Frieren is the dream fantasy anime for purists of the genre. The show takes a lot of care with its settings and rules, and the meaning behind Frieren's names is a testament to author Kanehito Yamada's love and care.
At first glance, Frieren's names may appear quite random, or maybe even ordinary. However, each offers a secret window into the character's soul and place in the world.
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Frieren's European Inspiration
As with many fantasy stories, Frieren is heavily inspired by Europe. This can be seen in many areas, such as the geography, architecture, food and more.
Using Europe as inspiration isn't exactly new, but one area where Frieren takes things a little further is the use of the Roman alphabet.
Many fantasy series, particularly isekai, involve a world with a mysterious script, but Frieren's world openly uses the words we take for granted in our world.
However, it's not just Europe generally that inspires Frieren, but Germany. Again, this isn't necessarily new; Attack on Titan was famously inspired by Germany, both in terms of the setting and also the character's names.
This is where the secret behind Frieren's names lies – every character's name can be translated from German, and each describes an important part of that person's character!
What Does Frieren Mean, Exactly?
Take the titular character's name, as an example. As you might have guessed, 'frieren' is a German word meaning to 'be cold' or 'freezing. The German phrase 'wie ein Schneider frieren' means 'cold to the bone'.
As fans of the series will know, much of Frieren's story revolves around the elf's indifferent nature to humans; the rest of the hero party regularly thought of her as socially 'cold'.
Despite learning to change and appreciate humans more, Frieren can still be seen as quite a cold character. From how she behaves to her snow-white hair, Frieren is quite a fitting name.
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Frieren: Every Main Character's Name & Meaning
The fun with Frieren's names doesn't just stop with the titular character. Pretty much everyone in the series has a name that, when translated, fits the character in revealing ways.
Character | Name Meaning |
|---|---|
Frieren | cold, freezing |
Fern | far, distant |
Stark | strong, powerful |
Himmel | heaven |
Heiter | bright, cheerful |
Eisen | iron |
Flamme | flame |
Some of these names are quite easy to understand – Eisen the warrior is named after iron, and his warrior apprentice is named after strength. However, there are also some really interesting ones.
Fern's name translates in a lot of different ways depending on the context, but most of them mean 'far' or 'distant'.
Perhaps this is used as a way of expressing the difference between her and Frieren, and how despite Frieren's best efforts, she can never quite understand what it must be like for humans like Fern.
For me, the most touching of all is Himmel: heaven. Not only could this be describing Himmel as a pure, heavenly figure – the picture-book hero – but it also speaks to Frieren's quest towards Aureole. Reach heaven to speak to Himmel. A literal journey to heaven.
Hopefully, this little piece of information can help enrich your experience of the wonderful fantasy world that is Frieren! For more of the latest anime news and trends, be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
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