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After two masterful hits in The Witch and The Lighthouse, director Robert Eggers' next film was inevitably going to be a big topic of conversation. Little is known about the film, but perhaps some interesting hints can be gathered by looking back into the film's apparent source; the tale of Amleth.
Robert Eggers has directed only the aforementioned two feature films, but his unique style and incredible direction has helped him stand out as a grand new talent. Eggers was tapped to remake the beloved 1922 classic Nosferatu in 2015, and the project seems to be in motion. The director's other announced project is The Northman, which just unveiled its first trailer.
In The Northman, Alexander Skarsgard portrays a character named Amleth, described as a Viking prince on a quest to avenge his murdered father. Ethan Hawke is cast as Horwendil and Claes Bang is cast as Feng, respectively Amleth's father and uncle. These scant pieces of information come alongside a smattering of other character names, setting details, and director comments to point clearly to the film's source material. The Northman would be the closest thing to full adaptation Eggers has created. Lighthouse began as a loose adaptation of an unfinished Edgar Allen Poe story, but gradually became its own work. Based on the limited details and the new trailer, The Northman is a modern dramatization of a classic tale, in the model of David Lowery's The Green Knight. This is a fascinating direction for Eggers' work, and while it's certain that the director will be taking some artistic liberties, perhaps the basic plot will follow that of Amleth's story.
Set in Iceland, the film is based on an old story famous in the nation which is believed to have originated sometime around the 10th century. The story's primary expert was an author called Saxo, who was tasked with creating a full history of Denmark. The story of Amleth was the most famous entry in that historical encyclopedia. The first appearance of the tale and its evolution are both in dispute, but the tale is an integral one to Scandanavian and Icelandic myth. There is also a fair amount of wavering in the story itself, as multiple versions change details and aspects for new audiences. The Northman seems to be a more in-depth exploration of this semi-complete story, weaving in some of Eggers' stellar eye for period accuracy to create a compelling narrative.
The story of Amleth is a simple one, fans of anagrams might have noticed that the hero's name is a slight reordering away from the name of Shakespeare's Danish Prince. Yes, Amleth is the direct inspiration of The Tragedy of Hamlet, the longest and perhaps most influential of the 39 plays written by William Shakespeare. Inspiring the bard to compose Hamlet is the primary legacy of the tale of Amleth, which has led to the original tale being somewhat obscure as Norse myth goes. The two stories are similar in a variety of ways, but Hamlet is something of an adaptation, so there are a handful of key changes. Hamlet is a more complex and fleshed-out story, rich with emotional detail and catharsis, while Amleth's story is more utilitarian. This could be a side effect of the tale undergoing numerous translations before its modern incarnation and the fact that the story's earliest versions may well be lost to history.
Amleth is the Prince of Denmark, son of the nation's Queen Gerutha and King Horwendil. Amleth's uncle Feng, taken by jealous rage, kills Horwendil and assumes the throne. Feng convinces his sister-in-law to marry him, claiming that his murder was justified and that her former husband despised her. Terrified of becoming the next victim, Amleth feigns madness to avoid Feng's wrath. Feng engineers tests of Amleth's will, prompting him with the affection of a young woman to force the young man to drop the facade. He instructs Gerutha to speak to Amleth in private, leaving a spy nearby in hopes Amleth will reveal himself to his mother.
Amleth subsequently kills the spy, establishing to Feng's satisfaction that he is mentally sound. Feng sends the young man to England with a pair of unnamed attendants and a letter ordering his execution, but Amleth discovers the letter and carefully alters it. Amleth's edited letter sends his handlers to the gallows, and convinces the King of England to marry off his daughter to Amleth. Now a prince of two nations, Amleth remains in England for a year before returning to seek vengeance. Amleth enacts his long-formed scheme, setting his uncle's classic ablaze and slaying his uncle with his blade in the chaos. Amleth is successful, but unlike Hamlet, survives his encounter with revenge, going on to marry another woman and slay another father-in-law before his death and famous burial.
Amleth is a tale of vengeance and family, royalty and subterfuge, war and violence, and it will finally receive its day in the sun. Drowned out by Hamlet, The Northman will introduce this lesser-known, near millennium-old Norse myth to a new audience, doubtlessly with a powerful Robert Eggers twist.