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Harald Bluetooth rune stone - home and abroad

[Translate to English:] Ved Anne Pedersen

Harald Bluetooth’s rune stone at home and abroad

 

Harald Bluetooth’s great rune stone was raised in Jelling around 965. The language is old Danish and the runic script was familiar. On the other hand, the images and the horizontal lines of the inscription are innovations reflecting foreign inspiration. The rune stone must have attracted attention in its time, and today, over a 1000 years later, it can still fascinate. In 1643 the Danish professor and antiquary Ole Worm wrote in his great work Monumenta Danica that the Jelling monuments were so famous and impressive that people from other countries must also take an interest in them. However, at that time if one wanted to study the monuments, it was necessary to make the long journey to Jelling. The church and mounds cannot be moved, but around the world today are various copies of Harald Bluetooth’s rune stones, each with their own story.

This is where copies of Harald Bluetooth's rune stones are located:


Vis Jellingsten på et større kort

Copies of King Harald’s stone

There are copies of Harald Bluetooth’s rune stone in a number of places in the world. Many were originally made for Danish exhibitions and the like. Some are proper copies, whilst others are less accurate reconstructions, for example with the painting on the individual stones varying.