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.In
the year 936 the archbishop Unni of Hamburg travels to the North, and at
that time the king of Denmark is King Gorm the Old (kong Gorm den Gamle)
and his throne is in Jelling.
We have taught at school that the first
name on the list of kings is King Gorm, but there are quite a few kings
prior to him and some of them have even left tracks like buildings,
military victories and resistance toward the church.
The Danish kingdom exists long before the time of King Gorm.
As to the
Nordic Sagas the name of Gorm the Olds father was Hardeknud. (Knud I
Hardegon), and he was the king before Gorm.
We know that the name of
Gorms wife was Thyra, and when she died Gorm erected a runic stone for
her.
From scanning of a piece of wood from the grave-chamber of The
North-mound we know that Gorm died in the winter of 958-959, but
otherwise we know very little about him.
Gorm´s monument in memory of Thyra
The
front of the small stone in Jelling
.
kurmur kunukr
Gorm
king
.
karthi kubl thusi
made these memories
.
aft thurui kunu sina
after Thyra his wife
.
tanmarkar but
Denmarks ornament
.
During
the time of King Gorm quite a different type of language was used and
a modern dane would have to listen very carefully to understand but a
few words.
.
The
back of the small stone in Jelling
On the back is says /Denmark/
.
The
small runic-stone in Jelling shows the oldest words known from a Danish
king. It is the first time in Denmark that the name of the country is
used, but in Europe it has been known for at least 75 years.
The
geography-book of king Alfred the Great is the first place to mention
the name Denmark. Alfred, who was king of Wessex 871-899, was a very
culturally interested king, and he produced a geographical description of northern Europe
mentioning "dene mearc" as the Danish area.
The annals of
Reginos written around the year 900 in the monastery of Prum near
Cologne mentions "Denimarca" in the year 884, so the name was
well known when Gorm around the year 950 put it on the monument for his
queen Thyra.
Gorm died in the winter of 958-59. When Thyra Danebod died we do not
know, but she died before Gorm.
.
On
the small Jelling stone she is mentioned as "tanmarkar but The
Pride of Denmark".
We do not know where Thyra is buried, a guess
could be that the gigantic stone ship is a monument for The Queen Thyra,
and that she is buried at that place.
The remains of Gorm were found in
the grave chamber beneath Jelling Church.
Gorm erected his stone "after
Thyra".
Then she must have died before him, but probably not long before him, if they have
been of the same age. He mentions himself as king on the small runic
stone, so it must have been erected after Gorm became king about 934 and
before 958, when Gorm died himself. Gorm has probably first been buried
in the North Mound in Jelling, and after his son Harald Blåtand (Harald
Bluetooth) had been christened about 965, Harald let build a wooden
church in Jelling, and moved Gorms body to the church.
When Gorm was
found beneath the church in 1978 he was removed to Nationalmuseet for further
examinations. The examinations confirmed that
Gorm was about 50 years old when he died. He had been 172 cm high, which
was a considerable height at that time. He suffered from rheumatism in
the lower part of the vertebral column.
In the year 2000 Gorm was reburied in Jelling Church.
Gorm was placed in an metal box and placed in a concrete chamber in
front of the chorus in the church.
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Thyras
mound. (The North Mound)
The place where King Gorm first was buried.
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The
grave chamber in Thyras mound
Where Gorm was high seated.
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Harald
Blåtand moved his father, Gorm from Thyras mound , into the
grave
chamber beneath the new build christen church.
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At the restoration of Jelling Church 1978-79
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The
grave for the king is to day marked
with a cart |
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King
Gorm high seated and later buried here |
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The
words "Gorm King" are almost like a headline but in larger
writing than the rest of the inscriptions. "Kumler" is in the
plural form and means remembrance so there must have been more than one
runic-stone.
Most likely Thyra was buried with the runic-stone as a sort of tombstone,
but unfortunately there is only little or no hope of finding her grave.
If it was placed in the central area it is perhaps in the present
graveyard, but many graves have - during the years - erased all traces
of queen Thyra.
There has been a lot of speculation as to the original place of the
small runic-stone. Maybe on one of the mounds or maybe at its present
place. We know that in 1627 the stone was next to the church entrance -
used as a seat, and that no later than 1639 it was returned to the
present position.
It
tells in Snorri Sturlasons "Norske Kongers Krønike" that
King Gorm had two sons together with Tyri Dannebod whose names was Knud
and Harald. Knud was handy and the youngest of the two and looked like
his mother so he was called Knud dane ast (Knud the Danes delight and
love).
Adelbrecht
was king in England, and in his time Knud and Harald, the sons of Gorm
of Denmark, came with a large fleet to England and conquered Northumbria,
saying that it was their heir, and which their parents had owned. King
Adelbrecht forth against them with a huge army and meet them north of
Klyfland. There were many dead and wounded on both sides.
After some time Gorms sons went up to Skardeborg (Scarborough), which is
saturated east of York and further on to York.
When Knud and other Danes
are swimming, the enemy uses bow and arrow and Knud is killed. When King
Athelstan comes with a large army, the Danes sail back home. Then
follows the story of how Thyra paints the houses black so that Gorm says
that his son Knud is dead.
As per "The Angelsaxiske Krønike" the only attack on England
between the year 924 and 942 is the two Olav´s fight against
Athelstan in 937, which turns out to be the battle at Brunnanburh, where
5 young kings and 7 earls together with uncountable others are killed.
Knud and Harald sons of Gorm are probably in England to help their
relative Olaf Sigtryggsøn. It must have been in this campain Knud
Dana-ast were killed, either during the battle or while swimming. Knud
has a son, so he must have been about 10 years older than Harald..
Gorms
sons are just in England at the time when Hedeby-empire is weakening.
As the old Gorm is not able to lead the army, his commander Harde-Gunni
must do so.
Knud Dana-ast has a son, his name is Harald, later called Gold-Harald.
When Gold-Harald had grown up, he claimed from his uncle Harald Blåtand
half of the kingdom as inhertance from his father. As per Tryggvasons
saga, Harald Blåtand (Harald Bluetooth) answers him: No man had claimed from his father
Gorm that he should be half king of Denmark, nor not from his fathers
father Hordeknud or Sigurd Ormøye or Regner Lodbrok.
Gold-Harald was shortly after killed by deceit at the entrance to
Limfjorden 976. Had Gold-Harald not been killed, he had surely inherited
the kingdom after Harald Blåtand, because Harald Blåtand had no
legitimate sons, only Slegfredsøn with a country daughter from the
island of Fuen, Svend(Tveskæg).
The Myth
about Thyra Danebod
The
historian Saxo and Svend Aggesen Write in the 1200-years about the
clever, pretty and virtuous queen. She is said to be the one, who
build Dannevirke, but that the historians have denied, as it has been
proven that Dannevirke has been build a long time before. In stead it
could have been an enlargement of the rampart.
The historians tell that the German emperor Otto
the I courted Thyra,
but she gave him no answer for a year, and in the meantime she had
Dannevirke erected, so that emperor Otto was not able to conquer the
country.
It was also told that Thyra was the christen, who has been a good
example for her son Harald. It could easily be the explanation why he
was kindly disposed toward the christen church and later was christened.
Thyra Danebod, the pride of Denmark, tanmarkar but, the mother to
Denmark.
Names which symbolize that she was very much liked, and that she did her
best for Denmark.
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