Saxo Grammaticus

Saxo, drawn by the Norwegian illustratorLouis Moe.

Saxo Grammaticus(c. 1150– c. 1220), also known asSaxo cognomine Longus,was aDanishhistorian, theologian and author. He is thought to have been a clerk or secretary toAbsalon,Archbishop of Lund,the main advisor toValdemar I of Denmark.He is the author of theGesta Danorum,the first full history ofDenmark,from which the legend ofAmlethwould come to inspire the story ofHamletbyShakespeare.

Life

TheJutland Chroniclegives evidence that Saxo was born inZealand.It is unlikely he was born before 1150 and it is supposed that his death could have occurred around 1220. His name Saxo was a common name in medieval Denmark. The nameGrammaticus( "the learned" ) was first given to him in theJutland Chronicleand theSjælland Chroniclemakes reference to Saxocognomine Longus( "with thebyname'the tall'").

He lived in a period of warfare and Danish expansion, led by Archbishop Absalon and the Valdemars. TheDaneswere also being threatened by theWendswho were making raids across the border and by sea.Valdemar Ihad also just won a civil war and laterValdemar IIled an expedition across theElbeto invadeHolstein.

Sven Aggesen,a Danish nobleman and author of a slightly earlier history of Denmark than Saxo's, describes his contemporary, Saxo, as hiscontubernalis,meaningtent-comrade.This gives evidence that Saxo and Sven might have soldiered in theHirdor royal guard, since Sven used the wordcontuberniumin reference to them. There is also a Saxo to be found on a list ofclergyatLund,where there was a Sven recorded as Archdeacon. Likewise there is Dean Saxo who died in 1190; however, the date does not match what is known about Saxo.

Both arguments, for a secular or religious Saxo, would confirm that he was well educated; as clergy, he would have received training inLatinand sons of great men were often sent toParis.Saxo comes from a warrior family and writes that he is himself committed to being a soldier. He tells us that he follows "the ancient right of hereditary service", and that his father and grandfather "were recognized frequenters of your renowned sire's (Valdemar I) war camp".

Saxo's education and ability support the idea that he was educated outside Denmark. Some suggest the title "Grammaticus" refers not to his education but rather his elaborate Latin style.We know from his writing that he was in the retinue and received the patronage of Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, who was the foremost adviser to King Valdemar I. In his will Absalon forgives his clerk Saxo a small debt of two and a half marks of silver and tells him to return two borrowed books to the monastery ofSorø.The legacy of Saxo Grammaticus is the sixteen-book heroic history of theDanescalledGesta Danorum.

Gesta Danorum

Main article:Gesta Danorum

In the preface to the work, Saxo writes that his patronAbsalon(c. 1128– 21 March 1201),Archbishop of Lund, had encouraged him to write a heroic history of theDanes.The history is thought to have been started about 1185, after Sven Aggesen wrote his history.The goal ofGesta Danorumwas, as Saxo writes, "to glorify our fatherland", which he accomplishes on the model of Virgil'sAeneid.Saxo also may have owed much toPlatoandCicero,as well as to more contemporary writers likeGeoffrey of Monmouth.

Saxo's history of theDaneswas compiled from sources that are of questionable historical value but were to him the only ones extant. He drew on oral tales of the Icelanders, ancient volumes, letters carved on rocks and stone, and the statements of his patronAbsalonconcerning the history of which the Archbishop had been a part. Saxo's work was not strictly a history or a simple record of old tales, but rather, as Friis-Jensen puts it, "a product of Saxo's own mind and times".Westergaard writes that Saxo combines the history and mythology of the heroic age of Denmark, and reworks it into his own story that exemplifies the past of the Danes.

The history is composed of sixteen books, and extends from the time of the founders of theDanishpeople,Dan I of Denmarkand Angul, into about the year 1187. The first four books are concerned with the history of theDanesbeforeChrist,the next four books with their history after Christ, and books 9–12 with Christian Denmark, and books 13–16 promote Lund and exploits before and during Saxo's own lifetime.It is assumed that the last eight books were written first, as Saxo drew heavily on the work ofAbsalon(who died in 1201,before the work was completed) for evidence of the age ofSaint Canuteand Valdemar I.

The first eight volumes share a likeness with the works of Saxo's contemporarySnorri Sturluson.They deal with mythical elements such as giants and the Scandinavian pantheon of gods.Saxo tells of Dan the first king of Denmark, who had a brother named Angul who gave his name to theAngles.He also tells the stories of various otherDanishheroes, many of whom interact with the Scandinavian gods. Saxo's "heathen" gods, however, are not always good characters. They are sometimes treacherous, such as in the story of Harald, legendary king of theDanes,who was taught the ways of warfare byOdinand then was betrayed and killed by the god, who then brought him toValhalla.

Saxo's world is seen to have had very warlike values. He glorifies the heroes that made their names in battle far more than those who made peace. His view of the period of peace under KingFrodeis very low and is only satisfied when King Knut brings back the ancestral customs.Saxo's chronology of kings extends up to Saint Canute and his son Valdemar I. Saxo finished the history with the Preface, which he wrote last, inc. 1216under the patronage ofAnders Sunesen,who replaced Absalon as Archbishop of Lund. Saxo included in the preface warm appreciation of both Archbishops and of the reigning King Valdemar II.

Historical contribution

Of particular interest forShakespearescholars is the story ofAmleth,the first instance of the playwright'sHamlet.Saxo based the story on an oral taleof a son taking revenge for his murdered father. Christiern Pedersen, a Canon of Lund, collaborated withJodocus 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 ofGesta Danorum.Starting from that point, the knowledge of it began to spread within the academic community.Oliver Elton,who was the first to translate the first nine books ofGesta DanorumintoEnglish,wrote that Saxo was the first writer produced by Denmark.

Saxo's skill as aLatinistwas praised byErasmus,who wondered how "a Dane of that age got so great power of eloquence".LaterR. W. Chamberswould call Saxo's writings "difficult and bombastic, but always amusing Latin".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,and his poetry is thought to have traces ofparallelism.

Although Saxo is commonly viewed by modernDanesas their "first national historian",two other coherent accounts ofDanish historyby Danish authors predateGesta Danorum.They areChronicon Roskildense(English:Roskilde Chronicle), a small work written inLatin,completed inc. 1143,spanning from the introduction ofChristianityin Denmark to the author's own time.The next to be published wasBrevis historia regum Dacie,written bySven Aggesen(b.c. 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.

Saxo's works were received enthusiastically byRenaissanceera scholars, who were curious about the pre-Christianhistory and legends. Saxo's portrayals of history have been seen to differ greatly from those of his contemporaries, especiallyNorwegianandIcelandic,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 historianSven Aggesenfrom the same era.

These differences have to do with Saxo's elaboration andeuhemerismin his descriptions of mainlyScandinavianhistory and mythology,Saxo's account on the tale of Thyri, for instance, is considered to be far more fantastic than the same tale presented bySven.Saxo's work has been criticized for this reason.Kurt Johannesson's studiesexpanded greatly on the comprehension ofGesta 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,inspired by Johannesson's study of the fourcardinal virtuesinGesta Danorum,have studied other elaborations and schemes in the writings of Saxo. Some of them have concluded that Saxo, instead of simply distorting allegedly trueNordicandBaltictraditions and/or beliefs, was creating something new, attuned to the approaching13th centuryDanishrace to strengthen institutions and engage in theNorthern Crusades.

Importantly, Saxo Grammaticus appears to have changed his agenda after the death of his patronAbsalonin 1202. What eventually came to be the first nine books ofGesta Danorum,were actually written after the death ofAbsalon,and they focus largely on mythology, for which Saxo has been criticized.The contrast to the seven books written during the lifetime ofAbsalonis "'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 onAbsalon's memories. "Therefore, we prefer to support the composition order ofGesta Danorumas X–XVI, followed by I–IX, and ending with the preface ", says historian André Muceniecks.

See also

• 10462 Saxogrammaticus,asteroid

Editions

• Grammaticus, Saxo(1894),Elton, Oliver;Powell, Frederick York(eds.),The First Nine Books of the Danish History of Saxo Grammaticus,David Nutt: London
• Grammaticus, Saxo(1905),Elton, Oliver;Powell, Frederick York;Anderson, Rasmus B.;Buel, J.W. (eds.),The Nine Books of the Danish History of Saxo Grammaticus in Two Volumes,Norroena Society
  • In two volumes:Volume 1,1905;Volume 2,1905
  • e-text THE DANISH HISTORY, BOOKS I-IXe-text from Elton's 1905 edition viagutenberg.org
• Davidson, Hilda Ellis, ed. (1979),Saxo Grammaticus: The History of the Danes, Book I-IX,vol. I: Text, translated by Fisher, Peter, Cambridge: D. S. Brewer
• Davidson, Hilda Ellis, ed. (1980),Saxo Grammaticus: The History of the Danes, Book I-IX,vol. II: Commentary, translated by Fisher, Peter, Cambridge: D. S. Brewer
• Christiansen, Eric, ed. (1980–81),Danorum Regum Heroumque Historia, Books X-XVI. The Text of the first edition with translation and commentary in three volumes,Oxford: British Archaeological Reports
• Friis-Jensen, Karsten, ed. (2015),Saxo Grammaticus: The History of the Danes,vol. 1: Books I-X, translated by Fisher, Peter, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Friis-Jensen, Karsten, ed. (2015),Saxo Grammaticus: The History of the Danes,vol. 2: Books XI-XVI, translated by Fisher, Peter, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Bibliography

• Amory, Frederic (July 1989), "Saxo Grammaticus as Latin Poet: studies in the Verse Passages of the 'Gesta Danorum' by Karsten Friis-Jensen",Speculum(review),64(3): 701–706,doi:10.2307/2854215,JSTOR2854215
• Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911)."Saxo Grammaticus".Encyclopædia Britannica(11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
• Christiansen, Eric (April 1981), "Saxo Grammaticus, The History of the Danes, Vol. I by Peter Fisher, Hilda Ellis Davidson",The English Historical Review(review),96(379): 382–385,doi:10.1093/ehr/XCVI.CCCLXXIX.382,JSTOR568298
• Dumézil, Georges (1973), Coltman, Derek (ed.),From Myth to Fiction: The Saga of Hadingus,Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• Friis-Jensen, Karsten (2006), Mortensen, Lars Boje (ed.), "In the Presence of the Dead. Saint Canute the Duke in Saxo Grammaticus's Gesta Danorum",The Making of Christian Myths in the Periphery of Latin Christendom (c. 1000–1300),Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, pp. 195–216
• Johannesson, Kurt (1978),Saxo Grammaticus: Komposition och världsbild i Gesta Danorum,Stockholm: Lychnos-Bibliotek
• Jones, Gwyn (1968),A History of the Vikings,London: Oxford University Press
• Kværndrup, Sigurd (1999),Tolv principper hos Saxo: En tolkning af danernes bedrifter(in Danish), Copenhagen: Multivers Aps Forlag
• Malone, Kemp (January 1958), "Primitivism in Saxo Grammaticus",Journal of the History of Ideas,19(1): 94–104,doi:10.2307/2707955,JSTOR2707955
• Muceniecks, Andre (2017),Saxo Grammaticus: Hierocratical Conceptions and Danish Hegemony in the Thirteenth Century,Kalamazoo & Bradford: ARC Humanities Press
• Muir, Kenneth (Autumn 1984), "Saxo Grammaticus and the Life of Hamlet: A Translation, History and Commentary. By William F. Hansen",Shakespeare Quarterly(review),35(3): 370–372,doi:10.2307/2870387,JSTOR2870387
• Remy, Arthur (1913)."Saxo Grammaticus".In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).Catholic Encyclopedia.New York: Robert Appleton Company.
• Sawyer, P. H. (1982),Kings and Vikings: Scandinavia and Europe AD 700-1100,New York: Methuen & Co.
• Westergaard, Waldemar (June 1952), "Danish History and Danish Historians",The Journal of Modern History,24(2): 167–180,doi:10.1086/237500,JSTOR1872564,S2CID143180277

External links

• Works by Saxo GrammaticusatProject Gutenberg
• Works by Saxo GrammaticusatLibriVox(public domain audiobooks)
• MyNDIR (My Norse Digital Image Repository)Illustrations from manuscripts and early print books by Saxo Grammaticus.