[Regia-NA] Danish Rulers question.

[Hrolf Douglasson]

Off the top of my head, 'cos it's late, and I can't find the book...

    ...but isn't Heimskringla the Norwegian kings anyway? Not necessarily
accurate for either of the denmarks of the day...

    ...but... I am assuming your date of 950 for the demise of Gorm the old
is from Harald Bluetooth's stone at Jelling. This is probablt innaccurate,
as the stone itself is dated, I believe, to 945, and was erected after
Harald had (we think) exhumed both his parents from their mounds, and
reburied them under his nice, shiny new church...lovely man, he deserved
everything he got.
    According to Gwyn Jones (A History of the Vikings,1990 edition), a
Harald (son of Harald Klak) and a Horik (son of that Godfred credited with
the Danevirke barrier) ruled jointly or apart until 827, then Horik ruled
alone until 853 or 4, when killed in battle.(Harald and his kin made pacts
with the franks, and ended up with large lumps of Frisia).
    Horik was succeeded by ....Horik the Younger!!! Soon there was a Viking
named Rorik calling himself king of southern Jutland, and by 873, the
brothers Sigfred and Halfdan were known as two Danish kings among many other
minor ones. Two more kings died in battle in 891, a Sigfred and a
Godfred...good here, innit?
    Gorm the Old appears to have risen to some sort of prominence around
936, but he may not have been alone, for all that the smaller stone at
Jelling (that he erected to Thyri after her death) makes the first recorded
use of "Denmark" As I said earlier, the later stone itself dates to around
945-950, by which time Gorm was dead and his son was claiming to have made
all the Danes Christian. For myself, I suspect that "Denmark" translates
more accurately as "Jutland", and that the sea-kings of Sjelland and the
other islands in the Belt carried on much as before.

    Hope this hasn't muddied the waters too much!

    Regards,

        Hrolf the confused
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris Knight" <knight1066@hotmail.com>
To: <list-regia-na@lig.net>
Sent: Monday, July 22, 2002 5:47 AM
Subject: [Regia-NA] Danish Rulers question.


>   I have been doing researching about the ruler(s) of Denmark from around
> 814 to 890 and cant seem to confirm any information I find. According to
my
> copy of the Heimskringla my best bet is king Gorm the old. But according
to
> the medieval scandinavia website it's listed as follows:
> 814-854 Harik I
>                           854-870 Harik II
>                           870-890 Halfdan
>                           890- ?   ?
>                             ?-950 Gorm the old
>
>          Does anyone on the list have any Ideas or information on if this
> royal line is accurate or not? or can point me in the right direction for
> further research?
>                                          thanks for the help.
>                                            Chris Knight
>
>
>
>
>
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