Yorick, the Gravedigger, Emmaus, and St. George (Emmaus Postlude, Part 8)

The name Yorick [1] may come from the same root as St. George [2], patron saint of England since 1348 : from the Greek “Georgios”:
from ge (γῆ)  - 'earth, soil' -
and ergon (ἔργον), 'work' [3].

Yorick, as “earth worker.”  

The gravedigger in Shakespeare’s Hamlet is called “Goodman Delver” by his friend (5.1.14).

So the gravedigger and Yorick echo one another in more ways than foolery…

This relates also to my series on the Emmaus echo in 5.1, the graveyard scene: the story of Jesus’ appearance to the disciples on the road to Emmaus [4] was a gospel read in church on the first Monday after Easter every year of Shakespeare’s life [5].

In that gospel, two disciples on the road are mourning the death of Jesus. They meet a stranger (somehow a real or figurative Jesus, unrecognized [6]) who shows them compassion, listens, scolds them for their flawed thinking, and gives them hope, explaining the scriptures to them. These are all things Jesus had done for them. The disciples welcome the stranger to share a meal [7].

The disciples recognize him when breaking bread.

In Hamlet, the gravedigger converses with Hamlet and clowns for him, offering witty wordplay and jokes as a court fool might. He does for Hamlet the kinds of things his beloved Yorick had done. The gravedigger holds up a skull and asks if Hamlet knows whose it was: Yorick’s. He says Yorick once poured a flagon of Rhenish wine on his head.

Hamlet recognizes the gravedigger as a drinking buddy of Yorick - in a tale of poured wine.

Broken bread and poured wine were featured at the Last Supper.

All the more appropriate that the root of the name “Yorick” (earth worker) should connect him to the gravedigger, as the gravedigger is the Emmaus-like stranger who makes the spirit of Yorick newly present for Hamlet.

For a link to my Emmaus series, see footnotes at the blog [8].


INDEX to Emmaus series posts:
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2024/08/index-emmaus-in-hamlets-graveyard-and.html

NOTES: All references to Hamlet (and other Shakespeare plays) are to the Folger Shakespeare Library online versions: https://shakespeare.folger.edu/shakespeares-works/hamlet/entire-play/

[1] YORICK: The name Yorick has been interpreted as an attempt to render a Scandinavian forename: usually either "Eric" or "Jørg", a form of the name George. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yorick#Name

[2] George became patron saint of England in 1348, the year Edward III founded the Order of the Garter.
See Wikipedia on St. George: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_George
Also see Wikipedia on Order of the Garter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Garter
[3] GEORGE: Etymology and origins: Its original Greek form, Georgios, is based on the Greek word georgos (γεωργός), 'farmer'. The word georgos itself is ultimately a combination of two Greek words: ge (γῆ), 'earth, soil' and ergon (ἔργον), 'work'. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_(given_name)#Etymology_and_origins

[4] Luke 24:13-35

[5] See page 155, The 1559 Elizabethan Book of Common Prayer (BCP), ed. John E. Booty, University Press of Virginia, Charlottesville, 1976.

[6] There are many aspects of concealment and recognition in the scene:
A. Until the funeral entourage arrives late in the scene, Hamlet doesn’t realize that the grave being dug is for Ophelia.
B. Not only does Hamlet not recognize the gravedigger as Yorick’s drinking buddy and as a kindred-spirit of a clown and fool, but the gravedigger doesn’t recognize Hamlet as his prince, judging from the jokes the gravedigger makes about “mad” Hamlet being sent to England where his madness won’t matter, because there, they are all mad as he (5.1.154-160).

[7] The unrecognized stranger is welcomed by the disciples, similar to the way the unrecognized Odysseus, returned from war, is welcomed by Eumaeus, a slave and loyal friend of Odysseus:
“In Homer's Odyssey, Eumaeus is the first person that Odysseus meets upon his return to Ithaca after fighting in the Trojan War. [....] Although he does not recognize his old master – Odysseus is in disguise – and has his misgivings, Eumaeus treats Odysseus well, offering food and shelter to one whom he thinks is simply a pauper. [....]
    Don't you try to gratify or soothe my heart with falsehoods.
    It is not for that reason that I shall respect and entertain you, but because
    I fear Zeus, the patron of strangers, and pity you.
[....] Eumaeus is generous in his offerings to guests and gods (Hermes in particular) [....]
Eumaeus also welcomes Odysseus' son, Telemachus, when he returns from his voyage to Pylos and Sparta. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eumaeus#Mythology

[8] INDEX to Emmaus series posts:
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2024/08/index-emmaus-in-hamlets-graveyard-and.html


IMAGES:
Left: Yorick, with a young Hamlet on his back (“The Young Lord Hamlet”)
by Philip Hermogenes Calderon (1833–1898)  
Date     1868. Private collection. Public Domain via Wikipedia:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/The_Young_Lord_Hamlet.jpg?20120727002052

Center: Jarlath Conroy as the Gravedigger in Yale Rep’s production of Hamlet. 2013. Dir. James Bundy. Photo by Joan Marcus. Fair use via
https://liachang.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/jarlath_conroy_paul_giamatti_photo-by-joan-marcus.jpg
Right: Saint George Slaying the Dragon.
Carlo Crivelli (circa 1435–circa 1495)
Part of     Porto San Giorgio Polyptych. Date 1470.
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Public Domain via Wikipedia:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/Carlo_Crivelli_-_Saint_George_Slaying_the_Dragon%2C_1470.jpg


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Disclaimer: If and when I quote or paraphrase bible passages or mention religion in many of my blog posts, I do not intend to promote any religion over another, nor am I attempting to promote religious belief in general; only to explore how the Bible and religion influenced Shakespeare, his plays, and his age.
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