Jelling Stones

Two carved runestones from the tenth century: the older raised by King Gorm the Old for his wife Thyra, the larger by their son Harald Bluetooth for both parents, announcing his conquest of Denmark and Norway and his conversion of the Danes. Both inscriptions carry the name Danmark, which is why the stones are bound up with the idea of the country itself, and the larger one, showing the crucified Christ, has been called Denmark’s baptismal certificate since the 1930s. A photograph of it gave Bluetooth its name in 1997. UNESCO listed the stones, mounds and church in 1994.