This week, on Myths and Legends, it's the origin of Shakespeare's Hamlet,

and we'll see that the Bard's best work is inspired by a medieval saga,

with way more poop smearing than you would think. The creature this time is, well, super sad Big Bird.

This is Myths and Legends, Episode 215, Madness.

This is a podcast where I tell stories from mythology and folklore. Some are incredibly

popular stories you might think you know, but with surprising origins. Others are stories that

might be new to you, but are definitely worth listening. As I said at the top of the episode,

today is the inspiration for the inspiration for Shakespeare's Hamlet. We'll talk more about that

at the end of the episode. But for some background, today's story comes from a 13th century Danish writer,

and it's set in the late 7th century, early 8th century. So, after King Arthur, but just before

the Viking Age, it doesn't really matter though. Because it mainly sticks to some legendary kings,

and doesn't really try to tie itself to history. We'll jump in with Amleth, who, yes,

is technically an anagram for Hamlet, but more specifically, is Hamlet, with the age at the

end of the name instead of the beginning. Anyway, like the play starts, we'll pick up with Amleth

getting some very bad news. Was it Ear Poison? Amleth asked about the death of his father?

Where do you get the idea of Ear Poison? I just say your dad is dead and your uncle killed him.

What even is Ear Poison? The messenger from the royal court asked.

You're asking a lot of questions about Ear Poison that are pretty much answered by the phrase

Ear Poison. Amleth, the Prince of Denmark, clarified. The messenger nodded true enough, but no,

it wasn't Ear Poison. Fang, the king's brother, just stabbed him a bunch of times. Amleth nodded

thoughtfully, and asked what his mother, the queen, thought about all of this. The messenger replied

that she seemed to be taking it well. Already apparently moved on, too. She married Fang,

...