Saxo Grammaticus

Saxo Grammaticus (c. 1150–c. 1220) was a Danish historian and cleric, born on Zealand and probably educated outside Denmark. He served Archbishop Absalon of Lund, chief adviser to Valdemar I, as clerk and secretary.

Under Absalon's patronage he composed the Gesta Danorum, a Latin history of the Danes in sixteen books, from their earliest legends to his own day. It is the first full history of Denmark, and its tale of Amleth later inspired Shakespeare's Hamlet.