Which legendary prince’s story inspired Shakespeare’s play Hamlet? Amleth is the answer.
Amleth is a legendary Jutish prince whose revenge story was recorded by the Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus in Gesta Danorum. In Saxo’s account, Amleth’s uncle Feng murders his father and marries his mother. Fearing that he will be killed next, Amleth pretends to be insane, using apparent foolishness to hide his intelligence and prepare revenge.
The parallels with Shakespeare’s tragedy are unmistakable: a murdered father, a usurping uncle, a prince who adopts feigned madness, a hidden observer killed in the mother’s chamber, and a final reckoning. Shakespeare’s Hamlet is not a direct retelling, however. The play also draws on later versions, especially François de Belleforest’s French adaptation and the lost play commonly called the Ur-Hamlet.
Amleth should not be confused with Shakespeare’s character himself. “Hamlet” is the English dramatic form, while Amleth is the older Scandinavian legendary figure. Shakespeare’s play was written around 1599–1602, centuries after Saxo’s account was composed.