Frik

For the cereal grain, see freekeh

Frik was an Armenian poet of the 13th century and 14th century. He lived in the time of Mongolian occupation of Armenian land.

His verses are written in the spirit of religious Fatalism; at the same time, he criticized clergy for hypocrisy.

Frik lived during the year 1230 through 1310. It is not known whether his name was really Frik or not. Many believe his name was a “pseudonym” or “an abbreviated form” of his original name. The Armenian scholar, Zhamkochian, identified Frik’s possible birthplace and concluded that he was born in Western Armenia. Zhamkochian saw that his Armenian writing was very similar to the language of Cilician Armenia which is how he found out his birthplace. It is said that more than 50 of Frik’s poetry survived during the years. Some of the poems include “From Protest”, “An Excerpt”, and “Song”.^[1]

Poems

A small amount of Frik’s poems were first published in 1930. Two of his well known poems were ”Complaint to Christ” and “Against Fate”. Both poems had strong doubts regarding religious faith and questioned the values of those who called themselves “Christians” and did not act through with their words or beliefs.^[2]

Frik’s writing was considered “Armenian medieval poetry” since he was from Armenian origins and grew up two centuries after the Mongol Empire crushed the Armenian Bagratouni royal court during their invasion. Much of his inspiration came from power and how it is wrongly used instead of giving individuals “equality and freedom”. He was also a Christian, but questioned his beliefs because of the negativity that the clergy of the church promoted.^[3]

References

1. Hacikyan, Agop (2002). The Heritage of Armenian Literature: From the Sixth to the Eighteenth Century. Vol. 2. Wayne State Univ Pr. pp. 524–33. ISBN 0814330231.
2. Hovannisian, Richard (2004). The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times, Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiquity to the Fourteenth Century. Vol. 1. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 317–18. ISBN 0312101694.
3. Arnavoudian, Eddie. "A TASTE OF MEDIEVAL ARMENIAN POETRY". Retrieved 26 Apr 2012.

External links