Defining "FRITH"

   
   

         There is much debate and misuse of the term frith in the heathen community. It is a word that has different meanings for different people, in the modern age. Some extend frith to no one, others to any individual whom they like or gives them a friendly word. Even I use the words, In frith to close my blog posts. But if I want to make clear the meaning, one must understanding that such a greeting is not an extension of my own frith, but rather an expression of hope that my readers may enjoy the blessings of their own.

          Frith is often translated as “peace,” which in truth is an extremely vast oversimplification. Frith in truth is a term which indicates an immersion in a psychological type of unity experienced with those who are one’s kin. In anthropological terms, one could argue that frith in its historical representation cannot be experienced by modern individuals. Our social society simply does not work that way now. Because of these difficulties in describing frith, I will instead turn to one of the landmark works of Germanic culture, The Culture of the Teutons by Vilhelm Gronbech. The following quotes come from Volume 1, Chp. 1 of Gronbech’s tome.

On what Frith is:

“Frith constitutes what we call the base of the soul. It is not a mighty feeling among other feelings in these people, but the very core of the soul, that gives birth to all thoughts and feelings, and provides them with the energy of life—or it is that centre of the self where thoughts and feelings receive the stamps of their humanity, and are inspired with will and direction.”

On collective meaning:

“This solidarity-as exemplified in the laws of revenge—rest on the natural fact of psychological unity. Through the channel of the soul, the action and suffering of the individual flow on, spreading out to all who belong to the same stock, so that in the truest sense they are the doers of one another’s acts.”

On law and order:

“Thus the kinsmen proclaim their oneness of soul and body, and this reciprocal identity is the foundation on which society and the laws of society must be based. In all relations between man and man, it is frith that is taken into account, not individuals.”

On the essence of frith:

“Frith then, is nothing but the feeling of kinship itself; it is given, once and all, at birth. The sympathy we regard as the result of an endeavor to attune ourselves to our neighbors, was (to them) a natural premise, a feature of character.”

Gronbech, Culture of the Teutons, Volume 1, Chapter 1

We can clearly see that the concept of frith was extended primarily to blood relations. Some have argued for a more metaphysical definition of frith which extends beyond the bounds of family ties, and as a modern Germanic pagan, I intend to agree with this view. However I still believe that frith is not a matter of choice, something to be extended after it is earned. To my knowledge the extension of frith to a non relative was a rare occurrence, though the bonding of Odin and Loki as “blood brothers” may support this idea in some sense.

For me, frith is not something to be given. It simply is. It is a unique and instantaneous unity with others which rarely occurs outside of the bonds of our modern concept of family. However I do believe spiritual frith also exists. Sometimes we meet people in life and our will and theirs seems inexplicably unified. It is spontaneous and overwhelming, common described by the phrase “I feel like I have known you forever.” It is with these rare individuals I feel frith can be seen in action outside the bonds of blood. In my life, I possess frith with family almost exclusively, and two individuals whom are non relations. These are the people whom I would lay down my life for, fight for, and whose pain is my own when they are harmed or insulted. The wrongs committed against them I wish to revenge, as they are so close to me that in some sense they are me. That is what frith is. The people with whom we are linked so closely and whose prescence means so much we feel we would be a shell without them.

IN FRITH
Cena

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