You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Norwegian. (November 2013) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Norwegian article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Norwegian Wikipedia article at [[:no:Peder Claussøn Friis]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|no|Peder Claussøn Friis}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Peder Claussøn Friis (1 April 1545 – 15 October 1614) was a Norwegian clergyman, author and historian. He is most associated with his translation of Snorre Sturlessøns Norske Kongers Chronica.^[1][2]

Peder Claussen Friis grew up in Audnedal in the county of Vest-Agder, Norway. Dating from about 1550, his father, Claus Friis, had been a minister in the Sør-Audnedal parish, of Lindesnes, Vest-Agder. Friis received his initial education under the direction of the bishop of Diocese of Stavanger. Friis started his duties as a priest at age 20 as chaplain under his father. When his father died in 1566, Friis took over the position as vicar and was the same year appointed as provost of the Deanery of Lista. Sør-Audnedal parish was sizable covering the Lindesnes peninsula and the lower part of Audnedal, west of Mandal including churches in Valle, Vigmostad and Spangereid. By 1575, Friis was made a member of the Cathedral chapter in Stavanger. Before 1590, he received the title of archdeacon.^[3]

His early writings included descriptions of Iceland (1580), Faroe Islands (1592), Greenland (1596) and Norwegian natural history (1599). In 1599, Axel Gyldenstjerne, Governor-general of Norway, gave him the task of translating Old Norse 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 during 1632.^[4][5][6]

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."^[7]

A prime source of information regard Peder Claussøn Friis can be found in Om Peder Claussøn Friis og hans skrifter by Gustav Storm (1881).^[8]

• [1] Digitized version of Norriges oc Omliggende Øers sandfærdige Besschriffuelse (1632)