Saxo Grammaticus (ca. 1150 - ca. 1220) was a Danish medieval historian of whose life little is known. It is thought that his life was spent during the latter half of the 12th century and that he was born in Zealand. The sixteen books of Danish history of this time, known as the Gesta Danorum, are attributed to him.

Certain aspects of Saxo Grammaticus’ "The History of the Danes" formed the basis for William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet. It is thought that Shakespeare never read The History of the Danes, and instead had access to an auxiliary version of the tale describing the downfall of the Prince of Denmark, whose real name was an anagram of Hamlet, Amleth. Saxo’s version is very similar to that of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. In Saxo's version, two brothers, Orvendil and Fengi are given the rule over Jutland by King Rorik of the Danes. Soon after, Orvendil marries King Rorik’s daughter, Geruth (Gertrude in Hamlet). Amleth is their first and only child. Fengi becomes resentful of his brother’s marriage, and also wants sole leadership of Jutland, so therefore murders Orvendil. After a very brief period of mourning, Fengi marries Geruth, and declares himself sole leader of Jutland. Eventually, Amleth avenges his father’s murder and plans the murder of his uncle, making him the new and rightful king of Jutland.

External links

• Project Runeberg on Saxo Grammaticus and Gesta Danorum:
  • http://www.lysator.liu.se/runeberg/authors/saxo.html

• English Book I - IX: Online Medieval and Classical Library
• Latin version Book I - XVI:
  • The Royal Danish Library