Norse mythology and Scandinavian studies

Rasmus B. Anderson

1846 – 1936

Rasmus Björn Anderson was a Norwegian-American scholar and diplomat who became the first professor of Scandinavian languages at the University of Wisconsin in 1875 and served as U.S. minister to Denmark from 1885 to 1889. His Norse Mythology (1875) was the first scholarly treatment of Norse mythology in English aimed at a general American audience, and his America Not Discovered by Columbus (1874) argued for pre-Columbian Norse exploration. He founded the Norwegian-American journal Amerika (1884) and was a major force in bringing Scandinavian cultural heritage to American readers.