DASENT, SIR GEORGE WEBBE English writer, was born in St. Vincent, West Indies, and educated at Westminster school, King's College, and Oxford. In 184o he was appointed to a diplomatic post in Stockholm. Here he met Jacob Grimm, and at his suggestion first interested himself in Scandi navian literature and mythology. Returning to England in 1845, he became assistant editor of The Times under Delane, whose sister he married. In 1853 he was appointed professor of English literature and modern history at King's College, London. In 1861-62 he visited Iceland. In 187o he was appointed a civil service commissioner and resigned his post on The Times. He was knighted in 1876, and retired from the public service in 1892. He published, besides other translations, The Story of Burnt N jal, from the Icelandic of the N jals Saga (1861), and Gisli the Outlaw (1866).
See Arthur Irwin Dasent the Life of Delane 0908).