The Information on the Fries from Denmark that i have found is as follows...
The origin of the distinguished Fries family can be traced to the historic Scandinavian country of Denmark, a small country located on the North Sea. Though it has few natural resources Denmark has one of the highest standards of living in the world. Denmark proper is made up of a long peninsula called Jylland, or Jutland; two large islands--Fyn, or Funen, and Sjalland, or Zealand; and 483 smaller islands that dot the entrance to the Baltic Sea. People live on 97 of those islands.
The surname Fries was originally a name given to one from the area of Frisia, also known as Friesland. The origin of the name of the region itself is unknown; one possible etymology is that it was derived from an Indo-European root "prei-," meaning "to cut," possibly referring to the dykes that were necessary for the cultivation of this low-lying land. Surnames began to appear in Europe in the 12th century, as societies began to become more complex, and the management of land and collection of taxes began to be performed by bureaucracies that needed to reliably distinguish individuals from each other. Generally the process began in the south and spread north, thus the Scandinavian countries were some of the last to adopt hereditary surnames, doing so beginning only in the 15th and 16th centuries.
The ancient history of the Danes is that of the Vikings, those warmongering pirates and pillagers of legend. The first authentic record of the Vikings is from 800 AD, when they had begun their raiding and colonizing of Britain. The Viking period is said to have ended around 960 under the reign of Harold Bluetooth; Christianity also came to the nation around this time. The fortunes of Denmark rose and fell during the early Middle Ages: Under king Valdemar I (1157-82), Denmark conquered large parts of Germany, and 'owned' the Baltic Sea, by the end of Valdemar II's reign in 1241, the nation was a shambles of internal strife and religious fighting. During the reign of Valdemar IV (1340-75), Denmark had again become a formidable power in the region. A pact between the nations of Norway, Sweden and Denmark (the Union of Kalmar) began in 1397, during the reign of Queen Margrethe (Valdemar's daughter). Sweden withdrew from the union in 1523; Norway and Denmark stayed together until 1814, when Norway became a Swedish possession. After a long period of peace and prosperity, Denmark was attacked by Austria and Prussia, and lost the provinces of Schleswig and Holstein. Peace prevailed again in Denmark until German invasion in 1940. It was during these long periods of peace that the country developed its strong democratic structures, which prevail in the country today. After the end of WWII, Denmark regained some its Southern territories.
Danish names, such as the surname Fries went through many spelling changes in the Middle Ages. One of the major reasons for this was the lack of literacy of the times. Few people other than church officials and scribes could read or write. When names were recorded, they were often written down as they sounded, rather than according to any standardized spelling rules. The Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish languages developed by AD 1000 from dialects of Common Scandinavian. Similarities in these languages today allow speakers of the three languages to communicate with each other. Some spelling variations in Danish names have occurred as the languages themselves have changed. Some of the variations of this name include His, Fries and Fris.
Denmark is a very progressive society, especially in the area of social legislation. Since 1849, it has been ruled by a constitutional monarchy with legislative powers delegated to the 'Folketing,' or Parliament. Even prior to the end of the 19th century, Denmark had old-age pensions, health and hospital insurance, and trade unions. Today, Denmark has the most successful system of agricultural cooperatives in th
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Fries From Denmark