Editing Saxo Grammaticus (section)

== Historical contribution ==
Of particular interest for [[Shakespeare]] scholars is the story of [[Amleth]], the first instance of the playwright's [[Hamlet]]. Saxo based the story on an oral tale{{sfn|Muir|1984|p= 370}} of a son taking revenge for his murdered father. Christiern Pedersen, a Canon of Lund, collaborated with [[Jodocus Badius Ascensius]], a fellow enthusiast, to print the work of Saxo Grammaticus early in the sixteenth century. This was the first major step toward securing the historical significance of {{Lang|la|[[Gesta Danorum]]}}. Starting from that point, the knowledge of it began to spread within the academic community.{{sfn|Davidson|1980|p=3}} [[Oliver Elton]], who was the first to translate the first nine books of {{Lang|la|Gesta Danorum}} into [[English language|English]], wrote that Saxo was the first writer produced by Denmark.

Saxo's skill as a [[Classical Latin|Latinist]] was praised by [[Erasmus]], who wondered how "a Dane of that age got so great power of eloquence".{{sfn|Davidson|1980|p=3}} Later [[R. W. Chambers]] would call Saxo's writings "difficult and bombastic, but always amusing Latin".<ref>Quoted in C. Tolkien ed, ''J. R. R. Tolkien: Beowulf'' (2015), p.154</ref> There have been many attempts to understand the type of Latin language used by Saxo, and to juxtapose it in history, to provide more information on where he was educated. Some have considered his Latin to have more in common with legal than with ecclesiastical training,{{sfn|Davidson|1980|p=10}} and his poetry is thought to have traces of [[parallelism (rhetoric)|parallelism]].{{sfn|Amory|1989|p= 702}}

Although Saxo is commonly viewed by modern [[Danish people|Danes]] as their "first national historian",{{sfn|Davidson|1980|p= 2}} two other coherent accounts of [[History of Denmark|Danish history]] by Danish authors predate {{Lang|la|Gesta Danorum}}. They are {{Lang|la|[[Chronicon Roskildense]]}} ([[English language|English]]: ''Roskilde Chronicle''), a small work written in [[Latin]], completed in {{Circa|1143}}, spanning from the introduction of [[Christianity]] in Denmark to the author's own time.<ref>{{cite web|url=  http://www.roskildehistorie.dk/1100/billeder/litteratur/kroenikken/kroenikken.htm  |title=Roskildekrøniken   |publisher=roskildehistorie.dk |access-date=December 1, 2018}}</ref> The next to be published was ''Brevis historia regum Dacie'', written by [[Sven Aggesen]] (b. {{Circa|1140–1150}} – death unknown), thought to have been finished in 1186 or 1187 (the last event described happened in 1185), covering the years 300–1185.{{sfn|Jones|1968|p=44}}<ref>[[Chambers Biographical Dictionary]], {{ISBN|0-550-18022-2}}, page 1.</ref><ref>Inge Skovgaard-Petersen, in Knut Helle, ed. ''The Cambridge History of Scandinavia'', vol. I, p. 355.</ref>

Saxo's works were received enthusiastically by [[Renaissance]] era scholars, who were curious about the pre-[[Christianity|Christian]] history and legends. Saxo's portrayals of history have been seen to differ greatly from those of his contemporaries, especially [[Norwegians|Norwegian]] and [[Icelanders|Icelandic]], including portrayals of various historical characters as either heroes or villains. There are also differences between Saxo's work and that of the fellow Danish historian [[Sven Aggesen]] from the same era.

These differences have to do with Saxo's elaboration and [[euhemerism]] in his descriptions of mainly [[Scandinavia]]n history and mythology,{{sfn|Muceniecks|2017|p=53ff}}{{sfn|Muceniecks|2017|p= 175}} Saxo's account on the tale of Thyri, for instance, is considered to be far more fantastic than the same tale presented by [[Sven Aggesen|Sven]]. Saxo's work has been criticized for this reason.{{sfn|Sawyer|1982|p= 14–16}} Kurt Johannesson's studies{{sfn|Johannesson|1978}} expanded greatly on the comprehension of {{Lang|la|Gesta Danorum}}, deviating from the approach that focuses mostly on mythology, and allowing the development of a wider understanding of Saxo's works.

Recently some scholars, such as Sigurd Kværndrup,{{sfn|Kværndrup|1999}} inspired by Johannesson's study of the four [[cardinal virtues]] in {{Lang|la|[[Gesta Danorum]]}}, have studied other elaborations and schemes in the writings of Saxo. Some of them have concluded that Saxo, instead of simply distorting allegedly true [[Nordic countries|Nordic]] and [[Balts|Baltic]] traditions and/or beliefs, was creating something new, attuned to the approaching [[13th century]] [[Danes|Danish]] race to strengthen institutions and engage in the [[Northern Crusades]].{{sfn|Muceniecks|2017|p= 67; 175f.}}

Importantly, Saxo Grammaticus appears to have changed his agenda after the death of his patron [[Absalon]] in 1202. What eventually came to be the first nine books of {{Lang|la|[[Gesta Danorum]]}}, were actually written after the death of [[Absalon]], and they focus largely on mythology, for which Saxo has been criticized.{{sfn|Sawyer|1982|p= 14–16}} The contrast to the seven books written during the lifetime of [[Absalon]] is "'enormous,' leading the main core of scholars to divide the two parts into mythical (books I–IX) and historical (books X–XVI), the last of the historical books being based on [[Absalon]]'s memories. "Therefore, we prefer to support the composition order of {{Lang|la|Gesta Danorum|italic=no}} as X–XVI, followed by I–IX, and ending with the preface", says historian André Muceniecks.<ref>[http://academia.edu/8764881/The_Thematic_of_the_Counselor_in_the_Gesta_Danorum_and_the_Strengthening_of_the_danish_Hegemony_in_the_medieval_Baltic_Area ''"The 'Thematic of the Counselor' in the {{Lang|la|Gesta Danorum|italic=no}} and the Strengthening of the danish Hegemony in the medieval Baltic Area."''] An abstract of a study by André Muceniecks.</ref>