Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part ...

Hans Povelsson Paus (born 1656 in

Hjartdal Hjartdal is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Upper Telemark and Aust-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sauland. Other villages in the municipality ...

– 18 March 1715) was a Norwegian

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 deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

and poet. He was parish priest in

Kviteseid Kviteseid is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional districts of Vest-Telemark and Upper Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Kviteseidbyen. Other villages in Kviteseid ...

from 1683 until his death. A popular man in his parish who learned the local

dialect A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...

(at a time when most church officials and civil servants used Danish as a

working language A working language (also procedural language) is a language that is given a unique legal status in a supranational company, society, state or other body or organization as its primary means of communication. It is primarily the language of the dai ...

), he is noted for being the first to write poetry in dialect in Norway. His poem ''

Stolt Anne ''Stolt Anne'' is a poem written by Hans Paus, parish priest in Kviteseid, around 1700. The title character is Anne Clausdatter, owner of Borgestad Manor, one of the region's largest estates, and a first cousin of Paus' wife Susanne. The poem ...

'' (''ca.'' 1700), written in the Kviteseid dialect, became a popular folk song in

Telemark Telemark () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway. Telemark borders the counties of Vestfold, Buskerud, Vestland, Rogaland and Agder. In 2020, Telemark merged with the county of Vestfold to form the county o ...

. 12 verses were included in '' Norske Folkeviser'' (1853) by Magnus Brostrup Landstad and

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...

, a relative of Hans Paus, paraphrased the poem in the drama '' Lady Inger of Ostrat''. The poem honored Anne Clausdatter, the owner of Borgestad Manor and a relative of Paus. She rewarded him with an agricultural property ( Bukkøy) for it. He owned several agricultural properties in Kviteseid. Hans Paus was the son of Povel Pedersson Paus (1625–1682), parish priest in

, and Ingrid Corneliusdatter Trinnepol, who belonged to the

Skien Skien () is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the Norsjø area and Bø. The administrative ...

patriciate who had made a fortune in the sawmill industry (her family might originate in

Trinitapoli Trinitapoli ( Dauno-Appenninico: ''U Casòilǝ'') is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Barletta-Andria-Trani in the Apulia region of southeast Italy. A few kilometres from the town are the ruins of Salapia (later called Salpia and Salpi), ...

, Italy). Hans Paus married Susanne Amundsdatter Morland, daughter of the provost of

Øvre Telemark Upper Telemark () is a traditional district in Telemark county in Norway. The area includes the inland areas of Telemark. More than two-thirds of the total area of Telemark—more than —belong to the traditional region of Upper Telemar ...

Amund Hanssøn Morland. S. H. Finne-Grønn (1947). «Nogen oplysninger om presteslekten Morland». '' Norsk slektshistorisk tidsskrift'' vol. 11 s. 124-132 He succeeded his father-in-law as parish priest in Kviteseid. Amund Morland, of Danish origin, had succeeded Hans Paus' grandfather Peder Paus (born 1590) as the Kviteseid parish priest and provost; hence, the Paus and Morland families have been referred to as a dynasty of priests in

. S. H. Finne-Grønn (1943). ''Slekten Paus : dens oprindelse og 4 første generasjoner'' (s. 22). Oslo: Cammermeyer. Hans Paus' maternal grandparents were timber merchant, sawmill owner and councilman in Skien, Cornelius Jansen Trinnepol (1611–1678) and Anne Iversdatter (1605–1642), a daughter of councilman Iver Christensen and Margrethe von Ansbach. Susanne's maternal grandparents Christen Andersen and Anne Gundersdatter owned Borgestad Manor. Original painted portraits from 1685 of Hans and Susanne came in the possession of Christopher Tostrup Paus and are today found at Herresta in Sweden. Hans Paus was the brother of the judge of Øvre Telemark, Cornelius Paus (1662–1723), who used a coat of arms featuring a

wild man The wild man, wild man of the woods, woodwose or wodewose is a mythical figure and motif that appears in the art and literature of medieval Europe, comparable to the satyr or faun type in classical mythology and to ''Silvanus (mythology), Silvanu ...

. Hans Krag (1955). ''Norsk heraldisk mønstring 1699-1730'', Vol. I.

Notes

References

Literature

*D. A. Seip i Norsk Biografisk Leksikon, bd. 10 (1969) *Landstad, Magnus Brostrup: Norske folkeviser (1853) *Berge, Rikard: Bygdedikting fraa Telemarki (bd. 11, 1918) {{DEFAULTSORT:Paus, Hans Povelsson 1656 births 1715 deaths 17th-century Norwegian Lutheran clergy 18th-century Norwegian Lutheran clergy Norwegian male poets 17th-century Norwegian poets 18th-century Norwegian poets Hans History of Telemark People from Hjartdal