TEXT:
CLAUDIUS
A very riband in the cap of youth,
Yet needful too; for youth no less becomes
The light and careless livery that it wears
Than settled age his sables and his weeds,
Importing health and graveness. Two months since,
Here was a gentleman of Normandy:
I've seen myself, and served against, the French,
And they can well on horseback: but this gallant
Had witchcraft in't; he grew unto his seat;
And to such wondrous doing brought his horse,
As he had been incorpsed and demi-natured
With the brave beast: so far he topped my thought,
That I, in forgery of shapes and tricks,
Come short of what he did.
LAERTES
A Norman was't?
CLAUDIUS
A Norman.
LAERTES
Upon my life, Lamond.
CLAUDIUS
The very same.
LAERTES
I know him well: he is the brooch indeed
And gem of all the nation.
NOTES:
Sable
A little reminder of our earlier discussion of sables: as well as being a rather luxurious (and warm) fur, to which Hamlet referred earlier in the play, there's a long tradition of sable being a colour used in heraldry. Sable shows up in several royal coats of arms throughout Europe, and is often matched with argent, or silver. Shakespeare's own coat of arms is described thus, in a draft from October 1596:
The arms are blazoned. “Gold, on a bend sable, a spear of the first, steeled argent [a gold spear tipped with silver on a black diagonal bar]; and for his crest, or cognizaunce a falcon his wings displayed argent, standing on a wreath of his colours, and supporting a spear gold steeled as aforesaid, set upon a helmet with mantles and tassels as hath been accustomed.”
Normandy
Normandy, in northern France, is one of the most consistently interesting locations in European history. Given its proximity to the British mainland, it spent occasional periods of its history under English control, and of course the Norman invasions likewise changed the course of history. Normandy’s strategic importance extended well into the twentieth century, when it was the site of important landings during the Second World War.
Lamond/Lamort
As promised within the episode, you can access the essay discussing whether our French horseman is called Lamond or Lamort by clicking here.