SAXO GRAMMATICUS (c. 1150—c. 1206), Danish his torian and poet, belonging to a family of warriors, his father and grandfather having served under Valdemar I., king of Denmark (d. 1182). Saxo was in the service of Archbishop Absalon from about 1182 to 1201. At the archbishop's suggestion he began, about 1185, to write the history of the Danish Christian kings from the time of Sweyn Astridson (d. 1076), but later Absalon prevailed on him to write also the history of the earlier heathen times, and to combine both into a great work, Gesta Danorum, or Historia Danica. The archbishop died before the work was finished, and therefore the preface, written about 1208, dedicates the work to his successor Archbishop Andreas, and to King Valde mar II. Nothing else is known about Saxo's life and person; a chronicle of 1265 calls him "mirae et urbanae eloquentiae cleri cus"; and an epitome of his work from about 1340 describes him as "egregius grammaticus, origine Sialandicus." The surname of "Grammaticus" is probably of later origin, scarcely earlier than 15oo, apparently owing to a mistake. The title of "provost of Roskilde," given him in the 16th century, is also probably incorrect, the historian being confounded with an older contemporary, the provost of the same name. Saxo, from his apprenticeship as the archbishop's secretary, had acquired a brilliant but somewhat euphuistic Latin style, and wrote fine Latin verses, but otherwise he does not seem to have had any very great learning or extensive reading. His models of style were Valerius Maximus, Justin and Martianus Capella, especially the last. Occasionally he mentions Bede, Dudo of St. Quentin and Paulus Diaconus, but he does not seem to have studied them or any other historical works thoroughly. His sources are partly Danish traditions and songs, partly the statements of Archbishop Absalon, partly the accounts of Icelanders and, lastly, some few earlier sources, lists of Danish kings and short chronicles, which furnished him with some reliable chronological facts. His work is a loose series of biographies of Danish kings and heroes.
The first nine books of the Gesta Danorum comprise traditions of kings and heroes of the half-mythical time up to about 95o. Here we have traditions about Fredfrode, about Amleth (Hamlet) and Fenge, about Hrolfr Kraki, Hadding, the giant Starkather, Harald Hildetann and Ragnarr Lodbrok. In this earlier history Saxo has also embodied myths of national gods who in tradition had become Danish kings, for instance, Balder and Hother, and of foreign heroes, likewise incorporated in Danish history, as the Gothic Jarmunrik (A.S. Eormenric), the Anglian Vermund (A.S. Garmund) and Uffe (A.S. Offa), the German Hedin and Hild and others. Frequently the narrative is interrupted by translations of poems, which Saxo has used as authentic sources, although they are of ten only a few generations older than himself. In the later books (x.—xvi.) of his work he follows to a greater extent historical accounts, and the more he approaches his own time the fuller and the more trustworthy his relation becomes ; especially brilliant is his treatment of the history of King Valde mar and of Absalon. But his patriotism and want of critical sense often blind him to the historical truth.
Saxo's work was published for the first time, from a ms. afterwards lost, in Paris, 1514, by the Danish humanist Christiern Pedersen ; this edition was reprinted at Basel, 1534, and at Frankfort, 1576. The last complete edition is that of Alfred Holder (Strassburg, 1886). There is an English translation by 0. Elton and F. Y. Powell (London, 1894). There is a later edition of the first nine books of Saxo's works, Saxo Grammaticus: Die ersten neon Biicher der cliinischen Geschichte (ed. H. Jantzen, 1899-1900) ; and a commentary and German trans., P. Hermann, Erliiuterungen zu den ersten neon Biichern der clanischen Geschichte des Saxo Grammaticus (1901-02). There is also a new Danish edition, Sakses Danesaga (ed. J. Glick, 1925), and a Danish study of Saxo's life and work, S. C. Larsen, Saxo Grammaticus, hens Verk og Person (1925).