Laurence Marcellus Larson (September 23, 1868 – March 9, 1938) was a Norwegian born, American educator, historian, writer and translator. His notable works included his translation from

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

of '' Konungs skuggsjá'' (Harvard UP, 1917).

Biography

Laurence Larson was born at

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

in Hordaland, Norway. He was the son of Christian Spjutoy Larson (1840–1919) and Ellen Mathilde (Bruland) Larson (1839–1916). He emigrated to the United States with his family in May 1870. He studied at

Drake University Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. The University offers over 140 undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, education, Legal education, law, and pharmacy. Drake U ...

and the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

. Larson was appointed to the UW faculty as a Scandinavian languages and history professor on April 17, 1906, but resigned later that year, on June 27. He joined the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1907 and was appointed chair of the history department in 1923, joining another renowned scholar of Scandinavanian studies at Illinois, George T. Flom. Larson continued teaching at UIUC until his September 1937 retirement. Larson was named a trustee of the Illinois State Historical Library in 1923. He was elected to the presidency of the

American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world, claiming over 10,000 members. Founded in 1884, AHA works to protect academic free ...

in 1938, but died of acute bronchitis in Urbana, Illinois, aged 69, before completing his term.

Selected works

*''The Federal Compact of 1787''. Madison: Bulletin of the University of Wisconsin (1900) *''The King's Household in England Before the Norman Conquest''. Madison: Bulletin of the University of Wisconsin (1904) *''A Financial and Administrative History of Milwaukee''. Madison: Bulletin of the University of Wisconsin (1908) *"The Political Policies of Cnut as King of England." '' The American Historical Review'', Vol. 15, No. 4 (July, 1910): 720-743. *''Canute the Great the Rise of Danish Imperialism during the Viking Age''.

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

: Knickerbocker Press (1912) *"The Voyages To Vinland the Good." ''Publications of the Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study'', Vol. 2, No. 2 (March, 1915): 113-117. *''A Short History of England and the British Empire''. New York: Henry Holt (1915) *''The King’s Mirror''. New York: The American-Scandinavian Foundation (1917) *''The Responsibility for the Great War''. Urbana:

University of Illinois Press The University of Illinois Press (UIP) is an American university press and is part of the University of Illinois System. Founded in 1918, the press publishes some 120 new books each year, thirty-three scholarly journals, and several electroni ...

(1918) *"The Church in North America (Greenland) in the Middle Ages." '' The Catholic Historical Review'', Vol. 5, No. 2/3 (July - Oct., 1919): 175-194. *"The Kensington Rune Stone". ''The Wisconsin Magazine of History'', Vol. 4, No. 4 (June, 1921): 382-387. *"Did John Scolvus Visit Labrador and New-Foundland in or about 1476?" ''Scandinavian Studies and Notes'', Vol. 7, No. 3 (May, 1922): 81-89. *''The Earliest Norwegian Laws: Being the Gulathing Law and the Frostathing Law''. New York: Columbia University Press (1935) *''The Changing West: And Other Essays''. Northfield, Minn.:

Norwegian-American Historical Association Norwegian American Historical Association is a non-profit, member-supported organization dedicated to locating, collecting, preserving and interpreting the Norwegian-American experience. It publishes scholarly books and maintains a historical arc ...

(1937) *''The Log Book of a Young Immigrant''. Northfield, Minn.: Norwegian American Historical Association (1939) **review by Martin B. Ruud: "Review of ''The Log Book of a Young Immigrant''" by Laurence M. Larson. '' Minnesota History'', Vol. 21, No. 1 (March, 1940): 64-68.

References

Other sources

Larson, Laurence Marcellus (1939) ''The Log Book of a Young Immigrant'' (Norwegian-American Historical Association)Laurence M. Larson Papers, 1876–1938 , University of Illinois Archives

External links

*Larsen, Laurence M.: "Scientific Knowledge in the North in the Thirteenth Century." In: ''Publications of the Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study'', Vol. 1, No. 4 (November, 1913), pp. 139-146. *
''The King's Mirror'' (Speculum regale-Konungs skuggsjá) translated from Old Norse by Laurence Marcellus LarsonOnline Books by Laurence Marcellus Larson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Larson, Laurence M. 1868 births 1938 deaths Norwegian emigrants to the United States Translators to English 20th-century Norwegian translators Norwegian–English translators Scandinavian studies scholars Old Norse studies scholars American medievalists American historians Drake University alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty Infectious disease deaths in Illinois Deaths from bronchitis Presidents of the American Historical Association