Frederick York Powell

Frederick York Powell ( born January 4, 1850 in Bloomsbury, London, † 8 May 1904 in Oxford) was a historian. He was Regius Professor of Modern History at Oxford University.

He spent much of his youth in France and Spain, went to Rugby School and studied from 1868 to 1872 at the University of Oxford. After that, he became a lawyer ( admission 1874) and taught from 1874 Jura at Christ Church College in Oxford. In 1894 he was Regius Professor of Modern History.

He had many interests, dealt with Old Norse literature and worked here with Guðbrandur Vigfússon, but was also interested in French poetry and invited Paul Verlaine, Stéphane Mallarmé and Emile Verhaeren to lectures, Oxford. As a historian, he left fewer traces seemed inspiring as a teacher and he stimulated the study of medieval literature in the UK.

In 1901 he was made an honorary doctor in Glasgow. He was shortly before his death president of the Folklore Society.

Writings

  • With Gudbrand Vigfusson Corpus poeticum boreale: the poetry of the Old Northern tongue, from the earliest times to the thirteenth century, 2 vols, New York 1965
  • With Vigfusson: Norse mythology; the Elder Edda in prose translation, Archon Books 1974
  • With Vigfusson: Origen islandicae: a collection of the more important sagas and other native writings Relating to the settlement and early history of Iceland, Millwood 1976
  • Early England, up to the Norman conquest, New York: Harper 1877
  • Thomas Frederick Tout: History of England, 3 vols, Longmans, Green 1898 to 1900
  • Alfred the Great and William the Conqueror, London 1881
  • He also contributed to an issue of the Danish history of Saxo Grammaticus by Oliver Elton and other
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