 Lane began his studies in 1922 at the University of Iowa, where he studied under Henning Larsen and received his first award, the "Early English Text Society Prize".In 1926, he graduated first of his class, and in 1927 obtained a Master of Arts in English.This was followed by studies in Reykjavík, where he learned Sanskrit, as well as in Paris, where he studied under Meillet, Vendryes and Benveniste.