The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #165542   Message #3972061
Posted By: GUEST
18-Jan-19 - 03:51 PM
Thread Name: Folklore: 'frith' a Middle English ramble
Subject: RE: Folklore: 'frith' a Middle English ramble
Yes, there are more than two different friths.

The one where the fowles are, meaning the woods, is cognate to Swedish furu (= pine) and modern English fir trees.

The one meaning peace, is cognate to Swedish frid (= peace), very easy to understand for any Scandinavian speakers. I don't think this word has survived into modern English in any way. Happy to be enlightened / reminded.

The other one is obviously cognate with Norwegian fjord, though the Swedes, who only have one strictly defined fjord, have another word as well, fjärd, which you may think is more or less the same thing.