Thyra Thyra ( or Þyrvé ) was the consort of King Gorm the Old of Denmark . She is believed to have led an army against the Germans . Gorm and Thyra were the parents of King Harald Bluetooth . While Gorm the Old had disparaging nicknames , his wife Thyra was referred to as a woman of great prudence . Saxo wrote that Thyra was mainly responsible for building the Dannevirke on the southern border , but archeology has proven it much older . Thyra died before Gorm , who raised a memorial stone to Thyra at Jelling , which refers to her as " tanmarka but " , the ' Pride ' or ' Ornament ' of Denmark . Gorm and Thyra were buried under one of the two great mounds at Jelling , and later moved to the first Christian church there . This was confirmed when a tomb containing their remains was excavated in 1978 under the east end of the present church . Accounts of Thyra ' s parentage are late , contradictory and chronologically dubious . Saxo holds she was the daughter of Æthelred , King of England ( usually identified with Æthelred of Wessex ) , while Jómsvíkinga saga and Snorri ' s Heimskringla say her father was a king or " jarl " of Jutland or Holstein called Harald Klak . Saxo claims Thyra was the daughter of English king Æthelred of Wessex , who also had a son called Æthelstan . Æthelstan was neglected in his father ' s will to the benefit of Harald Bluetooth . The king of Norway found it appalling that such a fool should get such a reward , and hence attacked England , where Æthelstan immediately surrendered . Shortly after both the king of Norway and Æthelstan die and Norway and England goes to the son of the late king of Norway - Håkon . The accounts of Saxo fit well with the English king Æthelstan the Glorious , who reigned from 924 to 939 . However , he was not the son of Æthelred af Wessex ( 865 til 871 ) , but Edward the Older ( 899 til 924 ) , but he was raised by his father ' s sister Æthelfled , who was married with another Æthelred , the earl of Mercia , who as such was the fosterfather of Æthelstan . When Edward died , Æthelstan was recognised as the king of Mercia , after his father ' s sister , and later also of Wessex . The king of Norway , Harald Haarfager ' s son Håkon , was raised at the court of Æthelstans , as part of a peace agreement , so he fits well into the tales told by Saxo . Æthelstan and his father Edward were very good at nurturing international and dynamic connections through marriages : It is hardly unthinkable that Thyra could have been an illicit daughter of Edward the Older , and as such , yet another half sister of Æthelstan . Making a connection to a Danish king would make good sense for the ” father - in - law ” of Europe as Edward apparently was , with all the problems the Anglo - Saxons had with the Danish in England . According to popular tradition , Thyra ' s daughter was captured by troll s and carried off to a kingdom in the far north beyond Halogaland and Biarmaland . Tradition also has it that before Thyra consented to marry Gorm , she insisted he build a new house and sleep in it for the first three nights of winter and give her an account of his dreams those nights . The dreams were told at the wedding banquet and as recorded , imitate the dreams Pharaoh had that were interpreted by Joseph in Genesis . Oxen came out of the sea ( bountiful harvest ) and birds ( glory of the king to be born ) . Asteroid 115 Thyra is named in her honour , as is one of the four playable characters in the Nintendo Entertainment System game " Gauntlet II " .