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958c. 958–987 · Jelling, Jutland

Harald Bluetooth and the Jelling monuments

Harald Bluetooth's great carved runestone at Jelling, inscribed in runes
Photo: Erik Christensen. CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

At Jelling, King Gorm the Old and his son Harald Bluetooth built two great mounds, a church and a vast ship-shaped stone setting. Around 965 Harald raised a carved runestone declaring that he had won all of Denmark and Norway and made the Danes Christian. Often called Denmark's birth certificate, it marks the change from Norse religion to a Christian kingdom.

Sites

  1. Site 1: Jelling mounds, runestones and churchTwo runestones in glass cases beside the church, between the royal mounds.Map ↗
  2. Site 2: Trelleborg ring fortress, SlagelseThe circular ramparts of one of Harald's fortresses, with a rebuilt longhouse.Map ↗

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