Frik

Who was Frik?

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. Zhamkochin saw that his Armenian writing was very similar to the language of Cicilian Armenian 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”.