Dasent, Sir George Webbe

(1817-1896)

   Scandinavian scholar, b. in the island of St. Vincent, of which his f. was Attorney-general, ed. at Westminster School, King's Coll., London, and Oxf., he entered the diplomatic service, and was for several years Sec. to the British Embassy at Stockholm, where he became interested in Scandinavian literature and mythology. Returning to England he was appointed Assistant Ed. of The Times (1845-1870). In 1852 he was called to the Bar, and in the following year was appointed Prof. of English Literature and Modern History at King's Coll., London, an office which he held for 13 years. He was knighted in 1876. His principal writings have to do with Scandinavian language, mythology, and folk-lore, and include an Icelandic Grammar, The Prose or Younger Edda (1842), Popular Tales from the Norse (1859), The Saga of Burnt Njal (1861), and The Story of Gisli the Outlaw (1866), mostly translated from the Norwegian of Asbjörnsen. He also translated the Orkney and Hacon Sagas for the Rolls Series, and wrote four novels, Annals of an Eventful Life, Three to One, Half a Life, and The Vikings of the Baltic. His style is pointed and clear.