By people in the Frankish kingdom and on the British Isles the
Danes were first of all considered Vikings. Danish attackers, conquerors and
colonists played an important role in the remake of western Europe, but
they also had a strong influence in their own country.
Some Viking
chiefs, who had won riches, power and glory came home to Denmark and
tried to usurp royal power. King Horik and most of his family were
killed in such a power feud in 854. The old branch of the royal family
gained footfold , but other homecoming Viking chiefs - some from the
east - were more lucky in their fight about the throne. The fortification moats in Aarhus might have been built during that
period.
The diplomatic connections between the Danish kings and the Frank and
German rulers brought foreign influences to Denmark. King Harald was
baptized in Mainz in 826, and he was not the only Dane, who experienced
and was impressed by the court ceremoniel of the Franks. Maybe this
infected the life in the Danish royal castle in the 800s, but as for the
900s the big Jelling stone and the cross-marked coins show that Harald
Bluetooth fully understood the value of demonstrating his royal dignity.
The Jelling church was probably bigger than many other Danish
buildings, and its basic plan was inspired by the German churches.
The Franks and the Germans did not only affect their Danish
neighbours - they also wanted to have power over them, but they did not
succeed. The Danes could retriet from Jutland to security on the Danish Isles and
gather new strenght while the peninsula Jutland was attacked - and the Saxon hertug
Bruno and his army had to learn this in 880......the only Danish king
who in the 800s had to acknowledge the supremacy of the Franks was
Harald Klak, and he was deposed and driven into exile .
The feud between the various throne pretenders weakened seriously
the power of the Danish kings, and in 934 the Danes could not resist an
attack in southern Norway from the German army. The Danish supremacy broke down
and Harald Fairhairwas able to expand his Norwegian power while local rulers in the districts east of Storebælt (Danernes Mark) enjoyed a great independency.
Fyrkat , Jutland, photo:GB
Later the German king Henrik 1 forced the Danes to pay taxes, and two
generations later the Germans ruled in Sønderjylland (South Jutland) for a
short number of years (974-983). Nothing indicates that Harald Bluetooth
ever acknowledged German rulers as his overlords - but after 983 and in
the following century the Germans were too busy feuding their Slavic
neighbours to care about Denmark. Undoubtly it was the German occupation of Sønderjylland which
made Harald build the complicated system of fortifications and
roads which gave a clear expression of his power and talent of
organisation. In order to build the fortifications Trelleborg ,
Nonnebakken; Fyrkat and Aggersborg and the great bridges - which were
all
built at the same time - the king had to exploit his right to recruit
labor and demand other necessary services from the Danish population .
Most probably these heavy burdens made him unpopular among the Danes and
led to the rebellion which drove him into exile and death.
Runic inscriptions mention two earlier rulers at Funen, Roulv and
Alle. The Glavendrupstone was raised in the memory of Alle by his widow
Ragnhild and his sons. Ragnhild had the Danish rune-
master to carve the
inscription upon the runestone in Tryggevælde at Zealand
Glavendrupstone
for the
memory of her second husband, Gunulv, about whom it
was said that "few are born better than he". It is not known which stone
was raised first, but these men must have been contemporary to king Harald,
and they might even have been local chiefs, who by acknowledging Harald
as their king, took part in making it possible for him to announce that he
had "won himself all Denmark. "
Harald's kingdom was exposed for disturbances from Viking fleets. As the leader of the expeditions to the west Sweyn Forkbeardsaw
to that his men were awarded like other men of the Viking chiefs.
Torkel's fleet represented the biggest threat however. He was now in the service
of the English king, but it was Sweyn who in 1013 seized the English
throne and thereby got access to the rich sources in England.
The
riches of Englands made Cnut the Great able to realise the Danish
demand on the supremacy of a large part of Scandinavia, much more than
his predecessors had ever been able to. Still before Cnut drove the
Norse king Olav into exile he demanded to be king of the Norwegians -
and at the same time he declared he was king of a part of the Swedes. It
is not known what he actually meant - he might have thought of the
West Goths, whose access to the sea went through Danish territory, but
it was more probable that he considered himself as the overlord of the
Swedes who had been warriors in his army. As king of England Cnut
advised one of the most advanced and
effective Governments of Europe - and it did not last long before
this English influence was evident in Denmark. The attempts to establish
a
well-functioning coin was finally successfull and much was done
to promote the development of cities which became metropols for the
royal power. In some cities were established bishoprics - and the
bishops were
fetched from England or at least educated there. Cnut's great kingdom
sank
into the gravel after his death but the changes he had started were
continued by his successors and long after the separation of Denmark and
England the
English influence was noticed in the Danish church.
Merchants, wandering craftsmen, Christian missionaires, diplomats and
the Vikings themselves were all the cause of influences from abroad in
Denmark. The Danes connected more and more to the outside world during
the Viking period than ever before and the consequences began to show in
the beginning of the 1000s - cities were founded, bishoprics and a
royal coinage were established. It is clear via archaeology that all
parts of society were affected by the contact to the outside world. In
each archaeologically examined village from the Viking period are rests
of mill stones from the Rhine district and soapstone-vessels and
grindstones from the northern Scandinavia. In Jutland are found western
European ceramics - and Slavic clay ware or Danish copies are found in
the eastern part of Denmark . More perishable goods like clothes and
wine were probably also widespread. The imported goods were spread all
over Denmark - but they were not for free. Wealthy Danes who lived in
the 1000s were capable of paying their shopping with coins and other
silver - but the import was through the whole period generally paid
with Danish export products or with services and catering to the foreign
merchants who visited the Danish harbours on their tour between the
Baltics and Western Europe. Cattle was one of the most important export
products
Highland cattle, foto:GB
. An early phase of this traffic is proved by the archaeological
find of a large heap of cow dung which had accumulated in the town of
Ribe. This indicates that cattle was gathered here, probably in order
to transport them by sea.
Ansgar
village and church, Hjerl hede, foto:GB
Except from Willibrord's visit in the beginning of the
700s the Christian mission began in 823 among the Danes when archbishop
Ebbo baptized a great number of Danes. Ebbo's, Ansgar's and the preaching
of their successors might have convinced many that the Christian God
was a mighty God, but it was not until king Harald's conversion 150
years later that Christianity became the only legal religion. The
Christian message was being preached by missionary bishops. In the
beginning of the 1000s were established bishpoprics, and in the middle
of the same century were churches built all over Denmark. In most regions of
Denmark church services and new rituals were provided in a foreign
language by men who rarely had any education. Gradually the church
seized several areas of daily life, also the marriage - and eventually
the top officials of the Danish church were incorporated in the elite of
the Holy Church. Several rituals, like cremation and eating horsemeat
were quickly submitted, while other rituals like some fertility rituals
lived on in a Christian disguise.
During
the reign of Sven Estridsen the church began receiving estates as gift
or inheritance, which had great consequences gradually, when large areas
were added to the church. The Christian doctrine brought a still more
perceptible change, namely the abolition of the old custom to expose
infants. The restriction in this form of child restraint reulted in an
increase of population - and new settlements occurred.
Hedeby trading center
Archaeological
finds show that the Danes in the Viking period were relatively wealthy.
The farmers in the wellknown settlement Vorbasse did generally not own
their land, but they had much cattle, and their descendants in the 1000s
had even more. The houses in Vorbasse were large and spacious. Houses
of the Trelleborg-type which were built in the 1000s were larger and
free inside .Another change was that the stables were now in separate
buildings in an appropriate distance from the houses.
Trelleborg, house, foto:GB
Excavations
in other places also indicate that the Danish farmers were really well
in the Viking period - also the landlords who received various benefits
from the farmers. The king was the greatest landlord - and when Harald
Bluetooth won all Denmark he must have expanded the royal estate
enormously. His son and grandson increased also the royal riches when
they conquered England. The Crown Land also grew when farms were given
to the king as a fine for manslaughter. Several farms which Cnut the
Holy in 1085 gave to the cathedral in Lund were acquired by him or his
predecessors in this way.
Detail, Ravning bridge, foto:GB
The realm of gravity up till Harald's rule was in Jutland - usually the
king was able to keep the peace which gave the Danes and the visiting
merchants a reasonable security both in Jutland and on the Isles. In
the 800s and maybe before some Danish kings extended their power to the
island east of Storebælt and up into the southern part of Norway. In
these districts the king was probably the overlord of the
local potentates while they in Jutland were directly regents. A supremacy
like this had to be maintained by force or with the threat of the use
of force and the power of a king depended on the fidelity and skill of
his warriors (his lid).
Northern Empire, 1000s, wikipedia
The procedures of the government were also in the 1000s primitive and
severe - as Cnut the Great did show, when he commanded his regent in England , Thorkel, to defure evildoers who else could not be prosecuted. Harald
Bluetooth's rulership in the eastern part of Denmark probably had the
same reprisals like Godfred had 150 years before, but Harald showed that
he was able to mobilize many good forces at Zealand and Funen and in
Jutland so he could build his big fortifications and roads and bridges.
It might be Harald who initiated the conversion of the townships into
administration units which made it easier to collect taxes and other
benefits. .
Sweyn, wikipedia
Twice in the 900s it was clear how vulnerable Jutland was to German attacks, and Harald Bluetooth might have seen that the countries east of Storebælt provided the highest security against the threat from these mighty neighbours. It was not until the rule of Sweyn Forkbeard that the gravity of the kingdom moved east to the districts around Øresund. King Sweyn founded the towns Roskilde and Lund. The Danish king now wanted to be overlord of the whole country - and "landefreden" ( the peace of the country) spread along the coasts of Øresund. Piracy was still a nuisance, but inspite of Adam of Bremen's assertion that both Storebælt and Øreasund were harrassed by pirates, the traffic through Øresund was probably not suffering from great hindrances, when the travelling merchants were on their way to the Baltic Sea. They had been proned to follow the coast of Jutland in order to get the protection which the Danish king provided. Now they were guaranteed the same security if they chose the direct way through Øresund, which now became the gateway to the Baltic Sea and the key to the power of the North.
The Danish royal power originated in its time in Jutland, and in the first centuries of the kingdom Jutland was kernelandet (the core country). When the scalds still celebrated Cnut the Great as Jótlands jøfurr (Jyllands høvding) it was a memory about that time. But by supplying their Jutland power with a firm grip of the regime of the Danish Isles and Scania - the large area, which until then were considered the outer districts of the kingdom ( danernes mark), the last great Viking kings, Harald, Sweyn and Cnut had created a strong and viable unit in Denmark with a future.
The big Jelling stone , photo:GB
Source: "Da Danmark blev Danmark" (700-1050) by Peter Sawyer, Gyldendal og Politikens Danmarkshistorie bd 3.
photo: Grethe Bachmann and photocopies:: wikipedia.
The Viking Period The
Viking period is dated to ab. 750-1060 AC. The word Viking means "sea
warrior" or "warfare at sea". Many strong men went on Viking expeditions
which were often lootings and assaults, but most Vikings lived a more
quiet life with farming, fishing and hunting.
The Realm formation and the formation of cities and a new religion had a
great impact on the development in Denmark. The Society was
sharply divided and the differences of rich and poor, free and unfree
were significant. The Fregerslev find is - from the golden brackets -
dated to
the middle of the 900s. The royal power was well founded in that period ,
although dependent on the aristocracy which supported the king. The
aristocracy had an important role in the king's maintenance of the
power, and they enjoyed the privilegies from this.
You can see the first photos from Skanderborg Museum of objects from the Fregerslev grave at their website:
The Find at Fregerslev.
In
2012 a unic grave site emerged in an archaeologic excavation at Fregerslev near
Skanderborg.(Jutland) It was a complex of chamber graves, several from a younger part
of the Viking period, the time of the Jelling Kings. A small
investigation in one of the graves showed a magnificent decorated
horse bridle, lavishly decorated with gilt
bronze brackets and a silver plated trense.Supposedly the Viking from Fregerslev had a funeral
with all the equipment necessary for his travel to Valhalla. The find
from Fregerslev is probably one of the richest graves from the Viking
period ever found in Denmark, and the scientific potential is invaluable.The
excavation of the fascinating grave ended 11 May
2017 but the adventure is not yet over. Many years ahead is a massive
work with excavation and interpretation of many earth blocks, which
were taken in from the grave. Some X-rays reveal something hidden in the
blocks, like metal pieces from the harnes of the Viking's horse.
Chamber Grave. Some of the Viking Age's
wealthiest people were buried in chamber-graves. A chamber-grave
consists of a wooden chamber, which is either dug down into the earth or
placed in a mound. From Denmark and the old Danish area we know of
around 60 chamber-graves. Most of the burials have been found in the
area south of the Danish-German border. But they can also be found in
Jutland, as well as on Funen, Langeland and Lolland. Such chamber-graves
are yet to be found on Zealand. The grave type comes into use at the
end of the 800s – perhaps to counter the advancing Christianity?
A chamber grave (Kammergrav) was a grave form reserved for
the elite. It was a wooden chamber with enough place for the deceased,
grave gifts and personal equipment. Chamber graves with a horseman's
equipment are rare, they are only known from 45 finds from the Viking
period in the old Danish region: the present Denmark, Skaane, Halland ,
Blekinge and Schleswig-Holstein. Few of these graves are well
documented, especially because of old unfinished excavations or just old
clearings of grave hills. The latest excavated grave with horseman's
equipment appeared in 1983 in Grimstrup at Esbjerg.
Viking Ship Museum, Oslo,B
ridle, Viking horse,wiki
In few
welldocumented graves are few fine parallels. In Schleswig upon the
grave sites Thumby, Bienebeck and Lanballigau are horseman's graves with
objects which- as for shape and decoration - are contemporary to the
decoration brackets in the Fregerslev grave. A few objects are almost
identical and must be considered made in the same workshop. Maybe the
king has ordered several identical set of bridles which he could give as
an alliance gift to his faithful subjects.
The grave site in Fregerslev consists of a large grave chamber complex and two lesser graves. The two small graves are excavated, one grave measured at surface 267x172 cm, length north-south. The grave was only 38 cm deep and had no preserved objects. The other grave measured 265x170 cm at surface and was oriented west southwest. This grave was 120 cm deep - and in the fill were two layers of giant stones. In the bottom of the grave were traces of an oak coffin which had been lightly burned before the laying.
Bayeux tapestry
The Viking from Fregerslev At the same time were traces of a skeleton of a person 165-170 cm tall. The person lay on his back with head west. The skeleton was much dissolved, but it was however possible to see a strange crack upon the shine leg. The leg had possibly been broken, but it is uncertain if this happened before or after death. In this grave were not found any preserved objects, except a single iron nail, which probably was a part of the construction of the coffin. Around the grave was built a hedge or a small building. It is unusual to find constructions around the graves from the Viking period. With a broken shine leg and two layers of giant granite boulders above and a possible fence the person must have been something special - someone who should not rise from his grave.
The Top of the Hierarchy.
Based upon the richly decorated bridle
for theViking's horse there is no doubt that this is a man from the top
of the hierarchy in the Viking period. The uppermost power was the king,
and his role depended on personal alliances military strength and
foreign contacts. The Viking from Fregerslev might have had the title of
Jarl (earl). He might have been an army chief administering a large
piece of land, and one of his duties was to be a host for
the king on his travels in the country. If - after the excavation - it
would be possible to identify him as a known historic person or
legendary figure depends on whether there are unic finds, like objects
with runic inscriptions or other special finds, which might tell us,who
this Viking was.
Jelling stones, Jelling, photo:gb
The
research project is a cooperation between Skanderborg Kommune, Slots- og
Kulturstyrelsen, Nationalmuseet, Aarhus Universitet and Museum
Skanderborg with appropriations from Augustinus Fonden and Den A.P.Møllerske
Støttefond as well as funds from Slots' og Kulturstyrelsen and Skanderborg
Kommune. The first part is to secure the find by excavation and following
conservation of the grave equipment and performance of scientific examinations. Later come part two and three with respectively
research and publication and exhibition and communication.
The Jelling stone, - one of our national treasures and Denmark's "birth certificate" is together with king Gorm's stone, the church and the two giant Jelling-grave hills a part of the Jelling-monuments which are at the Unesco World's Heritage list. The two rune stones reflect the transition from the heathen Viking period to the Christian Middle Ages.
The big Jelling stone, king Harald's stone was together with other things in the church area exposed to vandalism recently. It was painted over with graffiti , and it is not just an easy thing to remove the paint. First there was a fear if the paint had forced into the stone. Since the vandalism have Danish, Norwegian and Swedish experts worked together to find the most careful way to clean the stone. After some experiments at the National Museum have they found that the cleaning must be done as fast as possible, since the graffiti-paint is not yet fully hardened - it is actually a race against time. However - the stone-conservators are satisfied with the cold weather, since the frost has delayed the chemical processes in the paint.
The vandalism, photo: Politiken.DK
In the beginning were many theories about who was responsible for this. It was a 15-year old local boy from Jelling who had painted the stones for fun. He has now found out that it was not funny at all.
Addition:
The boy in Jelling is autistic and suffers from Asperger's syndrom. His parents are very sad. The stones are considered sacred by the inhabitants of Jelling and are protected by the people in town. The boy's parents have told the authorities that the boy recently had changed his behaviours - he has actually painted the word Gelwane in other places of the town.
The Jellinge style takes its name from the ornament on a silver cup found in the north mound of the Danish royal site at Jelling, in the burial chamber thought to be that of King Gorm (the Old), dated 958/59 from wooden fragments in the same site.
The small cup stands on a pedestral foot and is decorated only around its bowl with a pair of interlaced animals. These beasts are typical of the Jellinge style with ornament ribbons and heads shown in profile. The long pigtail and spiral hip joint are also characteristic of the Jellinge style animals. These animals are descendants of those of the Broa style, by way of Borre. It seems to have evolved during the ninth century and was in fashion for most of the tenth century.
Jellinge style brooch from Norway,
The Jellinge style was introduced to Britain by Scandinavian settlers. It was used by Anglo-Saxon carvers of Yorkshire, generally in a debased version. There were sculptors in the Isle of Man, where the finely ornamented brooches from Skaill of Orkney might have been made. They were buried around 950 or a little after. On these silver brooches are animals with the characteristics of the Jelling cup, but with the addition of tendril-like off shoots from their bodies, a sign of the metamorphosis into the beasts of the next style, the Mammen style.
Jellinge style harness bow
Upon a harness bow from Søllested on Funen is it evident that the Jellinge style metalworkers followed the Borre style, making cast ornaments imitate the filigree work. But real filigree work is also found on a disc brooch from Tråen in Norway. The Tråen brooch has these animals laid out in the same way as earlier Borre brooches, and the pattern can only be understood by reference to the Borre-brooches, since it looks rather chaotic.
As in the Jellinge style, the heads are shown in profile, the three large granules that form the eyes of the three animals are the clearest guide to the location of the heads. In the manner of the Borre-style brooches from Sweden, the heads are placed above the arched bodies. There are no gripping paws, however, but simply u-shaped feet.
The Borre style was popular for the best part of 150 years. It spread throughout the world include Russia. The two principal motifs of the Borre style are the gripping beast and the ring chain, and the hallmark of the style is the ring-chain motif. Two Danish disc brooches show the Borre style gripping beasts. The heads are at the centre, except for a smaller brooch, where they are placed below. The second main motif in Borre style is an interlace pattern, the ring-chain. A Viking cross lab from the Isle of Man, carved by a man named Gaut, shows this interlace work. The ring-chain motif was popular in Jutland and Britain, like on several Manx stones and on a Gosforth cross in Cumbria.
"Gaut made this and all in Man" says a runic inscription on this cross lab with interlace pattern from the Isle of Man .
The Borre style is named after some bronze-bridle mounts, found in another Norwegian ship burial at Borre in Vestfold,but those mounts do not show the originality of workmanship, and they are different from the design and quality of the earlier mounts from Broa. The Borre mounts are representative of their style, but actually imitations of finer pieces, but a unique golden spur from Værne kloster and some Danish disc brooches show the fine techniques. The golden spur is a masterpiece of filigree with the Borre style ring chain and animal heads in an unusual design, the brooches show the best on fine metalwork.
A single animal in a characteristic Borre style pose and with a mask- like head with protruding Mickey Mouse ears.
The ornaments produced by jewellers provide a main source of evidence for the history of Viking art. The development of the styles may be traced through the product of the gold and silver-smiths, who worked to order for rich patrons, or sold their work to people, who wanted to display their wealth.
The Borre style was for much of its currency contemporary with the Jellinge style, named after a find from a royal burial in Jelling (Jutland). The Jellinge style proper makes no use of the gripping beast, but prefers ribbon-shaped animals seen in profile. But the two styles are often found in the same object.
The Franks and the Germans did not only affect their Danish
neighbours - they also wanted to have power over them, but they did not
succeed. The Danes could retriet from Jutland to security on the Danish Isles and
gather new strenght while the peninsula Jutland was attacked - and the Saxon hertug
Bruno and his army had to learn this in 880......the only Danish king
who in the 800s had to acknowledge the supremacy of the Franks was
Harald Klak, and he was deposed and driven into exile .
Harald's kingdom was exposed for disturbances from Viking fleets. As the leader of the expeditions to the west Sweyn Forkbeard saw
to that his men were awarded like other men of the Viking chiefs.
Torkel's fleet represented the biggest threat however. He was now in the service
of the English king, but it was Sweyn who in 1013 seized the English
throne and thereby got access to the rich sources in England.
Merchants, wandering craftsmen, Christian missionaires, diplomats and
the Vikings themselves were all the cause of influences from abroad in
Denmark. The Danes connected more and more to the outside world during
the Viking period than ever before and the consequences began to show in
the beginning of the 1000s - cities were founded, bishoprics and a
royal coinage were established. It is clear via archaeology that all
parts of society were affected by the contact to the outside world. In
each archaeologically examined village from the Viking period are rests
of mill stones from the Rhine district and soapstone-vessels and
grindstones from the northern Scandinavia. In Jutland are found western
European ceramics - and Slavic clay ware or Danish copies are found in
the eastern part of Denmark . More perishable goods like clothes and
wine were probably also widespread. The imported goods were spread all
over Denmark - but they were not for free. Wealthy Danes who lived in
the 1000s were capable of paying their shopping with coins and other
silver - but the import was through the whole period generally paid
with Danish export products or with services and catering to the foreign
merchants who visited the Danish harbours on their tour between the
Baltics and Western Europe. Cattle was one of the most important export
products
