Bluetooth, Vikings and the birth of Denmark showcased on a trip across the country

Once upon a time, there was a Viking king. He prayed to Thor, Odin and Freya, and ruled over a land that did not have an official name in the year 950. Being imaginative as well as influential, he commissioned a stone to celebrate his centre of power in Jelling. It was inscribed in runes, translating to “King Gorm made these runes in honour of his wife Thyra, the pride of Denmark”. With this sentence on the Great Jelling Stone, he not only gave his deceased queen eternal proof of his love but also proclaimed a nation. A trip from Jutland via Funen to Zealand with five stops shows this small country’s Viking heritage. The stone in Jelling is now part of an interactive museum and is on the Unesco World Heritage list. Gorm’s remains were supposed to be interred in one of the burial mounds. While searching for water, his burial chamber was discovered by chance, containing weapons, silver and other goods. But Gorm was nowhere to be found. It wasn’t until 1977 that his bones were found, a few metres further on under the church. Gorm’s son Harald Bluetooth likely played a role in this. He also had a runestone made. What can be read on the 2.4-metre (7.9-foot) monument in Jelling changed half the world and heralded the end of the Viking Age. Vikings were feared warriors and traders The Vikings owe their reputation as feared warriors and traders primarily to their seafaring skills. For a long time, their ships were known only from legends, until the discovery of the Ladby ship in the late 1930s provided the first evidence on Danish soil. Visitors are allowed to enter Scandinavia’s only accessible ship burial and walk around the 22-metre hull. Inside are the skeletons of 11 horses and four dogs. At the bow, iron curls adorn the once colourfully painted dragon’s head. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Wilfried De Cuyper (@artersmarter) Repair marks indicate that it had been at sea. An attempt was made to recreate how the ship might have been prepared for burial using a full-scale model: at the front, the deceased king, bedded on fine cloth interwoven with gold thread, at his feet plates of silver and bronze, in front of him baskets with apples, furs, tools and a shield. Most of the space was taken up by the sacrificed animals in bloody harnesses. Viking funerals were celebrated with extensive rituals and objects, marking the importance of the person lost. In the 1960s, the remains of five other ships were recovered from the Roskilde Fjord, including two warships and a cargo ship built for the open ocean. The assembled wreck parts have their own museum with a sea view. A piece of their way of life can even be relived. In the museum shipyard, Viking ships are built using ancient methods and launched in the same place. Together, we row a little way out of the bay, then set sail. The wind takes over, bringing momentum to the journey and making the wood creak. Who wouldn’t think that the world was their oyster? When Harald Bluetooth became king after Gorm’s death, the Vikings had already been terrorising large parts of Europe for more than 200 years. They brutally took what they wanted, knowing neither mercy nor consideration. Why do they fascinate us so much? Poul Baltzer Heide, Viking expert and archaeologist at Museum Odense, says, “They didn’t ponder, they just did. They were strong, loud, brave and fearless. I think we all wish we had some of their self-confidence.” The warriors knew no fear of death: if they fell on the battlefield, Valkyries would take them to Valhalla, where they would fight and feast for eternity. King Bluetooth had more in mind for his earthly existence. To expand his power and strengthen alliances, he declared all Danes to be Christians on his own runestone around 970, alongside an image of Jesus, and had himself baptised. Why Bluetooth means connection Shortly afterwards, he may have removed his father from the pagan burial mound and built a church over his new grave. Meanwhile, Bluetooth succeeded in further uniting his people by dissuading them from tribal thinking and making new allies. He connected people, which is how Bluetooth wireless technology got its name. Ironically, it was in Odense – dedicated to the god Odin, where the remains of Bluetooth’s gigantic ring fortress, Nonnebakken, give an idea of its dimensions and archaeologists suspect further remains underground – that the Viking Age came to an end on July 10, 1086, visible as a cross embedded in the ground marking the altar of a former church. It was here that the last Viking king, Canute IV, knelt in prayer while angry subjects pierced him with spears. Canonised by the pope, his remains are located a few metres away in Odense Cathedral. So that was the end of the Vikings. And Christianisation brought them something they did not know from their stories: hope. For those who did not die in battle, no Valhalla was waiting for them, but the bleak, grey shadow realm of Helheim. The prospect of a peaceful paradise was more appealing to most. The Vikings were not good at leaving souvenirs – aside from a few isolated runestones, there are no written records. That leaves archaeologists piecing together the details of daily life from a wide variety of sources. What was everyday life like? This can be experienced in Lejre Land of Legends near Roskilde. Outside, it smells of soot, leather and old fur. There are low, thatched dwellings, an open kitchen with a goose’s head dangling above it, a clay oven and a herb garden. Everything can be explored or tried out. An artificial fire blazes in the 60-metre by 10-metre replica royal hall made of solid oak. Filigree carvings of Odin’s wolves and writhing snakes adorn thick columns. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Evie Louise Madsen (@norwegian_viking_queen) It is easy to imagine the king and queen entering at any moment, taking their seats on the throne to consult warriors or celebrate. “We get very close to real Viking life here,” says archaeologist Natascha Stovhase, who organises Viking days with children, making clothes, grinding grain and baking bread. Men and women did not do different tasks – to survive in a community, everyone had to be skilled at everything. Viking women were much more powerful and independent than long assumed. DNA samples show that many supposed warriors in graves of honour were actually female leaders. There is also much to suggest that Thyra was a clever, prudent and popular ruler who took most of the work off her husband Gorm’s hands. Who knows – perhaps she was the true queen, without whom the national memory of Jelling would not exist.

Bluetooth, Vikings and the birth of Denmark showcased on a trip across the country

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}From Viking heritage to the birth of Denmark and its conversion to Christianity, a trip from Jutland to Zealand reveals a wealth of history

From Viking heritage to the birth of Denmark and its conversion to Christianity, a trip from Jutland to Zealand reveals a wealth of history