Kongernes Jelling

Why it is renowned

In 1994 the Jelling mounds, runic stones and church became Denmark's first site on the UNESCO World Heritage List.¹² UNESCO lists them as the clearest record of the Danes' passage from pagan Nordic belief to Christianity in the 10th century.³ Harald Bluetooth's stone, known as Denmark's baptismal certificate, names Denmark and carries the earliest depiction of Christ in Scandinavia.³² Copies of it stand abroad: one was raised on the Domplein in Utrecht in 1936 for the university's 300th anniversary, and a painted cast from 1955 stands at the Danish Church in London.²

The story

Jelling was a royal seat of King Gorm the Old and his son Harald Bluetooth in the 10th century.³ Gorm raised the smaller stone for his wife Thyra; Harald raised the larger one for his parents, recording that he won all of Denmark and Norway and made the Danes Christian.² Between the two flat-topped mounds, each 70 metres across and up to 11 metres high and built of stacked turf, Harald set his stone and built the first wooden church.³ Excavations in 2006 found a palisade around the monument and part of a ship setting.³ Since the stones began to crack, they stand in glass and bronze cases by Nobel Architects, chosen from 157 entries, that hold them at a steady temperature and humidity.² Kongernes Jelling, the experience centre of the National Museum, tells the story of the Viking kings beside the monuments.¹

What to know it by

• Harald Bluetooth's stoneHarald BluetoothThe larger runestone, with the earliest depiction of Christ in Scandinavia
• Gorm's stoneGorm the OldThe smaller runestone, raised for Queen Thyra
• The Jelling moundsTwo turf mounds, 70 metres across
• Jelling ChurchChurch with frescoes dating from 1125