Frey
in Scandinavian mythology, the god of rain and sunshine, of the fruitfulness of the earth, of peace and prosperity. Frey climbed one day into Odin's seat. While there he beheld in Jotunheim a beautiful maiden, Gerd, with whom he fell deeply in love. He sends Skirner, his messenger, to see if she may be won. Now Jotunheim is the home of the Frost Giants. Gerd is cold and proud. She is protected in her home by fierce dogs. She will not go. Skirner offers her eleven beautiful apples and a wonderful ring that every ninth night drops eight other rings. Finally he uses magic. At last Gerd is won. The wooing of Gerd is one of the beautiful stories of the northern mythology. The legend is thought to be symbolic. Gerd is the seed; Skirner, the air; Frey the sunshine and rain. Jotunheim is the cold earth from which the seed must be brought out into the light. "And in Frey and Gerd the whole earth was happy, for while they stood with clasped hands the skies grew soft, the trees put on a tender green, the flowers blossomed along the mountain side, the ripening grain swayed in the fields, and summer lay warm and fragrant over the land."
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Freya
in Scandinavian mythology, the goddess of love. She is the daughter of Niord and sister of Frey. She excels in beauty and grace, and watches over lovers. Friday is named in her honor and was formerly the most fortunate day in the week. The Crucifixion occurring on that day led to its being regarded as unlucky. Although the goddess of love, Freya was herself deserted by her husband, it is said because she cared more for finery with which to increase her beauty than she cared for him. In Matthew Arnold's poem, Baldur Dead, Freya is described as searching for her lost mate. It must be noted that in this poem Arnold speaks of Odin's wife as Frea instead of Frigg. See Frigg And Freya next came nigh, with golden tears; The loveliest goddess she in Heaven, by all Most honour'd after Frea, Odin's wife. Her long ago the wandering Oder took To mate, but left her to roam distant lands; Since then she seeks him, and weeps tears of gold. Names hath she many; Vanadis on earth They call her. Freya is her name in Heaven.
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Freytag
GUSTAV (frī'täg), a German author; born in Kreuzburg, Prussia, July 13, 1816. His first dramatic composition was "The Bridal Tour," (1844); "The Savant" (1844), and a volume of poems, "In Breslau" (1845); after which he produced "The Valentine" (1846), "Count Valdemar" (1847), and "The Journalist" (1853). Among his works outside of the drama may be mentioned his great novel of social life, "Debit and Credit" (3 vols. 1855), "The Lost MS." (1864), "Ancestors," and "Karl Mathy" (1869). He died in Wiesbaden, Germany, April 30, 1895.
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Freytag, Gustaf
fri'tag, Gustaf (1816-1895), a German author. He was a native of Prussia. He is celebrated as the author of The Bridal Tour, The Savant, The Valentine, The Journalist, and other modern dramas. He is also a novelist. Debit and Credit, Pictures from the German Past, and The Lost Manuscript are his chief stories.
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Friar Rush (German Rausch)
A house-spirit supposed to have been sent from the infernal regions to keep the monks and friars of the seventeenth century in the same state of wickedness that they then existed in. He gained admittance to monastic houses as a scullion; is probably representative of the spirit of inebriety. A German myth.
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Friar Tuck
in the Robin Hood ballads and legends, a vagabond monk. Scott introduces him into Ivanhoe as the friar of Robin Hood's band. He wears a russet habit, a red girdle with gold tassels, and red stockings. Friar Tuck is a merry fellow, fond of wine, feasting, and song. See Robin Hood
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Frick
HENRY CLAY, an American capitalist and philanthropist. Born in Overton, Pa., in 1849, and died in 1920. He began his career as a clerk in a flour and distillery plant owned by his grandfather and later entered the business of the manufacture of coke. From a small concern this has grown to be the largest coke-producing company in the world, under the name of the H. C. Frick Coke Co. During the Homestead strike of 1892 Frick had complete direction of the company's forces and his severe measures exposed him to the hostility of the workmen. More than once during the strike attempts were made to assassinate him. At his death he left his handsome art collection to the public.
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Fricourt
a French village in the valley of the Ancre, about 12 miles S. W. of Bapaume, the center of heavy fighting on the western front, during the World War. It was the scene of especially important operations during the offensive launched by the British in the Ancre Valley, on July 1, 1916. Fricourt then marked the apex of a pronounced salient formed by the German N. H., Oct 16, 1806; was graduated at Bowdoin College in 1823 and admitted to the bar in 1827. He entered politics and soon acquired a national reputation as a lawyer and a Whig. He was elected to the United States Senate in 1854, and a week after he took his seat made a speech against the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, which placed him in the front rank of senatorial orators. During the Civil War he was conspicuous for his efforts to sustain the national credit. He was made Secretary of the Treasury in 1864, and, having placed it on a firm basis, resigned in 1865 to return to his seat in the Senate. He died in Portland, Me., Sept. 8, 1869.
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Friction Clutch
in machinery, a device for connecting two shafts by bringing a piece on one shaft into contact with a piece of another shaft, which revolves with such force that the former partakes of the motion of the latter. It consists of a shell or box fixed on the end of a driving shaft, fitted by a conical Vol. IV-Cyc-O FRENCH, SOCIETY OF piece which slides on a feather or raised part of the end of another shaft, so that it can be engaged at pleasure by the cone being forced into the shell by a lever or screw. This apparatus is very useful for driving machines, the parts of which are subject to violent strains, as the pressure upon the clutch can be regulated so as to allow it to slip when the strain is abnormal.
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