[LEAPSECS] "How would it possibly be relevant?"

[Poul-Henning Kamp]

In message <4D22B9E2-194A-414C-ADAE-F531C8FDE747 at noao.edu>, Rob Seaman writes:


>Should Hamlet be taken as an accurate history of Denmark?


It has long been throught not, but recent archeology has in fact
validated a number of features in the original 'Amled' folk tale,
as written down my Saxo Grammaticus in the 1100's sometime.

The tale as told by Saxo is thought to be around 500 years older
than himself, and has a very "episodic" and memorable story line
which would lend itself to be told and retold again and again.

We have a stone-grave called "Amleds grave", but it has never been
definitively linked to the man in the tale:

	http://www.fortidsmindeguide.dk/Hamlets-Grav.br015.0.html

However, about five years ago archeologists were able to link a
number of features of the present day landscape to the descriptions
in the tale, and came to the conclusion that at the story seems
to check out in this aspect also.

Shakespeares adaptation of the story takes a lot of liberties, but
preserve a number of the rather unusual features of the tale, such
as the "spurious trip to england".  Amongst the liberties are to
move the action up 500-1000 years, move it to Kronborg Castle, add
a ghost and totally change Amleds relationship with the fair sex.

I can highly recommend you read the original version of the tale,
there are very readable translations of Saxos "Gesta Danorum" ("Deeds
of the Danes") and there are many good stories therein in addition
to Amleds tragedy.   If you are really hardcore, you read the original
latin.

Likewise, should you ever pass by Denmark, you shoul try to visit
both Hamlets and Amleds haunts.

To summ up:

Yes, in fact, Amled seems to check out as accurate history of
Denmark, as long as you don't waste you time on that british guy
who mangled it.

Poul-Henning


PS: A bad analogy is like a wet screwdriver.

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