Saxo Grammaticus

Home > ... > Literature and the Arts > Scholars and Historians > Historians, European: Biographies > ...

Saxo Grammaticus

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | 2008 | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Saxo Grammaticus , c.1150-c.1220, the first important Danish historian. He was in the service of Absalon , archbishop of Lund, at whose suggestion Saxo wrote the Gesta Danorum (or Historia Danica ). The first nine books, translated (1893, repr. 1967) Danish History, are mostly composed of oral tradition and legends concerning the early Danes, including the story of Hamlet. The remaining seven books, dealing more with contemporary events, are an extremely valuable source for Danish history. The cognomen grammaticus [learned] was probably bestowed on Saxo after his death.

Bibliography: See R. G. Latham, Two Dissertations on the Hamlet of Saxo Grammaticus and Shakespear (1872, repr. 1973).

Hide all research tools
Print this article Print all entries for this topic Cite this article Link to this article
Link to this article

CloseClose

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1E1-SaxoGram" title="Facts and information about Saxo Grammaticus">Saxo Grammaticus</a>

Add this article to Del.icio.usBookmark this article on DiigoShare this article on FacebookSubmit this article to RedditGive this article a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon
Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"Saxo Grammaticus." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 26 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Saxo Grammaticus." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (December 26, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-SaxoGram.html

"Saxo Grammaticus." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Retrieved December 26, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-SaxoGram.html

Learn more about citation styles

Saxo Grammaticus

The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature | 2003 | | © The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature 2003, originally published by Oxford University Press 2003. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Saxo Grammaticus, a 13th-cent. Danish historian, author of the Gesta Danorum, a partly mythical Latin history of the Danes (which contains the Hamlet story).
Hide all research tools
Print this article Print all entries for this topic Cite this article Link to this article
Link to this article

CloseClose

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1O54-SaxoGrammaticus" title="Facts and information about Saxo Grammaticus">Saxo Grammaticus</a>

Add this article to Del.icio.usBookmark this article on DiigoShare this article on FacebookSubmit this article to RedditGive this article a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon
Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Saxo Grammaticus." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 26 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Saxo Grammaticus." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (December 26, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-SaxoGrammaticus.html

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Saxo Grammaticus." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved December 26, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-SaxoGrammaticus.html

Learn more about citation styles

Saxo Grammaticus

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable | 2006 | | © The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable 2006, originally published by Oxford University Press 2006. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Saxo Grammaticus a 13th century Danish historian, author of the Gesta Danorum, a partly mythical Latin history of the Danes (which contains the Hamlet story).
Hide all research tools
Print this article Print all entries for this topic Cite this article Link to this article
Link to this article

CloseClose

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1O214-SaxoGrammaticus" title="Facts and information about Saxo Grammaticus">Saxo Grammaticus</a>

Add this article to Del.icio.usBookmark this article on DiigoShare this article on FacebookSubmit this article to RedditGive this article a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon
Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Saxo Grammaticus." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford University Press. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 26 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Saxo Grammaticus." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford University Press. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (December 26, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-SaxoGrammaticus.html

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Saxo Grammaticus." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford University Press. 2006. Retrieved December 26, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-SaxoGrammaticus.html

Learn more about citation styles

Related research questions

Free newspaper and magazine articles

Free Article El "Hamlet" de Eugenio Barba.(dramaturgo)(Entrevista)
Magazine article from: Proceso; 11/4/2007
Free Article Not to Be.(Review)
Magazine article from: National Review; 3/20/2000
Free Article Medieval Polities and Modern Mentalities.(Book review)
Magazine article from: The Historian; 3/22/2009

Related topics

  Edit this list

Related articles from newspapers, magazines, and more

Saxo Grammaticus: Tra storiografia e letteratura.
Magazine article from: Scandinavian Studies; 3/22/1996; ; 700+ words ; ...that period, and for half a century Saxo played a somewhat subdued role in...Copenhagen, Saxostudier (1975) and Saxo Grammaticus: A Medieval Author between Norse...there seems to be a new awareness of Saxo's importance; witness Peter Fisher...
Harthgrepa (from Saxo Grammaticus, Gesta Danorum, book I).(Monsters of Fjord and Fen)(Critical essay)
Magazine article from: ANQ; 6/22/2007; ; 700+ words ; ...Danorum [History of the Danes], Saxo Grammaticus provides an intriguing Danish...Hand and the Child" folktale, Saxo's tale combines the hag traditional...present to draw our attention. Saxo Grammaticus's Gesta Danorum is a work of...
Invaders in the Castle: Odin Teatret's Ur-Hamlet at Kronborg Castle, Elsinore, Denmark
Magazine article from: Western European Stages; 10/1/2006; ; 700+ words ; ...Danish legend, written by Saxo-Grammaticus, which, through one or more...could not have been the home of Saxo-Grammaticus's Amlethus, as the castle...but nevertheless, it is. Saxo-Grammaticus's account (or creation...
Trolls in the Isefjord.(Part II. Beyond the Mere: Other Versions of Beowulfian Stories)
Magazine article from: ANQ; 6/22/2007; ; 700+ words ; ...as a nonmagical event, and Saxo Grammaticus tells it as a tale of shape...Danorum [History of the Danes], Saxo Grammaticus tells the strange story of the...when Christ was on the Earth. Saxo recounts that Frotho demanded...
Afterword: Amlaed (Hamlet).(Later Adventures of the Skjoldung Heroes)(Excerpt)
Magazine article from: ANQ; 6/22/2007; ; 700+ words ; ...and Rorik. (2) According to Saxo Grammaticus and others (such as Gesta Danorum...conforms most closely to the story by Saxo Grammaticus (History of the Danes, books...and may in fact be a summary of Saxo's story. The second version...
"Skjold": a song by N. F. S. Grundtvig.(Part II. Beyond the Mere: Other Versions of Beowulfian Stories)(Critical essay)
Magazine article from: ANQ; 6/22/2007; ; 700+ words ; ...Denmark begin not with Dan (as Saxo Grammaticus says), but rather with a certain...boat, "This story is not in Saxo, nor--so far as is known...Danish histories, such as that by Saxo Grammaticus, "Dan" is the founding figure...
Saxostudier og rigshistorie pa Valdemar Atterdags tid.
Magazine article from: Scandinavian Studies; 3/22/1996; ; 700+ words ; ...fourteenth century: an abbreviation of Saxo Grammaticus's Gesta Danorum (called Compendium...adopts only twenty-three percent of Saxo's text. The most severe cut is made in the last part of Saxo's work; much that Saxo tells of...
Dudone di San Quintino.
Magazine article from: Scandinavian Studies; 9/22/1997; ; 700+ words ; ...mannerist parallellism) to suggest that Saxo knew Dudo's work at first hand...conclusion in "Dudo of St-Quentin and Saxo Grammaticus" (11-28). Dudo as a source...had come from Denmark, and like Saxo, he gave them an eponymous ancestor...
El "Hamlet" de Eugenio Barba.(dramaturgo)(Entrevista)
Magazine article from: Proceso; 11/4/2007; ; 700+ words ; ...escrita en latn por el cronista dans Saxo Grammaticus el ao 1200, y traducida al francs...Shakespeare? --En la historia de Saxo, Hamlet no es el prncipe de Dinamarca...Itiandia, una regin de Dinamarca. En Saxo, desde el principio, Hamlet est...
Not to Be.(Review)
Magazine article from: National Review; 3/20/2000; ; 700+ words ; ...original version, which appeared in Saxo Grammaticus's History of the Danes (c. 1200...parts, roughly corresponding with Saxo, Belleforest, and Shakespeare...father and son. Updike begins with Saxo's Horwendil, a Viking warrior...

Pictures from Google Image Search

Click to see an enlarged picture
Click to see an enlarged picture
Click to see an enlarged picture

See more pictures of Saxo Grammaticus

For students and teachers!

Encyclopedia.com provides students and teachers facts, information, and biographies from verified, citable sources, including:

Encyclopedia.com provides students and teachers facts, information, and biographies from verified, citable sources, including:

Popular on Newser: