Definitions
Definitions
1 FRÝNN
or frýniligr, adj.; this word is never used but as compounded with the prefix ú- (except Fas. ii. 351 in a bad and late Saga), viz. ú-frýnn or ú-frýniligr = frowning. The sense as well as the etymology of frýnn is somewhat dubious; there is the Germ. fron or frohn or fran; but that word seems purely German and is by Grimm supposed to be qs. fro min = my lord (vide Hel.); neither does Icel. frýnn or Germ. frohn correspond properly as to the root vowel (cp. e. g. Germ. lohn = Icel. laun): on the other hand there is the Engl. frown, which in form answers to the simple frýnn, but in sense to the compd ú-frýnn; as no similar word is found in A. S. (nor in Germ. nor in Hel.), frown is most likely a Scandin. word; and we suppose that the Icel. prefix syllable ú- is not in this instance = un-, that is to say, negative, but = of-, that is to say, intensive (= too, very, greatly); the original forms of-frýnn, of-frýniligr were contr. and assimilated into ófrýnn, ófrýniligr, meaning very frowning, and these compds then superseded the primitive simple word: this is confirmed by the freq. spelling in MSS. with ‘of-’ e. g. ofrynn, Ó. H. 144; all-ofrynn, Eg. Cod. Wolph.; heldr ofrynn, Ó. H. 167; but yet more freq. with ‘ú-’ e. g. Orkn. 440, Boll. 358, Fær. 50, Fms. i. 40, Fb. i. 73; the ekki frýnn, Fas. l. c., is again a variation of úfrýnn: the statement by Björn that frýnn is = bland, affable, is a mere guess by inference from the compd.
Runic Inscription
Runic Inscription
FRÝNN
The runic text above represents the Old Norse word "FRÝNN" as it might appear in runic inscriptions from the Viking Age (c. 800-1100 CE).