The Jelling Runic Stones and Mounds

History of Jelling

The small runic-stone in Jelling shows the oldest words known from a Danish king. It is the first time in Denmark that the name of the country is used, but in Europe it has been known for at least 75 years. The geography-book of king Alfred the Great is the first place to mention the name Denmark. Alfred, who was king of Wessex 871-899, was a very culturally interested king, and he produced a geographical description of northern Europe mentioning "dene mearc" as the Danish area. The annals of Reginos written around the year 900 in the monastery of Prum near Cologne mentions "Denimarca" in the year 884, so the name was well known when Gorm around the year 950 put it on the monument for his queen Thyra.
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