author

E. M. Smith-Dampier

Best known for bringing Danish and Norse ballads into English, this early 20th-century writer and translator left behind a small but distinctive body of verse and retellings. Her work has a strong storytelling feel, drawing on myth, legend, and traditional song.

2 Audiobooks

The Norse King's Bridal

The Norse King's Bridal

by E. M. Smith-Dampier

Ballads from the Danish and Original Verses

by E. M. Smith-Dampier

About the author

E. M. Smith-Dampier was an early 20th-century writer, translator, and editor whose surviving publications center on Scandinavian ballads and folklore. Catalog records connect her with books including Ballads from the Danish and Original Verses (1910), The Norse King's Bridal: Translations from the Danish and Old Norse, with Original Ballads (1912), More Ballads from the Danish and Original Verses (1914), Danish Ballads (1920), and a translation of Stories and Legends of Annam (1920).

Her books suggest a writer deeply interested in traditional literature and the movement of stories across languages. Rather than writing only original poetry, she also helped introduce English-language readers to Danish and Old Norse material, blending translation, adaptation, and original verse in a way that gave old tales a fresh audience.

Very little biographical information about her appears to be readily confirmed in the sources I found, so details such as her full name, dates, and personal background are unclear. Even so, her published work points to a literary career shaped by folklore, ballad traditions, and a clear affection for northern legend.