(_From the Latin of Saxo Grammaticus, but interspersed._)
Florwendillus, king of Jutland, married Geruthra, or Gertrude, the only
daughter of Ruric, king of Denmark. The produce of this union was a son,
called Amlettus. When he grew towards manhood, his spirit and
extraordinary abilities excited the envy and hatred of his uncle, who,
before the birth of Amlettus, was regarded as presumptive heir to the
crown. Fengo, which was the name of this haughty prince, conceived a
passion for his sister-in-law, the queen; and meeting with reciprocal
feelings, they soon arranged a plan, which putting into execution, he
ascended the throne of his brother and espoused the widowed princess.
Amlettus, (or Hamlet,) suspecting that his father had died by the hand
or the devices of his uncle, determined to be revenged. But perceiving
the jealousy with which the usurper eyed his superior talents, and the
better to conceal his hatred and intentions, he affected a gradual
derangement of reason, and at last acted all the extravagance of an
absolute madman. Fengo's guilt induced him to doubt the reality of a
malady so favourable to his security; and suspicious of some direful
project being hidden beneath assumed insanity, he tried by different
stratagems to penetrate the truth. One of these was to draw him into a
confidential interview with a young damsel, who had been the companion
of his infancy; but Hamlet's sagacity, and the timely caution of his
intimate friend, frustrated this design. In these two persons we may
recognise the Ophelia and Horatio of Shakspeare. A second plot was
attended with equal want of success. It was concerted by Fengo that the
queen should take her son to task in a private conversation, vainly
flattering himself that the prince would not conceal his true state from
the pleadings of a mother. Shakspeare has adopted every part of this
scene, not only the precise situation and circumstances, but the
sentiments and sometimes the very words themselves. The queen's
apartment was the appointed place of conference, where the king, to
secure certain testimony, had previously ordered one of his courtiers to
conceal himself under _a heap of straw;_ so says the historian; and
though Shakspeare, in unison with the refinement of more modern times,
changes that rustic covering for the royal tapestry, yet it was even as
Saxo Grammaticus relates it. In those primitive ages, straw, hay, of
rushes, strewed on the floor, were the usual carpets in the chambers of
the great. One of our Henrys, in making a progress to the north of
England, previously sent forward a courier to order _clean straw_
at every house where he was to take his lodging. But to return to the
subject.
The prince, suspecting there might be a concealed listener, and that it
was the king, pursued his wild and frantic acts, hoping that by some
lucky chance he might discover his hiding-place. Watchful of all that
passed in the room, as he dashed from side to side, he descried a little
movement of the uneasy courtier's covering. Suddenly Hamlet sprung on
his feet, began to crow like a cock, and flapping his arms against his
sides, leaped upon the straw; feeling something under him, he snatched
out his sword and thrust it through the unfortunate lord. The barbarism
of the times is most shockingly displayed in the brutal manner in which
he treats the dead body; but for the honour of the Danish prince, we
must suppose that it was not merely a wanton act, but done the more
decidedly to convince the king, when the strange situation of the corpse
was seen, how absolutely he must be divested of reason. Being assured he
was now alone with his mother, in a most awful manner he turns upon her,
and avows his madness to be assumed; he reproaches her with her wicked
deeds and incestuous marriage; and threatens a mighty vengeance upon the
instigator of her crime.
In the historian we find that the admonitions of Hamlet awakened the
conscience of the queen, and recalled her to penitence and virtue. The
king, observing the change, became doubly suspicious of the prince; and
baffling some preliminary steps he took to vengeance; Hamlet was
entrapped by him into an embassy to England. He sent along with him two
courtiers, who bore private letters to the English monarch, requesting
him, as the greatest favour he could confer on Denmark, to compass, by
secret and by sure means, the death of the prince as soon as he landed.
Hamlet, during the voyage, had reason to suspect the mission of his
companions; and by a stratagem obtaining their credentials, he found the
treacherous mandate; and changing it for one wherein he ordered the
execution of the two lords, he quietly proceeded with them to the
British shore. On landing, the papers were delivered, and the king,
without further parley, obeyed what he believed to be the request of his
royal ally; and thus did treason meet the punishment due to its crime.
The daughter of the king being charmed with the person and manners of
the foreign prince, evinced such marks of tenderness, that Hamlet could
not but perceive the depth of his conquest. He was not insensible to her
attractions; and receiving the king's assent, in the course of a few
days led her to the nuptial altar. Amidst all joys, he was, however,
like a perturbed ghost that could not rest; and before many suns had
rose and set, he obtained a hard wrung leave from his bride, once more
set sail, and appeared at Elsineur just in time to be a witness of the
splendid rites which Fengo (supposing him now to be murdered) had
prepared for his funeral. On the proclamation of his arrival, he was
welcomed with enthusiasm by the people, whose idol he was, and who had
been overwhelmed with grief when Fengo announced to them his sudden
death in England. The king, inflamed with so ruinous a disappointment,
and becoming doubly jealous of his growing popularity, now affected no
conciliation, but openly manifested his hatred and hostility. Hamlet
again had recourse to his pretended madness, and committed so many
alarming acts, that Fengo, fearing their direction, ordered his sword to
be locked in its scabbard, under a plea of guarding the lunatic from
personal harm, After various adventures, at last the prince accomplished
the death of his uncle's adherents, and vengeance on the fratricide
himself, by setting fire to the palace during the debauch of a midnight
banquet. Rushing amidst the flames, he kills Fengo with his own hand,
reproaching him at the moment with his murder, adultery, and incest.
Immediately on this act of retribution he was proclaimed lawful
successor to the throne, and crowned with all due solemnity.
Thus far Shakspeare treads in the steps of the annalist; the only
difference is in the fate of the hero; in the one he finds a kingdom, in
the other a grave. Saxo Grammaticus carries the history further; and
after the crowning of Hamlet as king, brings him again into Britain,
where, in compliment to that land of beauty, he marries a second wife,
the daughter of a Scottish king. Hamlet brought both his wives to
Denmark, and prepared for a long life of prosperity and peace. But the
sword hung over his head; war burst around him, and he fell in combat by
the hand of Vigelotes, son of Ruric. Saxo Grammaticus sums up his
character in a few words: "He was a wise prince and a great warrior.
Like Achilles, he had the principal actions of his life wrought on his
shield. The daughter of the king of Scotland casting her eye on it,
loved him for the battles he had won, and became his bride."
* * * * *