What does Freiren’s name mean? Analyzing her current age and true strength [Elegy of a Dead World Freiren]

Freiren, the protagonist of “Elegy of a Dead World,” is an elf mage on a “journey to understand humans.” Despite her cute appearance, she wields tremendous, terrifying power, having laid many demons to rest. This article thoroughly introduces Freiren’s profile, strength, and appeal!

Freiren’s Profile in “Elegy of a Dead World”

Species: Elf
Occupation: Mage
Age: At least over 1000 years old
First Appearance: Volume 1 Chapter 1
Favorite Food: Melqueek Apricot Pudding
Alias: Freiren the Reaper
Height: Unknown (Around 140cm?)
Voice Actor: Atsumi Tanezaki

Freiren, the protagonist of “Elegy of a Dead World,” is an elf mage of the long-lived elf race. With her pointed ears and twin tails, she looks like a petite girl, but is actually quite an old lady. However, she seems to dislike being treated as a granny, throwing tantrums and crying if called one more than 3 times by the same person.

She appears emotionless and dry, but shows surprisingly cute sides, pouting when scolded by her disciple Fern and using flashy kisses as a tactic. On top of her sloppy personality, she is helpless at daily life, relying completely on Fern for chores like changing clothes and meals, their positions totally reversed.

[Alias] What Does “Freiren the Reaper” Mean?

Meaning of “Reaper”

Freiren has laid countless demons to rest, said to be the most in history. Thus, the term “reaper” was likely chosen to mean “continuously laying demons to rest and sending them to the afterlife.” In-story, it’s a fearful alias used by demons, but its original meaning is “sending a body to its grave.” It seems to perfectly encapsulate Freiren’s life of seeing off her loved ones in death.

Meaning of “Freiren”

The name Freiren (frieren) is a German verb meaning “to freeze” or “to feel cold.” It’s a fitting name for the somewhat cool-impressioned Freiren. All character names in this work besides Freiren are also German words. As a contrast, her master Flamme’s name means “flame” in German, interestingly reflecting the opposite natures of master and disciple. One main theme may be Freiren’s “frozen” heart slowly melting through interacting with various humans like Flamme, Himmel, and Fern.

[Age] Thorough Investigation into How Long Freiren Has Lived!

Mythical Era: Clearly before she was born (Zelie was known as a great mage at the time)

Thousands of Years Ago: Unknown, possibly born during this period

Around 1000 Years Ago: Her home is destroyed and she is nearly killed before being saved by Flamme. She was already the village’s greatest mage.

Around 950 Years Ago: Her master Flamme passes away.

Around 600 Years Ago: Unknown, likely spending days honing magic and training.

Around 90 Years Ago: Joins Himmel’s party.

Around 80 Years Ago: Himmel’s party defeats the Demon Lord.

Freiren’s exact age is unclear in the story. However, she states fighting the Executioner’s Aura that she is a “mage who has lived over 1000 years,” so it’s certain she is over 1000 years old. She was also saved by Master Flamme around 1000 years ago. Since she looks about the same then as now, it’s unclear if she was a child or adult, but she’s described as the “strongest in the village,” so she was likely grown to some degree. Given these points, I estimate Freiren’s age to be over 1000 but under 2000 years old. If she was 2000+ years old, she’d be more likely to state that when fighting Aura. There’s quite a range, but this is the limit of what can be determined with current information…

[Love] Does Freiren Have Feelings for Himmel?

The “Mirror Lotus” Ring (Volume 4 Chapter 30)

Freiren began her journey sparked by Himmel’s death and is always remembering him. Her final destination is also the “Land of Resting Souls (Oreole),” said to allow conversation with Himmel’s spirit. It’s clear from this that Freiren has exceptional feelings towards Himmel. However, whether those feelings are romantic is uncertain, at least to Freiren herself. Himmel seemed to see Freiren as the opposite sex, even kneeling to give her a ring at one point. But when looking back on that memory and others, Freiren’s expression never notably changes from usual.

Even so, since Freiren lacks emotional nuance, it’s possible she harbors but doesn’t recognize romantic feelings. She thinks about Himmel so much, the future development is highly anticipated!

[Strength] Just How Strong is Freiren?

Abilities: Magic to kill demons (Zoltruck) and more.

Specialty Magic: Magic Concealment

Famous Battle: Against Executioner’s Aura (Volume 3 Chapter 22)

Weakness: Mimic

With immense magic power and magical knowledge built up over centuries, Freiren boasts specs rivaling the in-story strongest. Her feat of laying more demons to rest than anyone in history also shows her ability. And since she normally hides her true power to deceive demons, her actual strength remains unknown. However, the great mage Zelie evaluates her as “a mage with some technical weaknesses for her age.”

She also mentions being defeated 11 times by those with less magic power, so she’s not invincible.

[Past] Freiren Was Saved by Flamme

Around 1000 years ago, Freiren’s homeland was destroyed by demons, leaving her the sole survivor. She was saved by the human mage Flamme. Since that day, Freiren learned magic and combat against demons from Flamme. It was also Flamme who taught her to restrict her magic power. Carrying his words “You will spend your life deceiving demons,” she continues the fighting style he taught even after his death.

[Cute] Freiren Is Quite Playful and Cute!

Freiren’s Appeal

1. Her sloppiness and helplessness with daily life is somehow lovable
2. She seems expressionless but is rather easy to read, which is cute
3. Her smug “Hmph!” face never gets old no matter how often seen
4. Seeing her pout and sulk when scolded by Fern is also cute
5. Her obsession with magic plus how she becomes an airhead when magic’s involved is lovable
6. How she calls herself “big sis” is also heart-pounding

Despite being an adult woman rich in life experience, Freiren has a surprisingly cute side. Not being able to hide things from Fern, immediately shrinking away when displeased, smugly going “Hmph!” – despite seeming cool, her easy-to-understand aspects are charming. Incidentally, from being together Fern seems to have picked up some similar traits…

She calls herself “big sis” yet is flaky, turning scatterbrained with magic – also heart-pounding. Seeing Fern care for her makes her seem like a young girl, making you want to protect her, though of course she’s plenty strong on her own.

[Voice Actor] Freiren is Voiced by Atsumi Tanezaki

In the anime “Elegy of a Dead World,” Freiren is voiced by Atsumi Tanezaki of the Tokyo Actor’s Consumer’s Cooperative Society. Major roles include Emporio in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean and Anya in SPY x FAMILY.

Despite a low natural voice, she has a wide vocal range, playing varied roles from mature women to powerful young boys. Perfect casting for Freiren with her extreme gap between looks and personality.

Freiren the Reaper in “Elegy of a Dead World” – A Strong and Cute Mage!

Freiren the mage boasts in-story strongest class ability. She seems cool with her poker face but has plenty of playful, cute aspects too! Looking forward to what other expressions she’ll show.