Peder Claussøn Friis artist Gustav Vigeland 02

Peder Claussøn Friis (1 April 1545 – 15 October 1614) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

clergyman, author and historian. He is most associated with his translation of ''Snorre Sturlessøns Norske Kongers Chronica''. Peder Claussen Friis grew up in

Audnedal Audnedal is a former municipality in the old Vest-Agder county, Norway. It was located in the traditional district of Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Konsmo. Other villages in Audnedal include Byremo ...

in the county of

Vest-Agder Vest-Agder (; "West Agder") was one of 18 counties (''fylker'') in Norway up until 1 January 2020, when it was merged with Aust-Agder to form Agder county. In 2016, there were 182,701 inhabitants, around 3.5% of the total population of Norway. I ...

, Norway. Dating from about 1550, his father, Claus Friis, had been a minister in the Sør-Audnedal parish, of

Lindesnes Lindesnes ( en, the Naze) is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Mandal. Other villages in Lindesnes include Åvik, Hølle ...

. Friis received his initial education under the direction of the

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

of Diocese of Stavanger. Friis started his duties as a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

at age 20 as chaplain under his father. When his father died in 1566, Friis took over the position as

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

and was the same year appointed as provost of the Deanery of

Lista Lista is a former municipality located in the old Vest-Agder county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1965. The administrative centre was the village of Vanse where Vanse Church is located. Lista munici ...

. Sør-Audnedal parish was sizable covering the

peninsula and the lower part of Audnedal, west of Mandal including churches in Valle, Vigmostad and

Spangereid Spangereid is a former municipality that was located in the old Vest-Agder county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1889 until its dissolution in 1964. The municipality was located in the southwestern part of the present-day municipali ...

. By 1575, Friis was made a member of the Cathedral chapter in Stavanger. Before 1590, he received the title of archdeacon. His early writings included descriptions of

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

(1580),

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

(1592),

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...

(1596) and Norwegian natural history (1599). In 1599, Axel Gyldenstjerne, Governor-general of Norway, gave him the task of translating

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

transcripts, including the Bagler sagas and works by Snorri Sturluson including ''Norske Kongers Chronica''. None of the publications of Peder Claussen were printed while he was alive. The first publication of ''Norske kongers chronic'' was printed in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

during 1632. Historian Frederik Winkel Horn said of him: "He rendered great services to the history of Norway by his translation of the old sagas of the kings. Like Vedel's his work is marked by its excellent style. This also applies to his other writings, as for instance his ''Norriges og omliggende Oers Beskrivelse''—a description of Norway and adjacent islands—in which is found historical material of value. His language is remarkably pure and his style is even and artless."

Primary sources

A prime source of information regard Peder Claussøn Friis can be found in ''Om Peder Claussøn Friis og hans skrifter'' by Gustav Storm (1881).''Om Peder Claussøn Friis og hans skrifter'' (Author: Gustav Storm, Tryckt hos A. W. Brøgger.1881)
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References

External links

Digitized version of ''Norriges oc Omliggende Øers sandfærdige Besschriffuelse'' (1632) {{DEFAULTSORT:Friis, Peder Claussoen 1545 births 1614 deaths Norwegian male writers 16th-century Norwegian historians 17th-century Norwegian historians People from Vest-Agder People from Lindesnes 17th-century Norwegian Lutheran clergy 16th-century Norwegian Lutheran clergy