Sir George Webbe Dasent, D. C. L. (1817–1896) was a British lawyer, translator of folk tales and contributor to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

''.

Life

Dasent was born 22 May 1817 at St. Vincent,

British West Indies The British West Indies (BWI) were the territories in the West Indies under British Empire, British rule, including Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Antigua and Barb ...

, the son of the

attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

, John Roche Dasent. His mother was the second wife of his father; Charlotte Martha was the daughter of Captain Alexander Burrowes Irwin. He was educated at

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

, and

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, where he befriended classmate J.T. Delane. After graduating from university in 1840 with a degree in

Classical literature Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek and Roman literature and their original languages, ...

, he was appointed secretary to Thomas Cartwright on a diplomatic post in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, Sweden. There he met Jakob Grimm, at whose recommendation he first became interested in Scandinavian literature and

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...

. He published the first result of his studies, an English translation of ''The Prose or Younger Edda'' (1842), followed by a translation of Rasmus Christian Rask's ''Grammar of the Icelandic or Old-Norse Tongue'' (1843). Returning to England in 1845, he became assistant editor of ''

'' under his schoolmate Delane, whose sister, Frances Louisa, he married in 1846. Dasent's connections to Prussian diplomat

Christian Charles Josias von Bunsen Christian Charles Josias, Baron von Bunsen (; 25 August 1791 – 28 November 1860), was a German diplomat and scholar. He worked in the Papal States and England for a large part of his career. Life Early life Bunsen was born at Korbach, a ...

has been credited with significantly contributing the paper developing its foreign policy. While working for the newspaper, Dasent still continued his Scandinavian studies, publishing translations of various Norse stories. He also read for the Bar and was called in 1852 by the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

, and was admitted to

Doctors' Commons Doctors' Commons, also called the College of Civilians, was a society of lawyers practising civil law (legal system), civil (as opposed to common) law in London, namely ecclesiastical and admiralty law. Like the Inns of Court of the common lawye ...

as an advocate the same year. In 1853, he was appointed professor of English literature and modern history at

. In 1859 he published ''Popular Tales from the Norse'', his translation of '' Norwegian Folktales'' (''Norske Folkeeventyr'') collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe, including in it an "Introductory Essay on the Origin and Diffusion of Popular Tales." Perhaps his best-known work, ''The Story of Burnt Njal'', a translation of the Icelandic '' Njal's Saga'' that he had first attempted while in Stockholm, was issued in 1861. This work established sustained interest in Icelandic literature, so that more translations would follow. Dasent made a visit during 1861-1862 to

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

, where he was hailed in

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

as one of the saga lovers who had strengthened ties between the English and Norse. Subsequent to that visit, he published his translation of '' Gisli the Outlaw'' (1866). In 1870, he was appointed a civil service commissioner and consequently resigned his post at ''The Times''. In 1876 he was knighted in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, though he was already a Danish knight. Dasent retired from the public service in 1892 and died at Ascot on 11 June 1896. He was survived by his wife, two sons, and a daughter, Frances Emily Mary (born 1855). The younger son was the writer and civil servant Arthur Irwin Dasent, and the elder son was Sir John Roche Dasent. Another son, George William Manuel Dasent (1849–1872), drowned near Sandford-on-Thames. He also wrote “The Vikings of the Baltic” in

1875 Events January * January 1 – The Midland Railway of England abolishes the Second Class passenger category, leaving First Class and Third Class. Other British railway companies follow Midland's lead during the rest of the year (Third C ...

, a novel set during the

Viking Age The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...

Influence

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

cites Dasent's story 'Soria Moria Castle' as a possible name-source for the Mines of Moria. *Tolkien also adapted Dasent's image of 'the bones and the soup' to argue against neglecting stories for source studies: "By 'the soup' I mean the story as it is served up by the author or teller, and by 'the bones' its sources or material".T. A. Shippey, ''The Road to Middle-Earth'' (1992) p. 255

Notes

References

* * "Introduction," ''The Story of Burnt Njal''. London: J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd., 1911. * ''Life of Delane'' (1908), by Arthur Irwin Dasent.

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dasent, George Webbe English translators Old Norse studies scholars Alumni of King's College London Academics of King's College London 1817 births 1896 deaths People educated at Westminster School, London Icelandic–English translators Norwegian–English translators Swedish–English translators 19th-century British translators Members of the Middle Temple British barristers Members of Doctors' Commons