THE ALPHA-BESTIARY
E is for Edelweiss,
The elephant from Elsinore
Who vowed she’d never be a bothersome bore,
So educated herself in all things intellectual,
Of nature animal, vegetable, or mineral.
She stored up clever remarks for parties,
And brilliant ideas for seminars.
Alas! Poor Edelweiss! Her neighbors were apes
Whose sole conversation consisted of japes
About the pusillanimity of pachyderms
And the possible proscription of proboscides
That extended beyond the person’s chin.
E is for Edelweiss,
The elephant from Elsinore
Who vowed she’d never be a bothersome bore,
So educated herself in all things intellectual,
Of nature animal, vegetable, or mineral.
She stored up clever remarks for parties,
And brilliant ideas for seminars.
Alas! Poor Edelweiss! Her neighbors were apes
Whose sole conversation consisted of japes
About the pusillanimity of pachyderms
And the possible proscription of proboscides
That extended beyond the person’s chin.
William Shakespeare set most of the action of his play "Hamlet" in Elsonore. The castle was founded as Krogen in Helsingør by the ruler of the Kalmarunione known as Erik av Pommern. The union was formed as a personal union of the Scandinavian kingdoms under a single monarch. Valdemar IV of Danmark's daughter Margrete I married Haakon VI of Norge (the son of Magnus IV, the king of Sverige and Danmark). Her 5-year-old son became Oluf II of Danmark in 1376, with Margrete as his guardian, and he succeeded his father Haakon in Norge as Olaf IV in 1380. When he died in 1387 Margrete became regent over the 2 nations and adopted her great-nephew Erik, the 5-year-old son of the duke of Pomerania, Valdemar's only surviving grandson; he was also Magnus' grandson. In 1389 Margrete installed her adopted son as Erik II of Norge in 1389, and he was elected as Erik VII and Erik XIII of Sverige in 1396. The Union of Kalmar was formed the following year, but Erik was deposed in Danmark and Sverige in 1439 and in Danmark in 1442. The union survived (with short interruptions) until 1523, when a new dynasty began in Sverige. The Oldenburg dynasty continued in Danmark-Norge until 1814, when Sverige annexed Norge, and Norge emerged in 1905 as a separate kingdom under the king of Danmark's grandson. Between 1574-1585 the Dansk king greatly expanded Krogen and renamed it Kronborg. This would have been Shakespeare's Elsinore.
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