the upshot is that scholars cannot assert with any confidence how much material shakespeare took from the "ur-hamlet" (if it even existed), how much from belleforest or saxo, and how much from other contemporary sources (such as kyd's "the spanish tragedy"). no clear evidence exists that shakespeare made any direct references to saxo's version (although its latin text was widely available at the time). however, elements of belleforest's version do appear in shakespeare's play but are not in saxo's story, so whether shakespeare took these from belleforest directly or through the "ur-hamlet" remains unclear.