FRJÁLS

free

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a.

1) free, opp. to þræll (f. maðr);

2) free, unhindered (láta e-n fara frjálsan); eiga. e-t at frjálsu, to possess freely, without restraint.

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adj., dat. and gen. sing. fem. and gen. pl. frjálsi, frjálsar, and frjálsa in old writers, but mod. frjálsri, frjálsrar, frjálsra, inserting r, [a contracted form from fri-hals; Ulf. freihals; O. H. G. frihals; the A. S. freols is prob. Scandin., as it is not used in old poetry: frjáls therefore properly means ‘free-necked,’ a ring round the neck being a badge of servitude; but the Icel. uses the word fri only in the compound frjáls, which is lost in Dan., though it remains in Swed. frälse and ufrälse man; the mod. Dan. and Swed. fri is borrowed from the Germ. frei, and so is the Icel. frí:—Ulf. renders ἐλευθερία by freihals, but ἐλεύθερος by freis]:—free, opp. to bondsman; frjáls er hverr er frelsi er gefit, N. G. L. i. 32; ef þræll getr barn við frjálsi konu, Grág. (Kb.) i. 224; skal þik bæta sem frjálsan mann, Nj. 57: metaph. free, unhindered, láta e-n fara frjálsan, Fms. i. 15: of property, frjálst forræði, eign, yfirráð, free, full possession, D. N. passim; skógar frjálsir af ágangi konunnga ok íllræðis-manna, Fs. 20: neut., eiga … at frjálsu, to possess freely, without restraint, Fms. xi. 211, Jb. 187, Ó. H. 92; með frjálsu, unhindered, Hrafn. 24.