A Hamlet from Småland, Sweden

• In the judgement book of 1604 from the province of Småland in the south of Sweden, there is an interesting case, where a thief named Jon is called an amblet. The only possible explanation for the word is that it is an appellative use of the name Hamlet in the form it has in the Saxo tradition: Amlethus etc. Since it is presented as an extenuating circumstance that Jon ‘was an amblet’ when he stole, the meaning ‘lunatic, madman’ suggests itself.

Ämnesord

HUMANIORA  -- Språk och litteratur -- Studier av enskilda språk (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Languages and Literature -- Specific Languages (hsv//eng)

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Scandinavian Languages

Nordiska språk

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