Saxo Grammaticus

Saxo Grammaticus lived around 1150 to 1220 and likely worked as a clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, who served as the main advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark. A historian, theologian, and author, he produced the Gesta Danorum, the first comprehensive history of Denmark. The work chronicled the kingdom's past and preserved old Norse legends in Latin prose. Among those tales was the story of Amleth, a prince feigning madness to avenge his father — a narrative that would surface centuries later on the English stage, transformed but recognizable.