Frú
Old Norse Dictionary - frú
Meaning of Old Norse word "frú"
As defined by the Cleasby & Vigfusson Old Norse to English dictionary:
- frú
- f., an older nom. sing. frauva, u, f., occurs FmS. x. 421, (Ágrip); frouva, Stj. 47; frou, id.; frú is prop. a later contracted form from freyja; therefore the gen. in old writers is always frú (qs. frúvu); and the word is in the sing. indecl., thus, frú-innar, FmS. ix. 292; hann fékk frú Ceciliu, x. 3; móðir frú Ingigerðar, Landn. 240; frú Kristínar, FmS. ix. 8; slíkrar frou (sic) sem ek em, Str. 40, 47: in mod. usage gen. frúar, if used by itself or put after one’s name, but indecl. if put before it in addressing any one, thus, Frú Kristínar, but Kristínar frúar; the gen. frúar occurs FaS. iii. 586, in a MS. of the 15th century; pl. frúr, but older form fruvur or frovur, e. g. frovor, Edda (Arna-Magn.) i. 96 (Kb.); but Ob. frúr, Hkr. i. 16: [freyja was origin. fem. of freyr, and prop. meant Lat. domina; Germ. frau; Dan. frue; no Goth. fraujô is found]:—a lady; in Icel. at present only used of the wives of men of rank or title, e. g. biskups-frú, amtmanns-frú; wives of priests are not called so: again, húsfreyja is more homely, Germ. hausfrau, Engl. housewife, always of a married woman, vide e. g. the Þjóðólfr (Icel. newspaper): in the 14th century in Icel. frú was used of abbesses and wives of knights, but was little used before the 13th century: af hennar (the goddess Freyja) nafni skyldi kalla allar konur tignar (noble woman), svá sem nú heita fruvor, Hkr. l. c.; af hennar nafni er þat tignar-nafn er ríkis-konur (women of rank) eru kallaðar fruvor, Edda l. c.; Kolr hafði talat margt við frú eina ríka (of a foreign lady in Wales), Nj. 280: again, good housewives, such as Bergthora in Njála, are called hús-freyjur, but never frúr; thus, kemsk þó at seinna fari, húsfreyja, Nj. 69; gakk þú út, húsfreyja, þvíat ek vil þik fyrir öngan mun inni brenna, 200; búandi ok húsfreyja, Grág. i. 157; góð húsfreyja, Nj. 51; gild húsfreyja, Glúm. 349, BS. i. 535:—the Virgin Mary is in legends called vár frú, our Lady; cp. jungfrú (pronounced jómfrú).
Possible runic inscription in Younger Futhark:ᚠᚱᚢ
Younger Futhark runes were used from 8th to 12th centuries in Scandinavia and their overseas settlements
Abbreviations used:
- cp.
- compare.
- Dan.
- Danish.
- decl.
- declined.
- e. g.
- exempli gratia.
- Engl.
- English.
- f.
- feminine.
- fem.
- feminine.
- gen.
- genitive.
- Germ.
- German.
- gl.
- glossary.
- Goth.
- Gothic.
- Icel.
- Iceland, Icelander, Icelanders, Icelandic.
- id.
- idem, referring to the passage quoted or to the translation
- indecl.
- indeclinable.
- l.
- line.
- Lat.
- Latin.
- l. c.
- loco citato.
- m.
- masculine.
- mod.
- modern.
- n.
- neuter.
- nom.
- nominative.
- pl.
- plural.
- prop.
- proper, properly.
- qs.
- quasi.
- S.
- Saga.
- sing.
- singular.
Works & Authors cited:
- Arna-Magn.
- Arna-Magnacanus.
- Bs.
- Biskupa Sögur. (D. III.)
- Edda
- Edda. (C. I.)
- Fas.
- Fornaldar Sögur. (C. II.)
- Fms.
- Fornmanna Sögur. (E. I.)
- Glúm.
- Víga-Glúms Saga. (D. II.)
- Grág.
- Grágás. (B. I.)
- Hkr.
- Heimskringla. (E. I.)
- Kb.
- Konungs-bók. (B. I, C. I, etc.)
- Landn.
- Landnáma. (D. I.)
- Magn.
- Magnús Saga jarls. (E. II.)
- Nj.
- Njála. (D. II.)
- Ob.
- Orms-bók. (C. I.)
- Stj.
- Stjórn. (F. I.)
- Str.
- Strengleikar. (G. II.)