HORATIO        Now, sir, young Fortinbras,

Of unimproved mettle, hot and full,

Hath in the skirts of Norway here and there

Sharked up a list of lawless resolutes

For food and diet to some enterprise

That hath a stomach in’t, which is no other,

As it doth well appear unto our state,

But to recover of us by strong hand

And terms compulsatory those foresaid lands

So by his father lost.              (1.1.94-103)

Horatio’s still going with his explanation of the current state of international relations—and an audience could be forgiven for thinking that this is the play’s crucial exposition and will prove to be the main ground of its action? Here he introduces a new character, though: now, sir—perhaps addressing Marcellus in particular? Now I’m getting to the crux of the matter—young Fortinbras, that is, the son of the previous Norwegian king, same name, so confusing, he is of unimprovedmettle, hot and full: it’s not that he’s unable to be improved, rather that he’s not yet proved himself, he’s untried, specifically in battle, and he’s desperate to show that he’s his father’s son, high-spirited, hot-tempered, and a valiant warrior. And so he hath in the skirts of Norway, here and there, from its borderlands, its fringes (Horatio is implying that Fortinbras has raised his army from the wilds of Norway) sharked up a list of lawless resolutes. He’s recruited troublemakers and rebels—or rather he’s pressed them into his army (and there’s a useful variant: Q1 and the Folio havelandless rather than lawless, suggesting perhaps younger sons, men without income or estate, drifting, defiant, on the make)—and they’re full of determination, he’s using them for food and diet to some enterprise that hath a stomach in’t: he, Fortinbras, is using them to feed his own appetite, his own longing to avenge his father’s shame—and his desire and intention in this is no other, as it doth well appear unto our state—it’s abundantly clear to our politicians, those in charge (maybe the suggestion that the Danes have good intel, that they’re good at spying?)—but to recover of us by strong hand and terms compulsatory those foresaid lands so by his father lost. Fortinbras wants his lands back, and he’ll compel us to give them up, take them by force of arms.

Knotty stuff in its phrasing and vocabulary but its very contortions, making the audience strain to follow, to work it out (although the gist is pretty clear) adds to the tension and perhaps confusion of the scene. Everyone has to be concentrating very hard on what Horatio is saying.