Jelling stones

• 1. Introduction

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  The word "Danmark" appears on the Jelling stones in two different runic forms, carved in a small Danish town more than a thousand years ago. The stones were raised in the 10th century by a father and his son, two Viking-age kings. Gorm the Old raised one to honor his wife Thyra. His son Harald raised the other to proclaim conquest and a new faith. Together, the two stones mark a pivotal moment that scholars have even given a nickname. That moment also has an unexpected modern legacy, one that surfaces every time a phone connects wirelessly to a speaker.

• 2. Harald's Declaration

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  Harald Bluetooth proclaimed the conquest of Norway alongside Denmark on the larger runestone, and announced the conversion of the Danes to Christianity. Scholars catalog this stone as Jelling II, or Rundata DR 42. On it, "Danmark" appears in its accusative form: "tanmaurk." The smaller stone, Jelling I or Rundata DR 41, carries the same name in its genitive form: "tanmarkar." These paired inscriptions use two different grammatical cases of the same word, and both are strongly linked to Denmark's emergence as a unified kingdom. The runic texts on both stones are regarded as the best-known in the country. Harald's stone also carries a striking visual image, one that complicates any simple reading of its political message.

• 3. Christ and Odin

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  The face of Harald's stone that carries the runic text is only one of three sides. One other side is carved with the figure of the crucified Christ, depicted standing upright in the shape of a cross and entangled in what appear to be branches. A third side shows a serpent wrapped around a lion. The branches surrounding Christ have drawn sustained scholarly attention. They have often been read as a deliberate echo of the Norse god Odin. In the passage known as Runatal, Odin gives an account of being hanged from a tree and pierced by a spear. That parallel, carved into the same stone surface, suggests that Harald was addressing an audience fluent in both traditions. The stone's blending of Viking and Christian imagery captured the scholarly imagination for centuries. It eventually earned a nickname so apt that it has held ever since.

• 4. Denmark's Baptismal Certificate

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  Art historian Rudolf Broby-Johansen coined the phrase "Danmarks daabsattest" in the 1930s. Translated as "Denmark's baptismal certificate," the label frames the larger stone as the official record of a nation's entry into Christendom. In 1994, UNESCO inscribed the Jelling stones on the World Heritage List. The designation encompassed the nearby burial mounds and a small church as well. Together, UNESCO described the site as an unparalleled example of both pagan and Christian Nordic culture.

  In 1997, a photograph of the larger Jelling stone inspired the name Bluetooth for a new wireless technology. By that point, the stone had already stood for a thousand years exposed to the elements, and cracks were beginning to appear.

• 5. Weathering and Protection

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  On the 15th of November 2008, experts from UNESCO traveled to examine the condition of the stones. They found weathering damage and recommended that the stones either be moved to an indoor exhibition hall or be shielded in place.

  In February 2011, the site was attacked with green spray paint. The word "GELWANE" appeared on both sides of the larger stone, and identical graffiti was sprayed onto a nearby gravestone and onto the church door. Considerable speculation followed about the possible meaning of the enigmatic word. The vandal was eventually identified as a 15-year-old boy with Asperger's syndrome. The word itself turned out to be meaningless. Because the paint had not yet fully hardened, experts were able to remove it without lasting damage.

  The Heritage Agency of Denmark decided to keep the stones in their current location and opened a design competition for protective casings. One hundred and fifty-seven projects were submitted. The winner was Nobel Architects. Their design consists of rectangular glass casings reinforced by two solid bronze sides, mounted on a steel skeleton. The glass carries an anti-reflective coating that gives the exhibit a greenish hue, and the bronze patina takes on a rusty, greenish color. Together, these materials set off the grey and reddish tones of the ancient stone. Housed now inside glass and bronze, the original stones have become models for copies that stretch from Denmark to France, England, and the Netherlands.

• 6. Copies Across Europe

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  In 1936, a copy of Harald's runestone was placed on the Domplein, the square beside the Cathedral of Utrecht, in the Netherlands. It was installed to mark the three hundredth anniversary of Utrecht University. In 1955, a plaster cast was made for a festival in London. That copy is now in the grounds of the Danish Church in London, at 4 St Katherines Precinct, Regents Park. Like the original, the London copy is painted in bright colours. Most of the original paint on the Jelling stones has long since flaked away. Enough small specks survived, however, that researchers were able to determine what those original colours once looked like.

  In 1911, Denmark presented a copy to the French city of Rouen to mark the millennium of Normandy. That copy stands near the Saint-Ouen Abbey Church. A further copy is held at the National Museum of Denmark. Another, decorated by Rudolf Broby-Johansen in the 1930s, stands just outside the Jelling museum within sight of the burial mounds.

  The image of Christ from Harald's runestone appears on the inside front cover of every Danish passport. The original stones remain in Jelling, but in this printed form, Harald's carved image travels with every Danish citizen who crosses a border.