SL
The basics
Quick facts
Intro
Scottish travel writer and translator
Gender:
Male
Places:
Is:
Birth:
1780
Death:
1868
Family:
Children:
The details
Biography
Introduction
Samuel Laing (1780 – 1868) from Papdale in Orkney was a Scottish travel writer. He travelled in Scandinavia and northern Germany and published descriptions of these countries.
Laing's son, also named Samuel Laing, was a railway administrator and important writer on religion and science, and a Liberal Member of Parliament.
Works
- Journal of a residence in Norway during the years 1834, 1835, and 1836, 1836
- A tour in Sweden in 1838, 1839
- In this work, the author strongly criticises the Swedish-Norwegian union, implying that Norway ought to strive for independence. This caused a comment from the Swedish-Norwegian ambassador in London, M. Björnstierna, On the moral state and political union of Sweden and Norway, 1840.
- Notes of a traveller, 1842
- Covers journeys in Prussia and other countries. The preface contains a response to Björnstierna.
- Heimskringla. The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway, 3 vols., 1844
- English translation of the 13th-century Icelandic work by Snorri Sturluson, Heimskringla.