a partially lost lay called The Fight at Finnsburg. Widsith, Beowulf Folkvid The first element Fólk- means "a group of (warring?) people", while The last element is -víðr, from PN *wiðu- meaning "trees" or "forest". The names of the three brothers Hulvíðr, Gautvíðr and Fólkvíðr agree with Swedish naming traditions.According to the Ynglinga saga, Folkvid, Hulvid and Gautvid were the sons of Svipdag4 the Blind, the king of Sweden's representative while away from Uppsala. When Ingjald ill-ruler invited several neighbouring petty kings to a feast at his hall, it was Folkvid and Hulvid who barred the doors of the hall and set it ablaze, as previously ordered by the king. Ynglinga saga Franmar The first element fránn means "gleaming" and is only used in poetry about serpents and in metaphors for sharp weapons. The second element -marr means "excellent", "commendable".Franmar is a jarl who has a daughter named Álof1, and a foster-daughter named Sigrlinn, who is the daughter of king Svafnir of Svavaland. Franmar can shape-shift into an eagle, and it is as an eagle that he negotiates with Atli about the price he wants for his ward Sigrlinn to marry king Hjörvard4 (the price is exorbitant). It is also as an eagle that he magically protects the building where he has housed Álof1 and Sigrlinn while Sigrlinn's second suitor king Hrothmar invades, pillages and kills Sigrlinn's father Svafnir. When Atli finds the house and the entranced eagle, he kills it and takes the girls. Atli marries Álof1 and Hjörvard4 marries Sigrlinn with whom he has the son Helgi Hjörvardsson, the hero of Helgakvíða Hjǫrvarðssonar. Helgakvíða Hjǫrvarðssonar Freawaru , Beowulf is generally considered to be based on historic people and events.Malone comments that in accordance with her dynasty's naming tradition, her name would have begun with an h and her real name is preserved as Hrút ("sheep") in Gesta Danorum. Frēawaru was a title or an epithet, like "royal highness" referring to her role as hostess. The Beowulf poet either did not know her real name or preferred the epithet to a name that meant "sheep". Frēawaru is derived from PN *fraujawaru, where the first element is *fraujaz ("lord") and the second a feminization of *-waraz, an agent noun of *warōn ("to be watchful"). In Beowulf, the Scylding king Hroðgar marries off his daughter to the Heaðobard ruler Ingeld, the son of Froda, whom they had killed, in the hope of securing peace. However, during the feast, an old Heaðobard warrior notices a sword that a young Danish retainer has and recognizes it as a Heaðobard sword captured in battle, and reminds his people of their defeat. A young man whose father it had belonged to slays the retainer and escapes. After this Ingeld's interest in his young bride, and in peace, are predicted not to last. In the Scandinavian tradition, the Skjöldunga saga relates that Ingeld's rejected wife gave him the son Agnarr. In Gesta Danorum II, she marries Ingeld's son Agnarr instead, and there is a fight in which Bödvar Bjarki kills Agnarr, but she becomes Bödvar Bjarki's wife as right of conquest. She also appears in Gesta Danorum VI, where she is the daughter of Swerting and given by her brothers to Ingeld. During the wedding the old warrior (Starkad) reminds Ingeld that he has failed to avenge his father Froda. After an admonishing speech, Ingeld and Starkad kill her brothers and Ingeld appears to divorce her. Malone suggests that she is the basis of Åsa1, the daughter of the Swedish king Ingjald in Ynglinga saga.BeowulfGesta Danorum (II and VI), unnamed in Skjöldunga saga Freawine , The first element Freā- is from PGmc *fraw(j)ōn ("lord", "master"), and the second element -wine from PGmc *weniz ("friend").He is mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon chronicle as a descendant of Odin (Wodan) and as the father of Wig. In the Danish accounts, he is the governor of the region of Schleswig and the father of Ket and Wig. During a Swedish invasion, he is killed by the Swedish king Athislus in single combat, after which Wermund appoints his sons Ket and Wig as successors. They will avenge their father but at the same time bring disgrace to their tribe by ambushing and killing Athils in Sweden. Frowinus' daughter is married to Wermund's son Offa, who will redeem their tribe, by defeating two men in single combat. The Anglo-Saxon chronicle Gesta Danorum (IV), Brevis historia regum Dacie Friderich , , (Annals of Quedlinburg), possibly Possibly derived from Ermanaric's son Hunimundus, but with the name possibly deriving from a Rugian prince named Frideric (died 492). MHG Friderich from PGmc *friþu- ("peace") and rīk- ("king"). In the German tradition, the son of Ermanaric. In Dietrichs Flucht, Ermanaric refuses to exchange Friderich, who has been captured by Dietrich, for Dietrich's prisoners. In the Þiðreks saga, Ermanaric sends Friderich to gather tribute from the Veleti at Sibeche's advice, causing them to kill him as Sibeche planned. Possibly in Widsith. Annals of Quedlinburg, Dietrichs Flucht, Þiðreks saga Fridla, Fritla, Fritele See Harlungen Fridlevus II , The first element is from PN *friþuʀ ("love" and "peace") and the second and the second element is from *-laibaʀ which means "descendant" or "heir".According to Skjöldunga saga, Fridleifus and his brother Haldanus (Healfdene) were the sons of king Frodo III and Ing