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About Jelling

By Magnus Petersen, 1871.

The monuments in Jelling – the two rune stones, the North and South Mounds and Jelling Church – were added to UNESCO’s list of monuments of the world which are most worthy of preservation in 1994. Archaeologists, historians and many others have searched for answers to the mysteries of the royal monuments for centuries.

Was Jelling the main royal estate in the Viking period and where was the king’s residence located? Did Harald Bluetooth build the two great mounds as monuments to his parents Gorm the Old and Queen Thyra? Did a royal burial take place in the chamber of the North mound? If so, where are the remains of the body, and who lies buried under the floor in Jelling Church?

 

On this page you can find out more about Jelling.

Harald Bluetooth’s large rune stone, erected around the year 965 after the king’s baptism, is also called “Denmark’s certificate of baptism”. The rune stone shows inspiration from Christian Western Europe.