William Paton Ker (1855-1923) was a Scottish literary scholar and essayist. An absolute master in the comparative study of literature, he was among the most erudite critics of his time: no branch of literary activity and almost no European literature remained alien to him. He was an active member of the Dante Society of Oxford and played a leading part in the development of the University College of London.
During his life Ker wote many essays. Among his most important works it is necessary to mention: Epic and Romance (1897), The Dark Ages (1904), Essays on Medieval Literature (1905), The Art of Poetry (1923), Collected Essays (post., 1925), Form and Style in Poetry (post., 1928).
In the essay Sturla the Historian (Claredon Press, Oxford 1906), Ker addresses the fascinating and amazing world of the Viking sagas and the figure of Sturla Thórdarson, an Icelandic chieftain and writer of sagas and contemporary history during the 13th century, whose life was chronicled in the Sturlunga Saga.