DASENT, SIR GEORGE WEBBE (1817-1896).--Scandinavian scholar, _b._ in the island of St. Vincent, of which his _f._ was Attorney-general, _ed._ at Westminster School, King's Coll., London, and Oxf., he entered the diplomatic service, and was for several years Sec. to the British Embassy at Stockholm, where he became interested in Scandinavian literature and mythology. Returning to England he was appointed Assistant Ed. of _The Times_ (1845-1870). In 1852 he was called to the Bar, and in the following year was appointed Prof. of English Literature and Modern History at King's Coll., London, an office which he held for 13 years. He was knighted in 1876. His principal writings have to do with Scandinavian language, mythology, and folk-lore, and include an _Icelandic Grammar_, _The Prose or Younger Edda_ (1842), _Popular Tales from the Norse_ (1859), _The Saga of Burnt Njal_ (1861), and _The Story of Gisli the Outlaw_ (1866), mostly translated from the Norwegian of Asbjörnsen. He also translated the Orkney and Hacon Sagas for the Rolls Series, and wrote four novels, _Annals of an Eventful Life_, _Three to One_, _Half a Life_, and _The Vikings of the Baltic_. His style is pointed and clear. DAVENANT, or D'AVENANT, SIR WILLIAM (1606-1668).--Poet and dramatist, was _b._ at Oxf., where his _f._ kept an inn, which Shakespeare was in the habit of visiting. This had some influence on the future poet, who claimed to be Shakespeare's natural son. D., _ed._ at Lincoln Coll., was afterwards in the service of Lord Brooke, became involved in the troubles of the Civil War, in which he took the Royalist side, and was imprisoned in the Tower, escaped to France, and after returning was, in 1643, knighted. Later D. was employed on various missions by the King and Queen, was again in the Tower from 1650 to 1652, when he _pub._ his poem _Gondibert_. He is said to have owed his release to the interposition of Milton. In 1656 he practically founded the English Opera by his _Siege of Rhodes_ (1656). In 1659 he was again imprisoned, but after the Restoration he seems to have enjoyed prosperity and Royal favour, and established a theatre, where he was the first habitually to introduce female players and movable scenery. D. wrote 25 dramatic pieces, among which are _Albovine, King of the Lombards_ (1629), _Platonick Lovers_ (1636), _The Wits_ (1633), _Unfortunate Lovers_ (1643), _Love and Honour_ (1649). None of them are now read; and the same may be said of _Gondibert_, considered a masterpiece by contemporaries. D. succeeded Ben Jonson as Poet Laureate, and collaborated with Dryden in altering (and debasing) _The Tempest_. He _coll._ his miscellaneous verse under the title of _Madagascar_. He is said to have had the satisfaction of repaying in kind the good offices of Milton when the latter was in danger in 1660. He joined with Waller and others in founding the classical school of English poetry.