# Jelling stones

The Jelling stones (Danish: Jellingstenene) are massive carved runestones from the 10th century, found at the town of Jelling in Denmark. The older of the two Jelling stones was raised by King Gorm the Old in memory of his wife Thyra. The larger of the two stones was raised by King Gorm's son, Harald Bluetooth, in memory of his parents, celebrating his conquest of Denmark and Norway, and his conversion of the Danes to Christianity.
The runic inscriptions on these stones are considered the best known in Denmark. In 1994, the stones, in addition to the burial mounds and small church nearby, were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as an unparalleled example of both pagan and Christian Nordic culture.

## Significance

The stones are strongly identified with the creation of Denmark as a nation state. Both inscriptions mention the name "Danmark" (in the form of accusative "tanmaurk" ([dɑnmɒrk]) on the large stone, and genitive "tanmarkar" (pronounced [dɑnmɑrkɑɹ̻̊˔]) on the small stone).
The larger stone explicitly mentions the conversion of Denmark from Norse paganism and the process of Christianisation, alongside a depiction of the crucified Christ; it is therefore popularly dubbed "Denmark's baptismal certificate" (Danmarks dåbsattest), an expression coined by art historian Rudolf Broby-Johansen in the 1930s. In 1997 a photo of this stone inspired the name Bluetooth for the now-ubiquitous wireless standard.

## Recent history

After having been exposed to the elements for a thousand years, cracks were beginning to show. On 15 November 2008 experts from UNESCO examined the stones to determine their condition. Experts requested that the stones be moved to an indoor exhibition hall, or in some other way protected in situ, to prevent further damage from the weather.
In February 2011 the site was vandalized using green spray paint, with the word "GELWANE" written on both sides of the larger stone, and with identical graffiti sprayed on a nearby gravestone and on the church door. After much speculation about the possible meaning of the enigmatic word "gelwane", the vandal was eventually discovered to be a 15-year-old boy with Asperger's syndrome and the word itself was meaningless. As the paint had not fully hardened, experts were able to remove it.
The Heritage Agency of Denmark decided to keep the stones in their current location and selected a protective casing design from 157 projects submitted through a competition. The winner of the competition was Nobel Architects. The glass casing creates a climate system that keeps the stones at a fixed temperature and humidity and protects them from weathering. The design features rectangular glass casings strengthened by two solid bronze sides mounted on a supporting steel skeleton. The glass is coated with an anti-reflective material that gives the exhibit a greenish hue. Additionally, the bronze patina gives off a rusty, greenish colour, highlighting the runestones' grey and reddish tones and emphasising their monumental character and significance.

## Runestone of Harald Bluetooth

The inscription on the larger of the two Jelling stones (Jelling II, Rundata DR 42) reads:
* runes
* rune transliteration
* Old West Norse normalization
* Old East Norse normalization
ᚼᛅᚱᛅᛚᛏᚱ
haraltr
Haraldr
Haraldr
ᚴᚢᚾᚢᚴᛦ
kunukʀ
konungr
kunungʀ
ᛒᛅᚦ
baþ
bað
baþ
ᚴᛅᚢᚱᚢᛅ
kaurua
gera
gørwa
ᚴᚢᛒᛚ
kubl
kuml
kumbl
ᚦᛅᚢᛋᛁ
þausi
þessi
þøsi
ᛅᚠᛏ
aft
ept
æft
ᚴᚢᚱᛘ
kurm
Gorm,
Gorm,
ᚠᛅᚦᚢᚱ
faþur
fǫður
faþur
ᛋᛁᚾ
sin
sinn,
sin,
ᛅᚢᚴ
auk
ok
ok
ᛅᚠᛏ
aft
ept
æft
ᚦᚭᚢᚱᚢᛁ
þourui
Þyrvé,
Þorwi,
ᛘᚢᚦᚢᚱ
muþur
móður
moþur
ᛋᛁᚾᛅ
sina
sína,
sina,
ᛋᛅ
sa
sá
sa
ᚼᛅᚱᛅᛚᛏᚱ
haraltr
Haraldr
Haraldr
ᛁᛅᛋ
ias
er
æs
ᛋᚭᛦ
soʀ
sér
seʀ
ᚢᛅᚾ
uan
vann
wan
ᛏᛅᚾᛘᛅᚢᚱᚴ
tanmaurk
Danmǫrk
Danmork
 ᚼᛅᚱᛅᛚᛏᚱ ᛬ ᚴᚢᚾᚢᚴᛦ ᛬ ᛒᛅᚦ ᛬ ᚴᛅᚢᚱᚢᛅ / ᚴᚢᛒᛚ ᛬ ᚦᛅᚢᛋᛁ ᛬ ᛅᚠᛏ ᛬ ᚴᚢᚱᛘ ᚠᛅᚦᚢᚱ ᛋᛁᚾ / ᛅᚢᚴ ᛅᚠᛏ ᛬ ᚦᚭᚢᚱᚢᛁ ᛬ ᛘᚢᚦᚢᚱ ᛬ ᛋᛁᚾᛅ ᛬ ᛋᛅ / ᚼᛅᚱᛅᛚᛏᚱ (᛬) ᛁᛅᛋ ᛬ ᛋᚭᛦ ᛫ ᚢᛅᚾ ᛫ ᛏᛅᚾᛘᛅᚢᚱᚴ
: haraltr : kunukʀ : baþ : kaurua ¶ kubl : þausi : aft : kurm faþur sin ¶ auk aft : þourui : muþur : sina : sa ¶ haraltr (:) ias : soʀ · uan · tanmaurk
 Haraldr konungr bað gera kuml þessi ept Gorm, fǫður sinn, ok ept Þyrvé, móður sína, sá Haraldr er sér vann Danmǫrk
 Haraldr kunungʀ baþ gørwa kumbl þøsi æft Gorm, faþur sin, ok æft Þorwi, moþur sina, sa Haraldr æs seʀ wan Danmork
King Haraldr ordered these monuments made in memory of Gormr, his father, and in memory of Þyrvé, his mother; that Haraldr who won for himself all of Denmark
ᛅᛚᛅ
ala
alla
alla
ᛅᚢᚴ
auk
ok
ok
ᚾᚢᚱᚢᛁᛅᚴ
nuruiak
Norveg
Norwæg
ᛅᛚᛅ ᛫ ᛅᚢᚴ ᛫ ᚾᚢᚱᚢᛁᛅᚴ
ala · auk · nuruiak
alla ok Norveg
alla ok Norwæg
and Norway
ᛅᚢᚴ
auk
ok
ok
ᛏ(ᛅ)ᚾᛁ
t(a)ni
dani
dani
ᚴᛅᚱᚦᛁ
(k)(a)(r)(þ)(i)
gerði
gærþi
ᚴᚱᛁᛋᛏᚾᚭ
kristno
kristna.
kristna.
᛫ ᛅᚢᚴ ᛫ ᛏ(ᛅ)ᚾᛁ (᛫ ᚴᛅᚱᚦᛁ ᛫) ᚴᚱᛁᛋᛏᚾᚭ
(·) auk t(a)ni (k)(a)(r)(þ)(i) kristno
 ok dani gerði kristna.
 ok dani gærþi kristna.
and made the Danes Christian.
The stone has a figure of the crucified Christ on one side and on another side a serpent wrapped around a lion. Christ is depicted as standing in the shape of a cross and entangled in what appear to be branches. This depiction of Christ has often been taken as indicating the parallels with the "hanging" of the Norse pagan god Odin, who in Rúnatal gives an account of being hanged from a tree and pierced by a spear.

### Modern copies of the runestone of Harald Bluetooth

Another copy of this stone was placed in 1936 on the Domplein ('Dom Square') in Utrecht in the Netherlands, next to the Cathedral of Utrecht, on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of Utrecht University.
In 1955, a plaster cast of this stone was made for a festival in London. It is now located in the grounds of the Danish Church in London, 4 St Katherines Precinct, Regents Park, London. The copy is painted in bright colours, like the original. Most of the original paint has flaked away from the original stone, but enough small specks of paint remained to enable the determination of what the colours looked like when they were freshly painted. A copy is also located in the National Museum of Denmark, and another copy, decorated by Rudolf Broby-Johansen in the 1930s, just outside the Jelling museum, which stands within sight of the Jelling mounds.
A copy exists in Rouen, Normandy, France, near Saint-Ouen Abbey Church, offered by Denmark to the city of Rouen, on the occasion of the millennium of Normandy in 1911.
A facsimile of the image of Christ on Harald's runestone appears on the inside front cover of Danish passports.

## Runestone of Gorm

The inscription on the older and smaller of the Jelling stones (Jelling I, Rundata DR 41) reads:
* runes
* rune transliteration
* Old West Norse normalisation
* Old East Norse normalisation
ᚴᚢᚱᛘᛦ
kurmʀ
Gormr
Gormʀ
ᚴᚢᚾᚢᚴᛦ
kunukʀ
konungr
kunungʀ
ᚴ(ᛅᚱ)ᚦᛁ
k(a)(r)þi
gerði
gærþi
ᚴᚢᛒᛚ
kubl
kuml
kumbl
ᚦᚢᛋᛁ
þusi
þessi
þøsi
ᛅ(ᚠᛏ)
a(f)(t)
ept
æft
ᚦᚢᚱᚢᛁ
þurui
Þyrvé,
Þorwi,
ᚴᚢᚾᚢ
kunu
konu
kunu
᛬ ᚴᚢᚱᛘᛦ ᛬ ᚴᚢᚾᚢᚴᛦ ᛬ ᚴ(ᛅᚱ)ᚦᛁ ᛬ ᚴᚢᛒᛚ ᛬ ᚦᚢᛋᛁ ᛬ ᛅ(ᚠᛏ) ᛬ ᚦᚢᚱᚢᛁ ᛬ ᚴᚢᚾᚢ
: kurmʀ : kunukʀ {: ¶ :} k(a)(r)þi : kubl : þusi {: ¶ :} a(f)(t) : þurui : kunu
 Gormr konungr gerði kuml þessi ept Þyrvé, konu
 Gormʀ kunungʀ gærþi kumbl þøsi æft Þorwi, kunu
King Gormr made these monuments in memory of Þyrvé,
ᛋᛁᚾᛅ
sina
sína,
sina,
ᛏᛅᚾᛘᛅᚱᚴᛅᛦ
tanmarkaʀ
Danmarkar
Danmarkaʀ
ᛒᚢᛏ
but
bót.
bot.
᛬ ᛋᛁᚾᛅ ᛬ ᛏᛅᚾᛘᛅᚱᚴᛅᛦ ᛬ ᛒᚢᛏ ᛬
⁓ sina ⁓ tanmarkaʀ ⁓ but ⁓
 sína, Danmarkar bót.
 sina, Danmarkaʀ bot.
his wife, Denmark's salvation.