Viking Age - Denmark, Connections abroad.

fortification, Trelleborg, Zealand

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 Fairhair was 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 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.

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 Wolf is here ..............

photo from wikipedia.

I'm always looking for the wolf when we're out in the woods of Mid Jutland. It would be such a speciel experience to see it out in the Danish nature -  and if I could get a photo that would really be great.

But if we go out looking for the wolf it has probably heard us long before we might come close.. The wolf's hearing is so eminent that it can hear a branch break for miles in still air. The wolf can also hear  high frequency sounds which makes it able to hunt squeaking mice in the dark of night. .

The wolf's paw and a human hand, photo wikipedia

The wolves in Denmark come from the German stock - and the socalled "Danish" wolves in Jutland don't know about  borders. They are nomades and can be everywhere in Jutland and Germany. They are extremely perservering and mobile and they can easily back down 200 kilometers during one day and night and thereby in a short time alternate between Germany and Denmark.

Harrild hede, photo:gb

The wolf's favorite food is the huntable animals in the Danish nature. The hunters and the wolves are  competitors about the meat and it is seen from some places on the internet that there is a fierce hatred against the wolf  from hunter-circles in Denmark. There are rumours that wolves have been shot in Denmark, which can lead to two years in prison.

It is obviously difficult to remove the hatred against the large predators and the birds of prey. The goshawk is highly pursued  in some Danish districts because it hunts pheasants. The wolf,  the goshawk and the golden eagle are competitors of the hunters and they are in the risk of being pursued.

I don't think the hunters need to be so jealous. A calculation has been made according the yearly hunting-statistics: The Danish hunters dismantle each year deer, red deer and sika (sika is imported ) which is  representing about 1.700 tons meat. For comparison : a stock of 40 wolves eat about 30 tons meat a year , assuming that the wolf  feed on deer.

forest, Mid Jutland, photo:gb

In Germany they know that deer, red deer and wild boar is the main food of the wolf, hares rabbits and small rodents are a lesser part of the food -  and under 1 % of the wolf's prey is domestic animals.

According to the scientists there would be enough food to feed a Danish stock of ab. 40 wolves. The wolves don't take the healthiest deer in a deer stock, they take the easiest prey, the weak and sick individuals. For the same reason the predators could take part in trimming the stock of red deer. The wolf could also be a scavenger in the Danish nature. Approximately ab. 25.000 deer are killed each year on the Danish Highways. The wolf could take part in cleaning up after the drivers.

The howling of the wolf has been heard in the night in Jutland and an audio recording indicates that there were some puppies among the adults. DNA- analyzes show that there were 11 various male wolves in Denmark in 2014.

We will hardly get a large wolf pack in Denmark like in North America. Denmark will be the terrain of small family-flocks.and a  land of the lonely wolves.




Source: Ulven er kommet - by Jan Skriver,  Danish magazine Natur og Miljø, nr. 4, November 2014.

Sæby, a most charming Smalltown in Vendsyssel

A Taste of Denmark 

Peder Mønsted. forest.painting

The town Sæby in the northeastern part of Jutland lies about 12 km south of Frederikshavn and 50 km northeast of Aalborg.  It lies at the river-mouth in an idyllic nature looking like a painting from the Danish Golden Age painters.in the late 1800s. Artists and authors were gathering in the small town  by the sea of Kattegat. The town was originally a fishing village,.but it got its municipal rights in 1524

 

Sæby is today a hinterland town for a big part of the southeastern Vendsyssel and an important tourist city , attracting holiday-guests because of its bathing beaches and the old small-town milieu.  In the summer period many yachtsmen come , and the first they see by entering the harbour is the modern landmark of the town Fruen fra Havet (The Lady from the Sea) raised there in 2001. The other and oldest  landmark of Sæby is the church , Sct. Marie church, which was once

a karmelit-kloster. The earliest sections of the church are from the 1100s, while the other sections are from the 1400s and 1500s. Close to the church is the old market square with the old town hall from 1750.

 

Sæby originally emerged  at the mouth of Sæby river by the sea of Kattegat. Here was a natural possibility for a harbor. Most of the old town lies south of the river. West of the town lies the pretty Sæbygård forest in a very hilly terrain. The river runs through the forest surrounded by steep  slopes, grown with beeches.

The Vikings were the first citizens in the small village by the mouth of the river. Traces of wooden bulwark from the Viking period were found at the outernest river mouth. .

 
In the Middle Ages the town consisted of two divided town-societies. By the sea was a fishing village, and a little church was built here in 1450. Inside, in the countryside,  was a farmer's village, connected to the fishing village by a field-road. The two societies were gradually  closer connected
when houses were built along the field-road.

 






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 The old main street Algade lies like a silent provinciel idyl. Each house has a history. The house which is now museum had its present look in the 1700s. Clasens Hotel was built about 1750. Today Clasens hotel is a part of the city-museum. Sæby Watermill is also one of the attractions. The watermill was built in 1710,while the living house is from 1850.







 





























  Sæby church is from the 1400s. When the kloster was founded in Sæby, the monks extended the church in order to make it function as both parish church  and kloster church. The church in Sæby was once a part of the southern wing of Maristed kloster









 

 

Both the town Sæby and the closeby manor Sæbygård belonged to the rich bishopric Børglum in the 1460s. Bishop Jens Friis established a Karmelit-kloster at the church in the fishing village. The kloster was consecrated to Sct. Marie and was called Maristed. It kept this name until after the reformation. Another Børglum-bishop Stygge Krumpen provided the municipal rights for Sæby in 1524.

The harbour was the life-nerve of the town, but at the same time it gave lots of problems for the fishers, the merchants and the city management, because it was filled with silt each spring, brought from the inside land - and in the autumn storms sand and seaweed filled the front of the river mouth. In 1879 the conditions grew better when the river outlet was led north

From the end of the 1800s Sæbys pretty situation and cosy small-town environment were discovered by Scandinavian artists and authors. Painters like P.C.Skovgaard, Peter Mønsted and Chr. Zacho were inspired by the romantic milieu. Several authors also took residence in the town. Gustav Wied settled in a pension called Rolykke outside town - and here he got married 1st of  May 1896. Henrik Ibsen  lived at the Hotel Harmonien at the square, while Holger Drachmann and Herman Bang resided at Clasens Hotel. In Herman Bang's novel "Sommerglæder" some citizens were very offensive portrayed. They felt insulted and complained to the Danish author society which  rejected the complaint.

The mayor-daughter Adda Ravnkilde was a very young author who broke the norms by writing about the problems of female authors in a male-dominated society. She wrote three novels before she in 1883 committted suicide at the age of 21. Her tragic fate is said to have inspired Henrik Ibsen to his play "The Lady from the Sea".

The artists met with the locals and other holiday guests for evening feasts in Clasens garden, which lies close to the river. The cosy atmosphere was delivered by the married couple from the hotel by hanging coloured lanterns up and let the local symphonic orchestra play music.

                                                                                               









                                                                                                                                                                       

Along the river is a park with a winding path from the harbour to the watermill. Between the main street and the river is a beautiful little park which was earlier the garden of the famous Clasens Hotel. In a corner of the park is the instrument, Thomas Andersens "Earth bass". in the lane.

A garden Nellemans Have is an old apple orchard from 1925. The garden holds more than 200 various crab apple trees.

At Voergård manor about 20 km southwest of Sæby is one of the finest collections of art and antiques, due to the farmer's son Ejnar Clausen, who when young married a stinking rich French count-widow and in 1955 brought her large family-collection to Voergård. There is public access to the main building and the park.

By the coast is the small idyllic fishing village Voerså with harbour in the river mouth. The inn got  a royal privilege in 1730, and the old village-school has a little fishing museum.

The manor Sæbygård, which belonged to the bishopric of Børglum, is now a manor- museum.
It lies in the outskirt of Sæbygård forest.


photo Sæby: grethe bachmann, August 2014: