The Origin

Where It Comes From

William Shakespeare is known to have based many of his plays on old myths and legends and Hamlet is no exception. Hamlet was originally based on a Norse* legend, written by a man called Saxo Grammaticus in Latin around 1200 AD. Of the many stories Saxo has written, most speak of the Danish monarchy including History of the Danes.

In Saxo's version of the story,  there was a king called Rorik of the Danes and he had two brother, Orvendil and Fengi who rule over Jutland. Orvendil marries King Rorik's daughter Geruth and they have a son called Amleth (Shakespeare's character of Hamlet). However, Fengi wanted Geruth for himself and wants to rule over the whole of Jutland himself. He kills his brother, Orvendil and marries Geruth. The son of Orvendil, Amleth is terrified and pretends to be completely mad, to avoid certain death. However, he secretly plans his revenge on his uncle to become the rightful king of the land.

Saxo's original story is obviously very similar to the play we all know as Hamlet. The characters are easy to identify and place.

However, as it is generally accepted that Shakespeare got this story from Saxo Grammaticus, there is also evidence that suggests he got it from another Norse legend by Thomas Kyd, the Ur-Hamlet. There are no surviving copies of Ur-Hamlet and all we know is that it was once performed on a London stage and it was a tragedy.

"To be or not to be, that is the question"