Frisian Literature

Frisian Literature, writings in the Frisian language, spoken in the Dutch province of Friesland and the Frisian Islands. No document in Frisian can be dated earlier than the 13th century, and little was written in the language between the 18th and 20th centuries. The oldest writings extant are collections of laws, Germanic sagas, and verses. New West Frisian literature dates from the 17th century; the first notable work in that language was a comic dialogue, Wouter en Tialle (1609). The two greatest figures in Frisian literature are the poet Gijsbert Japiks and the writer Jan Althuysen.