fæþerni (OSw) fæthrene (ODan) feþrni (OGu) faðerni (ON) fæþrini (OSw) noun

The meaning extended to cover the whole of the paternal side of the family, the paternal inheritance (as opposed to the maternal) and the ancestral land inherited from the father, although the expression fæþernis jorþ was frequently written in full. Sometimes the same word was employed with more than one of these meanings in the same sentence. In the possessive case, fæþerni was used adjectivally to mean ‘paternal’, to relate to other specific parts of an inheritance, e.g. ancestral home, movables. The word also appears in connection with the question of how the children of mixed marriages between Gotlanders and non-Gotlanders were treated in respect of wergild. This is the subject of some ambiguity in the text, but it seems that the father’s family was taken as the yardstick. ON faðerni is often used in a sense quite similar to modern ‘paternity’ and could be the cause for a legal case (sækja til faðernis, Grg Feþ 158).

ancestral home OGu GL A 20
father-line ONorw EidsL 30.5
father’s ODan VSjL 15
father’s family OGu GL A 15
father’s house OSw MEL Kgb
father’s inheritance OSw KrL Gb
OSw MEL Gb
OSw MESt Gb
father’s part ODan SkL 2, 23
father’s side ODan ESjL 3
ODan JyL 2
ODan SkL 57, 223
ONorw FrL Var 9
OSw DL Gb
OSw KrL Gb Äb
OSw MEL Gb Eb
OSw MESt Äb Jb Eb
OSw ÖgL Gb Äb
fathering OIce Grg Þsþ 50, 62 Ómb 142 Feþ 156 Tíg 264
kinsman of the father OSw MEL Äb
paternal ODan ESjL 1, 3
ODan SkL 5, 22, 26, 27, 59, 85, 92, 128
ODan VSjL 1, 15
OSw HL Äb
paternal belongings ODan SkL 54, 64
paternal goods ODan ESjL 1
ODan JyL 1
paternal inheritance ODan ESjL 1
ODan SkBL
ODan SkL 19, 37
OGu GL A 20, 24e
OSw ÄVgL Äb
OSw BjR
OSw DL Bb, Gb
OSw HL Jb
OSw MESt Eb
OSw ÖgL Jb Bb
OSw SdmL Gb, Jb
OSw UL Äb, Jb, Blb
OSw VmL Äb, Bb
OSw YVgL Äb, Rlb
paternal kin OSw DL Gb
paternal land ODan ESjL 3
ODan JyL 1
ODan SkL 27
ODan VSjL 4
OSw KrL Jb
OSw MESt Hb
OSw ÖgL Eb Jb
OSw UL Jb
OSw VmL Jb
OSw YVgL Jb
paternal property OSw HL Jb
paternal side ODan JyL 2
ODan SkL 57
OSw ÄVgL Md, Äb
OSw ÖgL Rb
OSw SdmL Gb, Äb
OSw UL Äb
OSw VmL Äb
OSw YVgL Drb, Äb, Add
paternity OIce KRA 2
ONorw GuL Løb
ONorw MLL Kdb 5
patrimonial land OSw MEL Jb
patrimony ODan ESjL 1
OSw MEL Bb Eb
title by heredity OSw MEL Jb
what is from the father ODan JyL 1
Expressions:

fæþernis frændi (OSw)

father’s kinsman ODan ESjL 3 JyL 1 SkL 2

kinsman of the father ODan ESjL 2 JyL 1

kinsman of the father’s side ODan SkL 57, 233

paternal kin ODan JyL 2 SkL 128 VSjL 15 OSw DL Gb ÖgL Gb

paternal kinsman ODan ESjL 1, 2, 3 JyL 1 SkL 85, 92, 128 OSw DL Bb

paternal relative OSw DL Rb SdmL Gb, Äb

Refs:

ONP s.v. faðerni; Peel 2015, 119 note 15/6−12, 134 note 20/36−37; Schlyter 1877, s.v.v. fæþernis, fæþernis iorþ; SL UL, 86 note 68