| − | The name "Yorick" is apparently the English word "yore" recast as a Danish name, on the pattern of "Rorick." Thus, it means "a Danish person of yore." The name perfectly suits a Danish person of an earlier time. | + | The name "Yorick" is apparently the English word "yore" recast as a Danish name, on the pattern of "Rorick." Thus, it means "a Danish man of yore." The name perfectly suits a Danish person of an earlier time. |
| | The reason why Shakespeare used the pattern of "Rorick" may be discernible, or, one can make an informed guess, anyway. The obsolete English word "roric" is from the Latin and means "dewy." We recall Hamlet saying in Scene 2 how he wished his flesh would "Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew." Thus, Shakespeare expressly associated death with becoming "dewy." That implies "roric," or in terms of a Danish name, Rorick (or in more modern spelling, Roric, which exactly imitates the English word.) The name, Rorick/Rorik, does appear in Saxo's ''Amleth.'' (According to Saxo, Rorik was the Danish king at the time of Amleth; Amleth's father Horwendil and Horwendil's brother Feng were appointed, by Rorik, as co-rulers of Jutland.) | | The reason why Shakespeare used the pattern of "Rorick" may be discernible, or, one can make an informed guess, anyway. The obsolete English word "roric" is from the Latin and means "dewy." We recall Hamlet saying in Scene 2 how he wished his flesh would "Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew." Thus, Shakespeare expressly associated death with becoming "dewy." That implies "roric," or in terms of a Danish name, Rorick (or in more modern spelling, Roric, which exactly imitates the English word.) The name, Rorick/Rorik, does appear in Saxo's ''Amleth.'' (According to Saxo, Rorik was the Danish king at the time of Amleth; Amleth's father Horwendil and Horwendil's brother Feng were appointed, by Rorik, as co-rulers of Jutland.) |