Harald Bluetooth and the Jelling Stones
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history 500-1789
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published 03/06/2008
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SummaryThe custom of erecting rune stones to commemorate the dead was a fashion that became predominant during the latter years of the Viking age, with the high period starting around 950 AD and continuing for the following 80 years in Denmark, Norway, and southern Sweden. In northern Sweden the custom finally fully died out at the beginning of the 12th century, but in that ensuing time three thousand stones were erected in Scandinavia. It was at this time that Christianity was being introduced to the area, eventually supported by the local kings, and thus this time became a transition period between the old Norse pagan beliefs and the new religion. One of the most famous rune stones of this period is the Jelling Stone in Denmark, erected by King Harald Bluetooth sometime in the latter half of the tenth century - there is much scholarly debate over its exact dating and its history during this time. The stone is carved on all three sides, with an inscription that begins on face A, then wraps around the stone underneath relief carvings of a giant beast on face B and a depiction of Christ on face C. The inscription reads, “King Harald commanded this monument to be made in memory of Gorm, his father, and in memory of Thyre, his mother – that Harald who won the whole of Denmark for himself, and Norway, and made the Danes Christian.”
Table of Contents
- There is some debate over the function of rune stones in Viking society: why they were built, who built them, and for what purpose.
- This book also states that the oldest runic inscriptions in Denmark are from circa 200 AD and that the practice died out before 1350.
- Harald Bluetooth was the king of Denmark, with a reign generally accepted as from 958 to 987.
- Many rune stones of the tenth and eleventh centuries declared themselves as Christian.
- The complex at Jelling – with its two mounds, two stones, and ship setting – was the largest, most extravagant burial complex.
- Olsen refutes this by stating that it is simply a funeral site in the normal style, and furthermore that it could not be the center of the conversion and the royal family.
- He first states the facts. Harald claims he made the stone. The stone is obviously Christian, with its proclamation, figure of Christ, and Christian symbols (the triquetra) in the decoration.
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