Absalon first appears in Saxo Grammaticus's contemporary chronicle Gesta Danorum at the end of the civil war, at the brokering of the peace agreement between Sweyn III and Valdemar at St. Alban's Priory, Odense.

He was also interested in history and culture, and commissioned Saxo Grammaticus to write Gesta Danorum, a comprehensive chronicle of the history of the Danes.

Saxo Grammaticus ' Gesta Danorum was not finished until after the death of Absalon, but Absalon was one of the chief heroic figures of the chronicle, which was to be the main source of knowledge about early Danish history.

* Saxo, Gesta Danorum, ed.

Tales concerning the Skjöldungs, possibly originating as early as the 6th century, were later used as a narrative basis in such texts as Gesta Danorum by Saxo Grammaticus and Hrólfs saga kraka.

Some scholars see Beowulf as a product of these early tales along with Gesta Danorum and Hrólfs saga kraka.

The battle of Högni and Heðinn is recorded in several medieval sources, including the skaldic poem Ragnarsdrápa, Skáldskaparmál ( section 49 ), and Gesta Danorum: king Högni's daughter, Hildr, is kidnapped by king Heðinn.

The first is found in Christiern Pedersen's " Danske Krønike ", which is a sequel to Saxo ’ s Gesta Danorum, written 1520 – 23.

The Danish flag from the front page of Christiern Pedersen ’ s version of Saxo ’ s Gesta Danorum, 1514.

* Gesta Danorum

Saxo Grammaticus wrote in his Gesta Danorum another story about Frigg:

" ( Gesta Danorum, Book I )

In Saxo's Gesta Danorum, however, the gods and goddesses are heavily euhemerized, and Saxo's view on pagan deities is extremely biased, therefore most stories related to pagan gods written in it might not exist in ancient lore.

Gesta Danorum ( Angers Fragment ), page 1, front.

Gesta Danorum (" Deeds of the Danes ") is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th century author Saxo Grammaticus (" Saxo the Literate ", literally " the Grammarian ").

Consisting of sixteen books written in Latin on the invitation of Archbishop Absalon, Gesta Danorum describes Danish history and to some degree Scandinavian history in general, from prehistory to the late 12th century.

In addition, Gesta Danorum offers singular reflections on European affairs in the High Middle Ages from a unique Scandinavian perspective, supplementing what has been handed down by historians from Western and Southern Europe.

When exactly Gesta Danorum was written is the subject of numerous works ; however, it is generally agreed that Gesta Danorum was not finished before 1208.

It is also in this summary that the name Gesta Danorum is found.

With the help of printer Jodocus Badius, Gesta Danorum was refined and printed.

* Alfred Holder, published 1886, title: Saxonis Grammatici Gesta Danorum

* Jørgen Olrik & Hans Ræder, published 1931, title: Saxonis Gesta Danorum

It is thought that Shakespeare never read Gesta Danorum, and instead had access to an auxiliary version of the tale describing the downfall of the Prince of Denmark, whose real name-Amleth-was used in anagram by Shakespeare for Hamlet.

The Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus recorded an alternative version of this myth in his Gesta Danorum.

* 1514 – Jodocus Badius Ascensius publishes Christiern Pedersen's Latin version of Saxo ’ s Gesta Danorum, the oldest known version of that work.

All versions of the speech except that by Fulcher of Chartres were probably influenced by the chronicle account of the First Crusade called the Gesta Francorum ( dated c. 1102 ), which includes a version of it.

* May 15 – Jodocus Badius Ascensius publishes Christiern Pedersen's Latin version of Saxo ’ s Gesta Danorum, the oldest known version of that work.

* Dudonis gesta Normannorum-Dudo of St. Quentin Gesta Normannorum Latin version at Bibliotheca Augustana

In the 14th century, a version of " The Tale of Attaf " also appears in the Gesta Romanorum and Giovanni Boccaccio's The Decameron.

* Another version of Gesta Danorum ( in Danish )

They are the version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle written at Peterborough Abbey ( ASC ), the Domesday Book ( DB ), the Liber Eliensis ( Book of Ely ) and, much the most detailed, the Gesta Herewardi ( Gesta ).

On the other hand, the original version of the Gesta was written in explicit praise of Hereward ,; much of its information was provided by men who knew him personally, principally, if the preface is to be believed, a former colleague in arms and member of his father's former household named Leofric the Deacon.

John of Fordun's version in the Gesta Annalia appears to suggest a peaceful settlement to the affair, and both Fordun and Hoveden follow the report of the revolt and its ending by stating that the king led an expedition into Galloway where he eventually defeated Fergus, Lord of Galloway and took his son Uchtred as a hostage while Fergus became a monk at Holyrood, dying there in 1161.

In the 14th century, a version of this tale also appears in the Gesta Romanorum and Giovanni Boccaccio's The Decameron.

According to Fulcher of Chartres who wrote a version of the speech in Gesta Francorum Jerusalem Expugnantium, Urban addressed various abuses of the church such as simony and the lack of adherence to the Peace of God:

In Gesta Dei per Francos by Robert the Monk, writing about twenty years after the council, an extended version of the speech presents the call to the " race of the Franks " as a peroration climaxing Urban's call for orthodoxy, reform and submission to the Church.

A Latinized version, Horvandillus, is given as the name of the father of Amleth in Saxo Grammaticus ' Gesta Danorum.

In the Skáldskaparmál section of the Prose Edda, Snorri Sturluson quotes a poem by the skald Snæbjörn, which could be considerably older than the version found in Gesta Danorum and Chronicon lethrense.

In the second quarter of the 13th century, a version in Latin verse, the Gesta Regum Britanniae, was produced by William of Rennes.

There is also a second version in Gesta Danorum, concerning the adventures of Starkad, and which is based on the old warrior who restarted the conflict between the Heaðobards and the Danes.

* The best-known modern treatment of the legend is the German ballad Die Bürgschaft, written in 1799 by Friedrich Schiller, based on the Gesta Romanorum version.

Saxo Grammaticus in Gesta Danorum ( book 6 ) refers to a similar version relating a magic transformation, but prefers or invents a more rational account in which Starkad tied the osier very tightly so that Víkar could hardly breathe and then stabbed Víkar with his sword.