Page:Hamlet - The Arden Shakespeare - 1899.djvu/17

 story of Amlethus in the third and fourth books of his History of the Danes. The reader will find an English version in Mr. Elton's translation of Saxo. The Northern Hamlet legends, oral or written, are mingled by Saxo with borrowings from the old Roman story of Lucius Junius Brutus. Horwendil and his brother Feng rule Jutland under King Rorik of Denmark. Horwendil slays Koll, king of Norway, and marries Gerutha, the daughter of King Rorik; their son is Amleth. Feng, jealous of his brother, slays Horwendil, and takes Gerutha to wife. Amleth feigns to be dull of wits and little better than a beast, while secretly planning vengeance. He baffles the courtiers by riddling words, which for them are nonsense, but are really significant. A girl, his foster-sister, is placed in his way, in the hope that his conduct may betray his true state of mind; his foster-brother warns him of the snare, and he baffles his enemies. A friend of Feng, "more confident than wise," proposes to act as eavesdropper during an interview between Amleth and his mother. Amleth, crowing like a cock, flapping his arms like wings, and leaping hither and thither, discovers the eavesdropper hidden under straw, stabs him and brutally disposes of the body. He explains to his mother that his madness is feigned and that he plans revenge, and he gains her over to his side. His uncle sends Amleth to Britain, with two companions, who bear a letter graven on wood, requesting the king to slay Amleth. The letter is altered by Amleth, and his companions are put to death. His adventures in Britain do not affect Shakespeare's play. He returns, makes the courtiers drunk, nets them in hangings knitted by his