A Viking King

A Viking King
First, the history.
Harald (sometimes spelled Harold) Bluetooth, the future king of Denmark, was born in the
year 911 A.D. He lived to the ripe old age of 74, dying in 985. Harald was born to royalty, the
son of King Gorm the Old and his Queen Thyre (sometimes spelled Tyre). Thyre was herself
the daughter of a nobleman, Schleswig, who is supposed to have been kindly disposed to
Christianity. (Remember this last point—it’s relevant.)
Gorm the Old was the King of what was then called Jutland, essentially the main peninsula of
today’s Denmark. In those times, and in that part of the world, Christianity was not yet the
dominant religion. In fact, it was barely tolerated by King Gorm, who was a devout servant of
the Norse god Odin. (Hey, we’re talking Vikings here!) Gorm the Old had gone as far as to
demolish the Christian churches in his country, which probably didn’t sit well with his wife,
who was raising their son with some smattering of Christian ideals.
Harald inherited the throne in 935, one year after his father was defeated in a war with the
German King Henry I. The consequences of this defeat were such that King Gorm was forced
to begin the restoration of the churches he’d destroyed and to grant some tolerance to his
Christian subjects. On his death, King Gorm’s throne was bequeathed to his son Harald, who
was determined to further the acceptance of Christianity and to unite his kingdom against the
continuing German threat.
King Harald enthusiastically continued the rebuilding of the churches that his father had
reluctantly started. In 960, after years of spreading the Christian faith, King Harald was able
to convert his country to Christianity. While some historians suspect Harold did this as a
political ploy to protect his kingdom from further German invasion (his own personal
conversion was conducted by the Archdiocese of Hamburg-Bremen), the act served to help
unify Denmark and to solidify King Harald’s place in history.
Of course, that’s not all that King Harald did. He also conquered Norway (at the request of his
sister, Queen Gunnhild of Norway) and exercised his hereditary right (through Queen Thyre’s
father) to parts of England. He strengthened the “Danawirk”—a series of ramparts and
fortifications—to keep the Germans out of his kingdom. And, unfortunately, he was slain by
his own son, Sven Fork-beard, after several years of plots and machinations within the royal
family.
Note King Harald’s expansionist tendencies were continued by his son and by his grandson,
Canute—who became the only king to rule the Great North Sea Empire (comprising
England, Denmark, Norway, and parts of Sweden). King Harald’s most significant accomplishment (aside from living so long in an age when
most Viking kings died young and violently) was the unification of Denmark. Thanks to King
Harald’s efforts at rebuilding the churches and spreading the belief of Christianity, the
provinces of Denmark were united under a single crown.
Note One of King Harald’s lasting legacies was the creation of a monument to his late father
and mother. Still preserved to this day in what has become a Christian shrine in North
Jutland, the monument contains the following words, carved in stone as runic symbols:
“Harald The King caused these monuments to be made to Gorm his father and Thyre his
mother, the Harald who won all Denmark and Norway and made the Danes Christians.”
These engravings mark the first mention of “Denmark” in recorded history.