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

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

''.

Life

Dasent was born 22 May 1817 at St. Vincent,

British West Indies The British West Indies (BWI) were colonized British territories in the West Indies: Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grena ...

, the son of the attorney general, 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 (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

, King's College London, and

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

, where he befriended classmate J.T. Delane. After graduating from university in 1840 with a degree in Classical literature, he was appointed secretary to Thomas Cartwright on a diplomatic post in Stockholm, Sweden. There he met

Jakob Grimm Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm (4 January 1785 – 20 September 1863), also known as Ludwig Karl, was a German author, linguist, philologist, jurist, and folklorist. He is known as the discoverer of Grimm's law of linguistics, the co-author of th ...

, at whose recommendation he first became interested in

Scandinavian literature Scandinavian literature or Nordic literature is the literature in the languages of the Nordic countries of Northern Europe. The Nordic countries include Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway (including Svalbard), Sweden, and Scandinavia's assoc ...

and Norse mythology. 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 Rasmus Kristian Rask (; born Rasmus Christian Nielsen Rasch; 22 November 1787 – 14 November 1832) was a Danish linguist and philologist. He wrote several grammars and worked on comparative phonology and morphology. Rask traveled extensively to ...

'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 he married. Dasent's connections to Prussian diplomat

Christian Charles Josias von Bunsen Christian Charles or Karl Josias von Bunsen (25 August 1791 – 28 November 1860), also known as , was a German diplomat and scholar. Life Early life Bunsen was born at Korbach, an old town in the German principality of Waldeck. His fa ...

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. In 1853, he was appointed professor of English literature and modern history at King's College London. In 1859 he published ''Popular Tales from the Norse'', his translation of ''

Norwegian Folktales ''Norwegian Folktales'' ( no, Norske folkeeventyr) is a collection of Norwegian folktales and legends by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe. It is also known as ''Asbjørnsen and Moe'', after the collectors. Asbjørnsen and Moe Asbj� ...

'' (''Norske Folkeeventyr'') collected by

Peter Christen Asbjørnsen Peter Christen Asbjørnsen (15 January 18125 January 1885) was a Norwegian writer and scholar. He and Jørgen Engebretsen Moe were collectors of Norwegian folklore. They were so closely united in their lives' work that their folk tale collections ...

and

Jørgen Moe Jørgen Engebretsen Moe (22 April 1813–27 March 1882) was a Norwegian folklorist, bishop, poet, and author. He is best known for the '' Norske Folkeeventyr'', a collection of Norwegian folk tales which he edited in collaboration with Pe ...

, 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, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

, where he was hailed in

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

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 country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, though he was already a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

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 Arthur Irwin Dasent (8 May 1859 – 21 November 1939) was a British civil servant, miscellaneous writer, and biographer of his uncle John Thadeus Delane. Arthur Irwin Dasent, the youngest son of Sir George Webbe Dasent, was born in 1859 in Westmi ...

, and the elder son was Sir John Roche Dasent. Another son, George William Manuel Dasent (1849–1872), drowned near

Sandford-on-Thames Sandford-on-Thames, also referred to as simply Sandford, is a village and Parish Council beside the River Thames in Oxfordshire just south of Oxford. The village is just west of the A4074 road between Oxford and Henley. Early history In 1086 ...

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 Rawlins ...

cites Dasent's story 'Soria Moria Castle' as a possible name-source for the

Mines of Moria Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging *Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun Mi ...

. *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

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