Gabriel Turville-Petre
Encyclopedia
Edward Oswald Gabriel Turville-Petre F.B.A.
(known as Gabriel) (25 March 1908 – 17 February 1978) was Professor of Ancient Icelandic Literature and Antiquities at the University of Oxford
. He wrote numerous books and articles in English and Icelandic on literature and religious history.
family in England, the fourth of the five children of Oswald and Margaret Petre (née Cave). His older brother was the archaeologist Francis Turville-Petre
. Gabriel was born at the ancestral home of Bosworth Hall
, Husbands Bosworth
, Leicestershire in 1908. He was educated at Ampleforth College
and at Christ Church, Oxford University. He studied for a B.Litt in English from 1931 – 1934 and was supervised by J. R. R. Tolkien
.
He studied Iceland
ic and early Scandinavia
n literature and traditions from an early age, first in England and later in Iceland (where he spent several years) and in other northern countries.
Turville-Petre married Joan Elizabeth Blomfield
on 7 January 1943. They had three sons: Thorlac Francis Samuel (born 6 January 1944), Merlin Oswald (born 2 July 1946) and Brendan Arthur Auberon (born 16 September 1948).
Turville-Petre was appointed the first Vigfusson Reader in Ancient Icelandic Literature and Antiquities at Oxford University in 1941, and was appointed Professor in 1953. He held the position until his retirement in 1975.
He was created a Knight of the Falcon (Iceland), a member of the Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy
(Sweden), and an honorary Life Member of the Viking Society for Northern Research. He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy
in 1973.
Turville-Petre bequeathed his personal library to the English Faculty Library of Oxford University (Icelandic Collections).
British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national body for the humanities and the social sciences. Its purpose is to inspire, recognise and support excellence in the humanities and social sciences, throughout the UK and internationally, and to champion their role and value.It receives an annual...
(known as Gabriel) (25 March 1908 – 17 February 1978) was Professor of Ancient Icelandic Literature and Antiquities at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
. He wrote numerous books and articles in English and Icelandic on literature and religious history.
Life
Gabriel Turville-Petre was born into a Catholic, landed gentryLanded gentry
Landed gentry is a traditional British social class, consisting of land owners who could live entirely off rental income. Often they worked only in an administrative capacity looking after the management of their own lands....
family in England, the fourth of the five children of Oswald and Margaret Petre (née Cave). His older brother was the archaeologist Francis Turville-Petre
Francis Turville-Petre
Francis Adrian Joseph Turville-Petre was a British archaeologist, famous for the discovery of the Neanderthal Galilee Man in 1925 and his work at Mount Carmel, in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine, now Israel. He was a close friend of Christopher Isherwood and W. H...
. Gabriel was born at the ancestral home of Bosworth Hall
Bosworth Hall (Husbands Bosworth)
Bosworth Hallis a 16th century west facing country house at Teddingworth Road, Husbands Bosworth, Leicestershire. A new and additional hall was built facing south west and adjoining the older house in about 1790. In about 1870 a Victorian Gothick wing was created to link the two buildings...
, Husbands Bosworth
Husbands Bosworth
Husbands Bosworth is a large crossroads village in South Leicestershire on the A5199 road from Leicester city to Northampton and the A4304 road from Junction 20 of the M1 motorway to Market Harborough....
, Leicestershire in 1908. He was educated at Ampleforth College
Ampleforth College
Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire, England, is the largest Roman Catholic co-educational boarding independent school in the United Kingdom. It opened in 1802, as a boys' school, and is run by the Benedictine monks and lay staff of Ampleforth Abbey...
and at Christ Church, Oxford University. He studied for a B.Litt in English from 1931 – 1934 and was supervised by J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
.
He studied Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
ic and early Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n literature and traditions from an early age, first in England and later in Iceland (where he spent several years) and in other northern countries.
Turville-Petre married Joan Elizabeth Blomfield
Joan Turville-Petre
Joan Elizabeth Turville-Petre was a noted academic at Oxford University, England, in the field of Anglo-Saxon, Icelandic and Scandinavian language studies....
on 7 January 1943. They had three sons: Thorlac Francis Samuel (born 6 January 1944), Merlin Oswald (born 2 July 1946) and Brendan Arthur Auberon (born 16 September 1948).
Turville-Petre was appointed the first Vigfusson Reader in Ancient Icelandic Literature and Antiquities at Oxford University in 1941, and was appointed Professor in 1953. He held the position until his retirement in 1975.
He was created a Knight of the Falcon (Iceland), a member of the Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy
Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy
The Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy in Uppsala is one of 18 Swedish royal academies and dedicated to the study of Swedish folklore. The name is often expanded to Kungl...
(Sweden), and an honorary Life Member of the Viking Society for Northern Research. He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy
British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national body for the humanities and the social sciences. Its purpose is to inspire, recognise and support excellence in the humanities and social sciences, throughout the UK and internationally, and to champion their role and value.It receives an annual...
in 1973.
Turville-Petre bequeathed his personal library to the English Faculty Library of Oxford University (Icelandic Collections).
Selected works
- "The Cult of Freyr in the Evening of Paganism" Proceedings of the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society 111(6):317-322 (1935)
- "The Traditions of Víga-Glúms Saga" Transactions of the Philological Society 54-75 (1936)
- Víga-Glúms Saga (ed. E. O. G. Turville-Petre) Clarendon Press, Oxford (1940)
- The Life of Gudmund the Good, Bishop of Holar Trans: E. O. G. Turville-Petre and E. S. Olszewska. Coventry, The Viking Society for Northern Research (1942)
- The Heroic Age of Scandinavia Hutchinson, London (1951)
- Origins of Icelandic Literature Clarendon Press, Oxford (1953)
- Hervarar Saga ok Heidreks (ed. E. O. G. Turville-Petre) London: University College London, for the Viking Society for Northern Research. Introduction by C. J. R. TolkienChristopher TolkienChristopher Reuel Tolkien is the third and youngest son of the author J. R. R. Tolkien , and is best known as the editor of much of his father's posthumously published work. He drew the original maps for his father's The Lord of the Rings, which he signed C. J. R. T. The J...
(1956) - Myth and Religion of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London (1964)
- "Fertility of Beast and Soil in Old Norse Literature" in Old Norse Literature and Mythology: A Symposium (ed. Edgar C. Polomé) University of Texas Press, Austin. 244–64 (1969)
- Scaldic Poetry Clarendon Press, Oxford (1976)
- Nine Norse Studies London: University College London, for the Viking Society for Northern Research (1972)
Sources
- Biographical notes in E. O. G. Turville-Petre's Myth and Religion of the North: The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London (1964)
- Dronke, Ursula; Helgadottir, Gudrun P.; Weber, Gerd Wolfgang and Bekker-Nielsen, Hans (1981) Speculum Norroenum: Norse Studies in Memory of Gabriel Turville-Petre Odense University Press, Odense
- Scull, C. and Hammond, W. G. (2006) The J. R. R. Tolkien Companion and Guide (2 vols) Harper Collins, London