Frisians

{{Short description|Ethnic group native to Germany and the Netherlands}} {{about|the modern Frisians|the ancient tribe also called Frisians|Frisii|other uses|Frisian (disambiguation)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}} {{Infobox ethnic group | group = Frisians ''Friezen'' (West), ''Fresen'' (North), ''Fräisen'' (Sater) | flag = | flag_caption = ''Interfrisian flags'' by the Groep fan Auwerk and the Interfrisian Council.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.groepfanauwerk.com/homeIflagge.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221180555/http://www.groepfanauwerk.com/homeIflagge.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=21 February 2014|title=Groep fan Auwerk|website=www.groepfanauwerk.com|date=30 December 2023 }}</ref> Since there is no official All-Frisian flag, these are the flag of the ''Groep fan Auwerk'', claimed to be the Interfrisian flag and the flag of the Interfrisian Council.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.interfriesischerrat.de/index.php/en/interfriesische-flagge|title=Interfriesische Flagge|website=www.interfriesischerrat.de}}</ref> | image = | image_caption = | total = {{circa}} 530,000 | region1 = Friesland | pop1 = 350,000<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gooskens |first1=Charlotte |last2=Heeringa |first2=Wilbert |title=The Position of Frisian in the Germanic Language Area |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237534065 |website=Researchgate |publisher=University of Groningen |access-date=6 January 2020}}</ref>{{efn|Number is the number of native West Frisian speakers.}} | region2 = Netherlands (excluding Friesland) | pop2 = 120,000<ref name="ethnologue.com">[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=fry Lewis, M. Paul (ed.), 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Sixteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Online version.]</ref>{{efn|Native West Frisian speakers excluding those in Friesland.}} | region3 = Germany | pop3 = 60,000<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.minderheitensekretariat.de/wen-vertreten-wir/die-friesische-volksgruppe/ |title=Die friesische Volksgruppe |language=de |website=Minderheitensekretariat der vier autochthonen nationalen Minderheiten und Volksgruppen |quote=Geschätzt 60.000 Menschen sind ihrem Selbstverständnis nach Friesen. [an estimated 60,000 people self identify as Frisian] |access-date=6 January 2020}}</ref>{{efn|Although only 12,000 are native speakers.}} | region4 = Canada | pop4 = 4,590 residents of Canada reported having Frisian ancestry in the 2016 Canadian Census.<ref>{{cite web |title=Immigration and Ethnocultural Diversity Highlight Tables |url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/hlt-fst/imm/Table.cfm?Lang=E&T=31&Geo=01 |website=www12.statcan.gc.ca/ | date=25 October 2017 |publisher=Statistics Canada |access-date=31 December 2021}}</ref><ref> Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Sixteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Online version.</ref> | region5 = United States | pop5 = 2,145 (ancestry estimate)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/ancestry/ancestry_q_by_DAC_2000.xls |title=Table 1. First, Second, and Total Responses to the Ancestry Question by Detailed Ancestry Code: 2000 |access-date=2010-12-02 |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau}}</ref> | rels = Protestant majority (Calvinists and Lutherans), Roman Catholic minority | langs = Frisian languages Low Saxon (Friso-Saxon dialects) Dutch (West Frisian Dutch and Stadsfries) German (Missingsch) Danish (Sønderjysk and Southern Schleswig Danish) | related = {{hlist| Danes | Dutch| Germans}} }}

The '''Frisians''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|f|r|iː|ʒ|ən|z}} {{respell|FREEZH|ənz}}) are an ethnic group indigenous to Northwestern Europe on the coastal regions of northern Netherlands, north-western Germany and southwestern Denmark. They inhabit an area known as Frisia and are concentrated in the Dutch province of Friesland and, in Germany, East Frisia and North Frisia (which was a part of Denmark until 1864).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://interfriesischerrat.de/index.php/de/|title=Herzlich Willkommen|website=interfriesischerrat.de}}</ref>

The Frisian languages are spoken by more than 500,000 people; West Frisian is officially recognised in the Netherlands (in the Dutch province Friesland) while North Frisian and Saterland Frisian are recognised as regional languages in Germany.

==Name== There are several theories about the origin of the name of the Frisians, which is derived from ''Frisii'' or ''Fresones'', names used by the Romans to describe a Germanic tribe that inhabited the same region but disappeared during the 5th century before the appearance of the Frisians. Most probably the name is derived from the verb ''fresare'' in Vulgar Latin, meaning 'milling, cutting, grooving, crushing, removing shells'; this name may have been given to the Frisii because they 'cut the land': digging ditches and dykes to drain the wet marshlands where they lived.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Faber |first=Hans |date=August 14, 2022 |title=A severe case of inattentional blindness: the Frisian tribe's name |url=https://frisiacoasttrail.blog/2022/08/14/a-severe-case-of-inattentional-blindness-explanation-of-the-tribes-name-of-the-frisians/ |website=Frisia Coast Trail}}</ref> Compare ''fresar el paisaje'' in the Romance language Spanish''.'' Another theory is the name derives from ''[https://gtb.ivdnt.org/iWDB/search?actie=article&wdb=WFT&id=29984&lemma=frisselje&domein=0&conc=true frisselje]'' (to braid, thus referring to braided hair).

==History== {{see also|History of Frisia}} [[File:Europe and the Near East at 476 AD.png|thumb|left|Germanic tribes in the 5th century]] The earliest references to the Frisians are found in the works of Roman and Greek authors such as Tacitus, as in his {{lang|la|Germania}}, and Ptolemy, in his ''Geography'', calling these tribes the {{langr|la|Frisii}} and the {{langr|la|Frisiavones}}.<ref>{{multiref|{{harvnb|Bremmer|2009|p=1}}.|{{harvnb|Bazelmans|2009|p=323}}.}}</ref>{{efn|The {{langr|la|Frisii}} are sometimes known as the {{lang|la|Frisii minores}} as well.{{sfn|Bazelmans|2009|p=323}}}} Both Tacitus and Ptolemy describe the {{langr|la|Frisii}} as living from north of the estuary of the Rhine to around the Ems river. Although they were not a part of the Roman Empire, the areas comprising Frisia were akin to a tributary state and some Frisians served as mercenaries in the Roman army.{{sfn|Bremmer|2009|p=1}} The {{langr|la|Frisii}} appear to enter recorded history in Drusus's account of the war against the Rhine Germans and the Chauci in 12 BC.<ref>{{Citation |last=Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus |author-link=Cassius Dio |year=229 |translator-last=Cary |translator-first=Earnest |contribution=Book LIV, Ch 32 |contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wa5fAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA365 |title=Dio's Roman History |volume=VI |publisher=William Heinemann |publication-date=1917 |location=London |page=365 }}</ref>{{npsn|date=April 2026}} They occasionally appear in the accounts of Roman wars against the Germanic tribes of the region, up to and including the Revolt of the Batavi around 70 AD. Frisian mercenaries were hired as cavalry to assist the Roman invasion of Britain.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Potter |first1=Timothy W. |last2=Johns |first2=Catherine |title=Roman Britain |series=Exploring the Roman world |location=Berkeley |publisher=University of California |year=1992 |isbn=9780520081680 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LY9rEvdEKkwC&pg=PA190 |page=190 }}</ref> They are not mentioned again until {{circa}} 296, when they were deported into Roman territory as ''laeti'' (i.e., Roman-era serfs; see Binchester Roman Fort and Cuneus Frisionum).<ref>{{Citation |last=Grane |first=Thomas |year=2007 |contribution=From Gallienus to Probus – Three decades of turmoil and recovery |title=The Roman Empire and Southern Scandinavia–a Northern Connection! (PhD thesis) |publisher=University of Copenhagen |publication-date=2007 |location=Copenhagen |page=109 }}</ref> The discovery of a type of earthenware unique to fourth century Frisia, called ''terp Tritzum'', shows that an unknown number of them were resettled in Flanders and Kent,<ref>{{Citation |last=Looijenga |first=Jantina Helena |year=1997 |editor-last=SSG Uitgeverij |contribution=History, Archaeology and Runes |title=Runes Around the North Sea and on the Continent AD 150–700; Texts and Contexts (PhD dissertation) |publisher=Groningen University |publication-date=1997 |location=Groningen |page=30 |isbn=978-90-6781-014-2 |url=http://dissertations.ub.rug.nl/FILES/faculties/arts/1997/j.h.looijenga/thesis.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050502101056/http://dissertations.ub.rug.nl/FILES/faculties/arts/1997/j.h.looijenga/thesis.pdf |archive-date=2005-05-02 |url-status=live}}. Looijenga cites Gerrets' ''The Anglo-Frisian Relationship Seen from an Archaeological Point of View'' (1995) for this contention.</ref> probably as ''laeti'' under Roman coercion.{{cn|date=April 2026}} It is unlikely that these Frisians described by the Romans were Germanic-speaking peoples.{{sfn|Bazelmans|2009|p=327}} Evidence from proper names suggests they spoke an Indo-European language that was neither Germanic nor Celtic.{{sfn|Bremmer|2009|p=1}} thumb|Historical settlement areas of the Frisians, and areas where a Frisian language is spoken

How the original {{langr|la|Frisii}} and {{langr|la|Frisiavones}} were originally supplanted is somewhat unclear; Roman sources on the Frisians precede the earliest medieval ones by over three hundred years.{{sfn|Bazelmans|2009|p=330}} From the third through the fifth centuries, Frisia suffered marine transgressions that made most of the land uninhabitable, aggravated by a change to a cooler and wetter climate.<ref>{{Citation |last=Berglund |first=Björn E. |year=2002 |contribution=Human impact and climate changes—synchronous events and a causal link? |title=Quaternary International |volume=105 |publisher=Elsevier |publication-date=2003 |page=10 |issue=1 }}</ref><ref name=Ejstrud>{{Citation |last1=Ejstrud |first1=Bo |year=2008 |editor1-last=Ejstrud |editor1-first=Bo |editor2-last=Maarleveld |editor2-first=Thijs J. |title=The Migration Period, Southern Denmark and the North Sea |publisher=Maritime Archaeology Programme |publication-date=2008 |location=Esbjerg |url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/14806111/The-Migration-Period-southern-Denmark-and-the-North-Sea |isbn=978-87-992214-1-7 |display-authors=etal}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Issar |first=Arie S. |year=2003 |title=Climate Changes during the Holocene and their Impact on Hydrological Systems |publisher=Cambridge University |publication-date=2003 |location=Cambridge |bibcode=2003cchi.book.....I |isbn=978-0-511-06118-9 }}</ref><ref name=Louwe>{{Citation |last=Louwe Kooijmans |first=L. P. |year=1974 |title=The Rhine/Meuse Delta. Four studies on its prehistoric occupation and Holocene geology (PhD Dissertation) |publisher=Leiden University Press |publication-date=1974 |location=Leiden |hdl=1887/2787}}</ref> Whatever population may have remained dropped dramatically, and the coastal lands remained largely unpopulated for the next two centuries.<ref name="white" >{{Cite journal |last=White |first=David L. |title=Reasons to Think That Anglo-Frisian Developed in Britain |journal=Anglica|number=27/2 |date=2018 |pages=5–31 |doi=10.7311/0860-5734.27.2.01 |url=https://bibliotekanauki.pl/articles/888979#:~:text=It%20seems%20that%20the%20later,Frisian%20is%20descended%20from%20English. |access-date=2025-07-05|doi-access=free }}</ref> One theory is that the area became effectively abandoned by its original inhabitants and a Germanic group moved in, taking over the local name.{{sfn|Bazelmans|2009|p=326}}{{sfn|Nijdam|Hallebeek|de Jong|2023|p=4}} The German linguist Elmar Seebold suggests, for example, that the Jutes integrated into the group relatively peacefully and the new Jutish–Frisian entity became a Jutish-speaking group, but ultimately assumed the Frisian name.{{sfn|Bazelmans|2009|p=326}} Another theory suggests that the Frankish elite named the region using the works of classical scholars and the name was eventually adopted locally; the Franks sometimes referred to areas on the periphery of their empire by Roman-era names, including {{lang|la|Traiectum}} for modern-day Utrecht and {{lang|la|Toxandria}} for the ''pagus'' of Brabant.{{sfn|Bazelmans|2009|pp=331–332}}

The Frisians then spread considerably over the following two hundred years, dominating the North Sea region. This period is marked by the rule of warlord-like kings and a maritime economy augmented by considerable cattle-breeding skill. Frisian domination of North Sea trade during this era led some contemporary non-Frisian documents to refer to the North Sea as the Frisian Sea ({{langx|la|Mare Frisicum}}) and the term ''Frisian'' was used in Dorestad to mean any merchant, not necessarily an ethnic Frisian.<ref>{{multiref|{{harvnb|Bremmer|2009|p=2}}.|{{harvnb|Looijenga|2003|pp=69–70}}.|{{harvnb|Nijdam|Hallebeek|de Jong|2023|p=4}}.}}</ref> This farthest extent of Frisian territory is sometimes referred to as {{lang|la|Magna Frisia}} ('Greater Frisia'). This period saw Frisia ruled by a high king, with the earliest reference to such a leader being dated to 678{{nbsp}}AD.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Halbertsma|first=H.|title=Frieslands oudheid : het rijk van de Friese koningen, opkomst en ondergang|date=2000|publisher=Matrijs|others=E.H.P., historicus Cordfunke, Herbert Sarfatij|isbn=90-5345-167-6|location=Utrecht|oclc=905441031}}</ref>

In the early eighth century, the Frisians mostly worshipped Germanic gods such as Thor and Odin outside the vicinity of Utrecht.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Rietbergen |first=P. J. A. N. |title=A Short History of the Netherlands: From Prehistory to the Present Day |publisher=Bekking |year=2000 |isbn=90-6109-440-2 |edition=4th |location=Amersfoort |pages=25 |oclc=52849131}}</ref> Shortly thereafter, the Frisian nobles came into increasing conflict with the Franks to their south, resulting in a series of wars in which the Frankish Empire eventually subjugated Frisia in 734. These wars benefited attempts by Anglo-Irish missionaries (which had begun with Saint Boniface) to convert the Frisian populace to Christianity, in which Saint Willibrord largely succeeded.<ref>{{Cite CE1913|wstitle=St. Willibrord}}</ref>

Some time after the death of Charlemagne, the Frisian territories were in theory under the control of the Count of Holland, but in practice the Hollandic counts, starting with Count Arnulf in 993, were unable to assert themselves as the sovereign lords of Frisia. The resulting stalemate resulted in a period of time called the Frisian freedom, a period in which feudalism and serfdom (as well as central or judicial administration) did not exist; the Frisian lands only owed their allegiance to the Holy Roman Emperor.

During the 13th century, however, the counts of Holland became increasingly powerful and, starting in 1272, sought to reassert themselves as rightful lords of the Frisian lands in a series of wars, which (with a series of lengthy interruptions) ended in 1422 with the Hollandic conquest of Western Frisia and with the establishment of a more powerful noble class in Central and Eastern Frisia.

In 1524, Frisia became part of the Seventeen Provinces and in 1568 joined the Dutch revolt against Philip II, king of Spain, heir of the Burgundian territories; Central Frisia has remained a part of the Netherlands ever since. The eastern periphery of Frisia would become part of various German states (later Germany) and Denmark. An old tradition existed in the region of exploitation of peatlands.

==Migration to England and Scotland==

Though it is impossible to know exact numbers and migration patterns, research has indicated that many Frisians were part of the wave of ethnic groups to colonise areas of present-day England alongside the Angles, Saxons and Jutes,<ref name="openaccess.leidenuniv.nl">{{Citation |url=https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/20850/Bremmer%20Frisians%20in%20Anglo-Saxon%20England.pdf?sequence=7 |hdl=1887/20850|title=Frisians in Anglo-Saxon England: A Historical and Toponymical Investigation|series=Fryske Nammen|year=1981|pages=45–94|publisher=Fryske Akademy|isbn=9789061715979}}</ref> starting from around the fifth century when Frisians arrived along the coastline of Kent.<ref>{{Cite news | url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/the-anglo-saxon-invasion-britain-is-more-germanic-than-it-thinks-a-768706.html | title=The Anglo-Saxon Invasion: Britain is More Germanic than It Thinks| newspaper=Spiegel Online| date=2011-06-16| last1=Schulz| first1=Matthias}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://dedutchman.ca/friesland/ | title=The History of the Frisian Folk}}</ref>

Frisians principally settled in modern-day Kent, East Anglia,<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor = 2590857|title = The Frisians in East Anglia|journal = The Economic History Review|volume = 10|issue = 2|pages = 189–206|last1 = Homans|first1 = George C.|year = 1957|doi = 10.2307/2590857}}</ref> the East Midlands, North East England,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.wilcuma.org.uk/who-are-the-anglo-saxons/the-frisians/ | title=The Frisians, their tribes & allies}}</ref> and Yorkshire. Across these areas, evidence of their settlement includes place names of Frisian origin, such as Frizinghall in Bradford and Frieston in Lincolnshire.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://archive.org/stream/jstor-456984/456984_djvu.txt | title=Frisian Place-Names in England| publisher=PMLA| date=January 1918}}</ref><ref name="openaccess.leidenuniv.nl" />

Similarities in dialect between Great Yarmouth and Friesland have been noted, originating from trade between these areas during the Middle Ages.<ref>{{Cite book |url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237534065 |chapter = The Position of Frisian in the Germanic Language Area|last = Gooskens|first = Charlotte|date = 2004| title = On the Boundaries of Phonology and Phonetics |editor-first = D. G. |editor-last = Gilbers |editor2-first = N. |editor2-last = Knevel |publisher = Department of Linguistics |location = Groningen}}</ref> Frisians are also known to have founded the Freston area of Ipswich.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.edp24.co.uk/features/memories-of-national-service-on-the-frisian-islands-1-5508745 | title=How I came face-to-face with East Anglia's 'twin'| newspaper=Eastern Daily Press| date=8 May 2018}}</ref>

In Scotland, historians have noted that colonies of Angles and Frisians settled as far north as the River Forth. This corresponds to those areas of Scotland which historically constituted part of Northumbria.<ref>{{cite book |title=History of Scotland to the Present Time |first=Peter Hume |last=Brown |author-link=Peter Hume Brown |page=11 |year=1911 |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/britishplacename00mcclrich/page/120 |title=British place-names in their historical setting |first=Edmund |last=McLure |page=120 |year=1910 |publisher=Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge}}</ref>

== Frisians in Denmark == The earliest traces of Frisians in modern-day Denmark date back from the 8th century, when Frisian traders and craftsmen settled down in Ribe.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rasmussen |first=Alan Hjorth |date=1973 |title=Frisiske kulturelementer : en introduktion og foreløbig oversigt |url=https://tidsskrift.dk/folkogkultur/article/view/65647 |journal=Folk og Kultur, årbog for Dansk Etnologi og Folkemindevidenskab |language=da |volume=2 |issue=1 |page=79}}</ref> In the Later Middle Ages, Frisian farmers settled around Tøndermarsken west of Tønder. The evidence for this are the dwelling mounds or terps (''værfter'') in the area that are built after the same method as the ones alongside the Wadden Sea further south.<ref name="Denmark" >{{cite news |last1=Bech-Danielsen |first1=Anne |title=På jagt efter de sidste frisere i Danmark |url=https://politiken.dk/kultur/art8511170/De-sidste-frisere |access-date=27 May 2022 |agency=Politiken |date=9 January 2022 |language=da|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Colonists from the south also settled down in Misthusum in the Ballum marshes near Skærbæk during the 12th of 13th century. According to documents around 1400 at least some of them were considered as "Hollanders".<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Knottnerus |first=Otto S. |date=2008|title=De vergeten Friezen: Mislukt pamflet van Benny Siewertsen over een boeiend thema|url=https://www.academia.edu/30042538|journal=De Vrije Fries: Jaarboek uitgegeven door het Koninklijk Fries Genootschap voor Geschiedenis en Cultuur |volume=88|pages=213–215|isbn=978-90-6171-0165|language=nl}}</ref>

In modern times, Frisian culture in Denmark is described as assimilated and most people of Frisian descent do not consider themselves Frisian. In regards of the Frisian language, very few may speak it as first language but it was traditionally spoken in several polder hamlets near the border with Germany. One estimate puts the Frisian population in Denmark somewhere between 2,000 and 5,000.<ref name="Denmark" /> This number, however, might be grossly exaggerated. Frisian identity in Denmark was promoted by the Eiderstedt farmer and political activist Cornelius Petersen, who built a traditional Frisian farmstead in Møgeltønder in 1914 and founded the rural protest movement ''Bondens Selvstyre'' ("Farmers' self-government"). More recently, the retired journalist Benny Siewertsen wrote a partisan pamphlet on Frisian heritage in Denmark.<ref name=":0" /><ref>Benny Siewertsen, ''Friserne – vore glemte forfædre'', Copenhagen 2004/</ref>

== Languages == [[File:Frisian languages in Europe.svg|thumb|Present-day distribution of the Frisian languages in Europe: {{legend|#000066|West Frisian}} {{legend|#3366CC|North Frisian}} {{legend|#0FAFFF|Saterland Frisian}}]] As both the Anglo-Saxons of England and the early Frisians were formed from similar tribal confederacies, their respective languages were very similar, together forming the Anglo-Frisian family. Old Frisian is the most closely related language to Old English<ref>{{cite web |url=https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/1887/1937/1/344_121.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070818203737/https://www.openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/1887/1937/1/344_121.pdf |archive-date=2007-08-18 |url-status=live |title=The origin of the Old English dialects revisited |first=Frederik |last=Kortlandt |year=1999 |publisher=University of Leiden}}</ref> and the modern Frisian dialects are in turn the closest related languages to contemporary English that do not themselves derive from Old English (although modern Frisian and English are not mutually intelligible).

The Frisian language group is divided into three languages: *West Frisian, spoken in the Dutch province of Friesland *Saterland Frisian, spoken in the German municipality of Saterland just south of East Frisia *North Frisian, spoken in the German region of North Frisia (within the {{Lang|de|Kreis}} of Nordfriesland) on the west coast of Jutland.

Of these three languages both Saterland Frisian (2,000 speakers) and North Frisian (10,000 speakers)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.landtag.ltsh.de/parlament/minderheitenpolitik/friesische-volksgruppe.html |title=Die friesische Volksgruppe in Schleswig-Holstein |language=de |publisher=Diet of Schleswig-Holstein |access-date=4 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004050947/http://www.landtag.ltsh.de/parlament/minderheitenpolitik/friesische-volksgruppe.html |archive-date=4 October 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> are endangered. West Frisian is spoken by around 350,000 native speakers in Friesland,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://languagecontact.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/ELA/languages/Frisian.html |title=Frisian (North) |work=Archive of Endangered and Smaller Languages |first=Yaron |last=Matras |publisher=University of Manchester}}</ref> and as many as 470,000 when including speakers in neighbouring Groningen province.<ref name="ethnologue.com"/> West Frisian is not listed as threatened, although research published by Radboud University in 2016 has challenged that assumption.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://nos.nl/nieuwsuur/artikel/2116603-friese-taal-met-uitsterven-bedreigd.html |title=Friese taal met uitsterven bedreigd? (Frisian language threatened with extinction?)|language=nl|author=Menno de Galan & Willem Lust |work=Nieuwsuur |publisher=NOS |date=9 July 2016 |access-date=6 January 2020}}</ref>

==Identity== {{Main|Frisian nationalism}} [[File:Friesentracht.JPG|thumb|upright|North Frisian woman in Föhr]] Today, there exists a tripartite division of North, East and West Frisians; this was caused by Frisia's continual loss of territory in the Middle Ages. The West Frisians, in general, do not see themselves as part of a larger group of Frisians, and, according to a 1970 poll, identify themselves more with the Dutch than with the East or North Frisians.<ref>{{cite book |title=Friesland, feit en onfeit [Frisia, 'Facts and Fiction'] |year=1970 |first=Douwe A. |last=Tamminga |language=nl |location=Leeuwarden |publisher=Junior Kamer Friesland}}</ref>

==References==  {{notelist}} {{Reflist}}

===Works cited=== * {{cite book |last=Bazelmans |first=Jos |chapter=The Early-Medieval Use of Ethnic Names from Classical Antiquity: the Case of the Frisians |chapter-url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n1n2.16 |pages=321–338 |editor-last1=Derks |editor-first1=Ton |editor-last2=Roymans |editor-first2=Nico |title=Ethnic Constructs in Antiquity: The Role of Power and Tradition |publisher=Amsterdam University Press {{open access}} |series=Amsterdam Archaeological Studies |volume=13 |date=2009 |isbn=978-90-485-0791-7 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n1n2 |jstor=j.ctt46n1n2.1 |jstor-access=free |doi=10.5117/9789089640789 |doi-access=free}} * {{Cite book| publisher = John Benjamins | isbn = 978-90-272-9004-5| last = Bremmer, Jr| first = Rolf H. |author-link=Rolf Bremmer | title = An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uWYsSOp6g58C&pg=PA1| location = Amsterdam | ref={{sfnref|Bremmer|2009}} | date = 2009}} * {{cite book |last=Looijenga |first=Tineke |author-link=:de:Tineke Looijenga |title=Texts & Contexts of the Oldest Runic Inscriptions |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden |series=The Northern World |volume=4 |date=2003 |isbn=978-90-474-0128-5 |doi=10.1163/9789047401285 |url=https://brill.com/view/title/7539 |url-access=subscription }} * {{cite book |editor-last=Nijdam |editor-first=Han |editor-last2=Hallebeek |editor-first2=Jan |editor-last3=de Jong |editor-first3=Hylkje |title=Frisian Land Law: A Critical Edition and Translation of the ''Freeska Landriucht'' |url=https://brill.com/edcollbook-oa/title/62164?language=en |publisher=Brill {{open access}} |publication-place=Leiden |series=Medieval Law and Its Practice |volume=33 |date=2023 |isbn=978-90-04-52641-9}} *{{Citation |url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/tacitus1.html |first=Publius Cornelius |last=Tacitus |date=n.d. |title=Germania |ref=none |author-link=Tacitus |website=Internet Medieval Sourcebook}} *{{Citation |title=Op Zoek naar de Kelten, Nieuwe archeologische ontdekkingen tussen Noordzee en Rijn (Searching for the Celts, new archaeological Discoveries between North Sea and Rhine) |first=Leo |last=Verhart |isbn=978-90-5345-303-2 |year=2006 |language=nl |publisher=Matrijs |ref=none}}

==Further reading== * Greg Woolf, "Cruptorix and his kind. Talking ethnicity on the middle ground", Ton Derks, Nico Roymans (ed.), ''Ethnic Constructs in Antiquity: The Role of Power and Tradition'' (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2009) (Amsterdam Archaeological Studies, 13), 207–218. * Jos Bazelmans, "The early-medieval use of ethnic names from classical antiquity. The case of the Frisians", in Ton Derks, Nico Roymans (ed.), ''Ethnic Constructs in Antiquity: The Role of Power and Tradition'' (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2009) (Amsterdam Archaeological Studies, 13), 321–329.

==External links== *{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Frisians |volume=11 |short=x}} *[http://www.fryske-akademy.nl/ Fryske Akademy], the Frisian Academy {{in lang|fy|nl}} *[http://www.keesn.nl/lex/ Lex Frisionum in Latin, Dutch and English] *[http://www.boudicca.de/frisian1.htm History of the Frisian folk] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130102223356/http://www.boudicca.de/frisian1.htm |date=2 January 2013 }} *[https://frisiacoasttrail.blog/blog/ Frisia Coast Trail]

Category:Frisians Category:Historical geography of Denmark Category:German tribes Category:Ethnic groups divided by international borders