[Regia-NA] FW: New Hall found at Lejre

[Nicholson, Andrew]

-----Original Message-----
From: Jens Ulff-Møller [mailto:ulff at HUM.KU.DK]
Sent: 04 October 2004 15:54
To: ONN at MORGAN.UCS.MUN.CA
Subject: New Hall found at Lejre


This summer there has been new escavations at Lejre. The local
newspaper Roskilde Tidende interviewed the archaeologist of Roskilde Museum,
Tom Christensen, who stated that the hall is older but just as
big as the previously escavated halls, and thereby it fits the dates
of Beowulf, the Lejre Chronicle, and the tales in Saxo. I wonder if
any of you would hesitate identifying the new location with Heorot?

Best wishes,
Jens U-M

Here is a fast transcription of Roskilde Tidende's article:
Sept. 23. 2004.09.29 Archaeologist have found a new Royal hall at Old Lejre,
less than half a mile from the location of another Royal hall from the
Viking Age, which was escavated in 1986. The new hall dates from the sixth
century. Tom Christensen has for 7-8 weeks conducted the escavations
immediately north of Gl. Lejre.
The Hall was probably used for ceremonial purposes. It was 47 meter long and
7 meter broad, with deep post holes, which the archaeologists have
escavated. The holes have distinct indents from heavy poles, and in the
depth of a couple of meters there were large supportive stones. Therefore,
the builing must have had quite an impressive height. The building was white
washed as evidenced by white puds found in some of the post holes. A pile of
garbage to the south contains bones and clay pieces, small pieces of gold,
fine glass and ceramics. This gives the impression that the hall had been
inhabited by people from the highest social tier of the Germanic Iron Age
society.
The 1500 year old Royal hall is a manifest evidence that the history of
Lejre goes back to the legendary times, described in the tales about the
Skjoldunger, Roar, Helgi, and Rolf Krake.
We assume that the tales had been told in the hall from the Viking Age, but
here we find the material background for the tales, Tom Christensen states,
who findes it very likely that they moved from this hall to the hall from
the Viking Age.
He has no explanation why that happened.


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