Photograph as originally submitted to this page in the Historical Marker Database www.HMdb.org. Click on photo to resize in browser. Scroll down to see metadata.

Photographer: Henrik Rantzau (image courtesy of the National Museum of Denmark)
Taken: Circa 1591
Caption: A View of Jelling, showing the original Jelling Stones, on site in Jelling, Denmark
Additional Description: The Jelling stones (Danish: Jellingstenene) are massive carved runestones from the 10th century, found at the town of Jelling in Denmark. The older of the two Jelling stones was raised by King Gorm the Old in memory of his wife Thyra. The larger of the two stones was raised by King Gorm's son, Harald Bluetooth in memory of his parents, celebrating his conquest of Denmark and Norway, and his conversion of the Danes to Christianity. The runic inscriptions on these stones are considered the best known in Denmark....The Jelling stones stand in the churchyard of Jelling church between two large mounds. The stones represent the transitional period between the indigenous Norse paganism and the process of Christianization in Denmark; the larger stone is often cited as Denmark's baptismal certificate (dåbsattest), containing a depiction of Christ. They are strongly identified with the creation of Denmark as a nation state and both stones feature one of the earliest records of the name "Danmark" (in the form of accusative "tanmaurk" ([danmɒrk]) on the large stone, and genitive "tanmarkar" (pronounced [danmarkaɽ]) on the small stone). - Wikipedia
Submitted: December 22, 2016, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California.
Database Locator Identification Number: p372592
File Size: 0.466 Megabytes

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