Editing Gesta Danorum (section)

=== Manuscripts ===
The original manuscripts of the work are lost, except for four fragments: the [[Angers Fragment]], [[Lassen Fragment]], [[Kall-Rasmussen Fragment]] and [[Plesner Fragment]]. The Angers Fragment is the biggest fragment, and the only one attested to be in [[Saxo Grammaticus|Saxo]]'s own handwriting. The other ones are copies from {{Circa|1275}}. All four fragments are in the collection of the [[Danish Royal Library]] in [[Copenhagen]], Denmark.

The text has, however, survived. In 1510–1512, [[Christiern Pedersen]], a Danish translator working in Paris, searched Denmark high and low for an existing copy of Saxo's works, which by that time was nearly all but lost. By that time most knowledge of Saxo's work came from a summary located in ''[[Chronica Jutensis]]'', from around 1342, called ''[[Compendium Saxonis]]''. It is also in this summary that the name {{Lang|la|Gesta Danorum}} is found. The title Saxo himself used for his work is unknown.

Christiern Pedersen finally found a copy in the collection of Archbishop [[Birger Gunnersen]] of [[Lund]], Skåne (Skåne is now part of [[Sweden]], but at the time was still part of Denmark), which he gladly lent him. With the help of printer [[Jodocus Badius]], {{Lang|la|Gesta Danorum}} was refined and printed.