George Stephens (13 December 1813 – 9 August 1895) was an English archeologist and philologist, who worked in Scandinavia, especially on interpreting

runic inscriptions A runic inscription is an inscription made in one of the various runic alphabets. They generally contained practical information or memorials instead of magic or mythic stories. The body of runic inscriptions falls into the three categories of E ...

. Born at

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, Stephens studied at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. In 1834, he married Mary Bennett and moved to Sweden, studying Scandinavian medieval literature and folklore. His collection of fairy tales together with Gunnar Olof Hyltén-Cavallius was often reprinted. Stephens moved to Denmark, became a lecturer in English at

Copenhagen University The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public research university in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. The University of Copenhagen c ...

in 1851, and a professor in 1855. He published regularly in ''

The Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1907, ceasing publication altogether in 1922. It was the first to use the term ''m ...

''. In 1860, he published the first edition of the

Waldere "Waldere" or "Waldhere" is the conventional title given to two Old English fragments, of around 32 and 31 lines, from a lost epic poem, discovered in 1860 by E. C. Werlauff, Librarian, in the Danish Royal Library at Copenhagen, where it is still ...

fragments. In 1877,

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

made him

doctor honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

. His brother was the Methodist minister Joseph Rayner Stephens. He died at

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

in 1895. He was the grandfather of Florence Stephens.

Bibliography

* ''Conversational outlines of English grammar: intended as an easy introduction to that language...'' (1837) * ''Förteckning öfver de förnämsta brittiska och fransyska handskrifterna uti Kongl. bibliotheket i Stockholm'' (1847) * ''Revenge, or Woman's Love: a melodrama in five acts'' (1857) (

Eric the Victorious Eric the Victorious (Old Norse: ''Eiríkr inn sigrsæli'', Modern Swedish: ''Erik Segersäll''; c. 945 – c. 995) was a Swedish monarch as of around 970. Although there were earlier Swedish kings, he is the first Swedish king in a consecutive re ...

is one of the protagonists) * ''The rescue of Robert Burns, February 1759'' (1859) * ''Two Leaves of King Waldere's Lay'' (1860) * ''The Old-Northern runic monuments of Scandinavia and England'', 4 volumes (1866–1901) * ''Old Norse fairy tales'' (1882) * ''The runes: whence came they'' (1894)

References

1813 births 1895 deaths Academics from Liverpool English archaeologists English philologists Runologists Collectors of fairy tales Alumni of University College London Academic staff of the University of Copenhagen {{writingsystem-stub