Yorick

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Yorick was a King's jester, for King Hamlet, and he is dead at the time of Hamlet. His skull is unearthed at the graveyard, or at least the Clown Sexton claims it's his, and Hamlet uses the skull as his object of contemplation while making the famous "alas, poor Yorick" speech.

The name 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 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.)

One may speculate - only speculate - "Rorick" could have been the first thought for the name, based on the Amleth source, and to carry through on the "dewy" idea that Hamlet expressed earlier. However, if the name "Rorick" were used, there is an obvious problem with the sound. (One must never lose sight of the fact that the dialogue was written to be spoken.) In the phrase, "poor Rorick," the terminal '-r' of "poor" and the initial 'R-' of Rorick run together, and it makes the name sound like "Orick." That wouldn't do. The name Rorick would have been excellent for meaning, but unacceptable for sound in the phrase. So, a change in the initial letter of the name was dictated, and, building on the English word "yore" we get "Yorick," which is excellent for both sense and sound.

This is not to imply one can read Shakespeare's mind. It is an analysis to show a way the name "Yorick" could have been reached, founded directly upon the play dialogue ("dewy") and the Amleth source (Rorik) but with a change in the initial letter required for sound, (one cannot hear the name clearly in the phrase "poor Rorick.") The relevance of this analysis, is to ideas found in the history of Hamlet commentary, where various writers have supposed that "Yorick" is a corruption of "York," or, is an equivalent to the German name for "George," and other efforts have been made to try to associate "Yorick" with known proper names. I do not think those attempts, to associate "Yorick" with known proper names, have validity. I conclude that the name is most likely Shakespeare's coinage, to express a concept directly relevant to the immediate dialogue. Shakespeare, himself, should get all the credit for "Yorick," I believe.

Original spellings:

First Quarto -- Yoricke and the possessive is printed "Yorickes"

Second Quarto -- Yoricke but the possessive is printed "Yoricks"

First Folio -- Yorick and the possessive "Yoricks"

The character appears in: no Scene, but is a subject of speech in Scene 19.