We do not know Queen Thyra’s religious convictions. Nevertheless she has stood in the consciousness of many as the incarnation of the good Christian, in contrast to the pagan Gorm the Old. Saxo describes King Gorm as a man who was always hostile to the Church and was keen to wipe out any respect for the Christians, who he harassed with enormous violence and attacks. Queen Thyra tried to win her husband over to the Christian faith, even using her womanly wiles.

Individual artists from the 1800s show Thyra as a Christian role model, among them Julius Johan Exner (1825-1910) in a painting from 1849. Here Thyra Danebod attempts to calm Gorm the Old’s anger against some Christian prisoners in the year 936 AD. Thyra is shown wearing a shining blue costume with white headdress, which is reminiscent of medieval representations of the Virgin Mary.