.
Harald
Bluetooth was son of Gorm The Old and Queen Thyra. The year when
Harald is born
is unknown, but it is assumed that he died in the fall of 980 in
Jomsborg, because of an arrow, which was shot by a supporter (Palnatoke)
of his rebellious son, Svend. King Harald was probably buried in
Treenighedskirken in Roskilde, which he had himself started build.
The
German historian Adam of Bremen mentions that Harald Bluetooth
was married to Queen Gunhild.
A
runic stone , which is situated by Sønder Vissing Church south of
Silkeborg describes a woman who calls herself Tove, as "Mistivoj`s
daughter, Harald The Good, the son of Gorm`s wife", so Harald
must have been married twice.
The
larger Jellingstone is the largest and the most magnificent runic
stone in Scandinavia, also called " Denmark`s Birth
Certificate". It is equipped with Christian symbols,
among others a Christ figure and runic letters. Erected about 965
for Gorm The Old and Thyra Danebod by the son Harald Bluetooth.
.
The
front of the big stone
.
Haraltr
kunukr bath kaurua
Harald konge bød gøre
Harald the king executes
kubl thausi aft kurm fathur sin
kumler disse efter Gorm fader sin
these sepulchral monuments after Gorm his
father
auk aft thaurui muthur sina sa
og efter Thyra moder sin, den
and after Thyra his mother, The
haraltr ias sar uan tanmaurk
Harald som sig vandt Danmark
Harald who won the whole of Denmark
ala auk nuruiak
al og Norge
and all Norway
auk tani karthi kristna
og danerne gjorde kristne
and turned the Danes to Christianity
.
.
Find it here
.
King
Harald wanted to be remembered in a certain fashion so he erected a
runic stone to remain forever. It did except for a few centimeters and
it is 2,43m tall above ground level and its weight is about 10 tons. It
has three sides.
.
.
The
big animal and the snake
King
Harald made use of the very best counselors and craftsmen for this job.
The carving
of the stone is carried out by two persons; the decorations first
and secondly the runes and it took about a whole year to carry out the
entire job. Some of the peeling on the stone is perhaps caused by the
three hot fires due to the burning of the wooden churches.
.
.
The
oldest Nordic picture of Christ
Here
you see a man in a coat with his arms wide open and a glory like the
holy cross around his head; the crucified Christ without a cross. The
two pictures are surrounded by connecting ropes and strings indicating
that the pictures should be seen as a whole. The large stone is left
almost in the original position. In 1981 however the stone needed
straightening up and some digging was carried out below the stone. It
turned out that the stone was situated partly on top of some old graves
which indicates that the stone has been moved about one meter to the
west. This probably happened when "Caspar Markedaner" in 1586
had the stone dug up. Perhaps even then the stone was leaning and at the
same time it was partly covered in soil. Excavations in 1981 along the
southern wall of the church showed that the surface of the churchyard
had risen one meter since the church was built, so perhaps the words of
Caspar Markedaner "digging up" suddenly makes sense. He
actually raised the stone and by doing this he might have moved it just
a little bit.
.
.
The
stone can be seen in the probably original colors in the museum "Kongernes Jelling"
.
Harald
Blåtand (Bluetooth) leads Denmark closer to Europe.
The
figure of Christ on the larger stone proves that the new faith had
finally come to Denmark. Over and over the church kept sending its own
people to the Danish kings since Willibrord in the 720´ies visited
Agantyr, but not until Harald became king in 958 did the church see any
result from the very patient efforts maid during hundreds of years.
Poppo
Poppo,
the stranger, who was a clerk in the church is said to have made himself
noticed when he agitated the new faith. Harald Blåtand asked him a very
tough question: "Will you carry hot iron for your faith..!?"
Poppo answered him "yes" and carried the hot iron with his
bare hands and passed the test. His hands were not hurt and Harald Blåtand
was convinced of Poppo´s faith and immediately wanted to be christened
(about 965).
.
Around 968
Dannevirke was fortified and a lot was built during these years. The 800
meter long bridge near "Ravning" and the four "trelle"
castles were built for military reasons.
.
The Viking Bridge in
Ravning.
Even
though there are several large monuments in Jelling it is not a certain
fact that Harald chose this place as his political "headquarter".
Maybe he gave up Jelling because of the grand heathen past of the place
and he started all over again somewhere else in Denmark - in Roskilde.
He built a church here and he is buried here. The successor of this
church is Roskilde Cathedral where members of the royal family are
buried now.
Another reason
for wanting to move the center of the Kingdom might have been that
Jelling was too vulnerable if strangers invaded the country. They would
easily be able to reach the royal estate, so instead an island (Sjælland)
was better protected.
Harald Blåtand died around 986.
"Svend Estridsen" says in 1070 - 85 years after Harald Blåtands
death - that
"Svend Tveskæg", Haralds son and Svend Estridsens grandfather,
comitted parricide.
The
writer Adam of Bremen tells about Harald Gormsson: In Haralds last days
the Danish people made a rising against the old king, lead by his son
Svend. Harald found shelter in Jumme (Jomsborg), which Adam of Bremen
describes as the most important trading post of the Vender, also build
by Harald Blåtand himself, and here he dies from his wounds.
His body
was by the army brought to Denmark and buried in The Holy Trefoldigheds
Church, which he himself had founded in Roskilde. Svend was later taken
as prisoner by people from Jumme and had to be bought free for a
considerable amount of money.
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