Everything about Harald I Of Denmark totally explained
Harald Bluetooth Gormson ( ), was born around
910, the son of King
Gorm the Old, king of
Jutland (that is, peninsular Germany and Denmark) and of
Thyra (also known as
Thyre Danebod) a supposed daughter of
Harald Klak,
Jarl of
Jutland, or daughter of a noblemen of
Sønderjylland who is supposed to have been kindly disposed towards Christianity. He died in
985 or
986 having ruled as
King of Denmark from around 958 and king of
Norway for a few years probably around 970. Some sources state that his son
Sweyn forcibly deposed him as king.
Cognate
In Old Norse,
blá "blue" could also mean "black" or "dark" - for instance, when the Vikings encountered dark-skinned Arabian merchants, they were referred to as "blámenn", literally "blue men."
The nickname
Blátönn ("Bluetooth") could indicate that Harald had a "blue" or dark tooth, maybe stemming from an accident, but the epithet is probably a later invention.
The Jelling stones
Harald Bluetooth caused the
Jelling stones to be erected to honour his parents. Encyclopedia Britannica (Britannica) considers the runic inscriptions as the most well known in Denmark. The biography of Harald Bluetooth is summed up by this runic inscription from the
Jelling stones:
» "Harald, king, bade these memorials to be made after Gorm, his father, and Thyra, his mother. The Harald who won the whole of Denmark and Norway and turned the Danes to Christianity."
Conversion and Christianization of Denmark
Although Harald's predecessors had adopted
Christianity at the instigation of the
Frankish Carolingian kings in 826,
paganism remained predominant among Danes and northerners for centuries. His mother may have implanted in the boy the first seeds of Christianity which his father, a devout servant of the
Norse god
Odin, did his utmost to combat. When Harald converted around 965, he'd the
Jelling mounds – previously started by his pagan father Gorm – adapted into Christian monuments honoring both Gorm and Thyre. The Jelling monuments are said to have been a statement of Harald's new-found religion; it was thought that with these monuments, he was trying to conduct a smooth transition from paganism to Christianity both for himself and his subjects. Christianity may have been impressed on him as a result of military pressure, but the stones have led some people to believe that they represent a new-found love and confidence for his new religion.
Meanwhile the Christian religion became more and more deeply rooted among the Danes. Even a few members of the nobility (such as Frode, Viceroy of Jutland) embraced the faith and soon episcopal sees were established (Schleswig, Ribe, Aarhus). The first recorded attempt at Christianization was made by the English missionary
Willibord in the early eighth century. The attempt was unsuccessful, but Willibord is said to have taken thirty young Danish men back to England, possibly to start a seminary. Other attempts were made after this time, but they too were largely unsuccessful. In 845 the Danes sacked Hamburg the town where
Anskar, the
Bishop of Hamburg, resided. As an indirect result of the sack, Anskar was compensated and given the richer see of Bremen which was run jointly with Hamburg.
It wasn't until 935 that Christian missionaries had a major breakthrough in the Christianization of Denmark. At this time the Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen,
Unni received Harald’s permission to begin preaching across Denmark, even though Harald wasn't yet the king. As early as 948 sees were established with German missionary bishops in Denmark at Hedeby, Ribe and Aarhus. Harald Bluetooth converted between 960 and 965 and became similar to non-Scandinavian kings ruling through Europe.
However the prominent part the Germans had in these achievements as well as the lofty idea of the Roman Empire then prevailing led Otto I, the Great, to require Harald to recognize him as "advocatus", or
lord protector of the Danish church, and even as "Lord Paramount". The king of the Danes replied to this demand with a declaration of war, and the emperor sought to force his "vassal" into subjection. The devastating expeditions, which were pushed as far as the
Limfjord, enabled the emperor to beat down all opposition (972), and to compel Harald not only to conclude peace, submit to the emperor and to accept baptism. Henceforth paganism steadily lost ground.
The Bishopric of Odense was established at
Funen (Fyn) in 980; the sacrificial grove at Lethra (on Zealand), which, until then, had been from time to time the scene of human sacrifices, was deserted. King Harald moved his royal residence to
Roskilde and erected there a wooden church dedicated to the Holy Trinity. In the eleventh century it was replaced by a basilica, which in turn was soon torn down. Since about the year 1200 its site has been occupied by the Gothic cathedral of St. Lucius, the burial place of the kings of Denmark. Christian houses of worship were also built in many other places during Harald's reign; in these German and Danish priests preached the gospel of the crucified and risen Saviour.
Harald undoubtedly professed Christianity at that time; it's also true that he contributed to its spread. But his moral conduct in many respects distinctly violated biblical commandments. This attitude toward Christianity can be seen throughout the Norse world. The Christian god became a part of Norse life, but was no more important, at first than their gods which already existed. A good example is the Jelling Stones made by Harald I. The rune-stone has both Christian and pagan qualities demonstrating the mixture of old and new values. Consequently many people looked on the plots that were directed against the sovereignty and life of the aging prince by his own son Svend as a punishment from Heaven. Although baptized, Svend joined forces with Palnatoke, the most powerful chieftain on Funen, who led the heathen party. The fortunes of war varied for a time, and Harold took refuge from his son, but finally Harald was slain on 1 November, 985 or 986.
Reign
During his reign, Harald oversaw the reconstruction not only of the
Jelling runic stones but of other projects as well. Some believe that these projects were a way for him to preserve the economic and military control of his country. During that time,
ring forts were built in five strategic locations:
Trelleborg on
Sjælland,
Nonnebakken on
Fyn,
Fyrkat in central
Jylland,
Aggersborg near
Limfjord, and
Trelleborg near the city of
Trelleborg in
Scania in present-day
Sweden. All five fortresses had similar designs:
"perfectly circular with gates opening to the four corners of the earth, and a courtyard divided into four areas which held large houses set in a square pattern" A sixth
Trelleborg is located in
Borgeby, in
Scania in present-day
Sweden. This one has been dated to the vicinity of 1000 AD and has a similar design, so it too may have been built by king Harald.
He also constructed the oldest known bridge in southern Scandinavia, known as the
Ravninge Bridge in Ravninge meadows, which was 5m wide and 760m long.
Harald had a son named
Sweyn Forkbeard, who was baptized along with the rest of the royal family, and given the name by the
Holy Roman emperor Otto the Great:
» Not long after Harald himself was baptized together with his wife, Gunnhild, and his little son, whom our king raised up from the sacred font and named Svein
While absolute quiet prevailed throughout the interior, he was even able to turn his thoughts to foreign enterprises. Again and again he came to the help of Richard the Fearless of Normandy (in the years 945 and 963), while his son conquered
Samland and, after the assassination of King
Harald Graafeld of Norway, he also managed to force the people of that country into temporary subjection to himself.
The
Norse sagas presents Harald in a rather negative light. He was forced twice to submit to the renegade Swedish prince
Styrbjörn the Strong of the
Jomsvikings- first by giving Styrbjörn a fleet and his daughter
Tyra, the second time by giving up himself as hostage and an additional fleet. Styrbjörn brought this fleet to
Uppsala in
Sweden in order to claim the throne of Sweden. However, this time Harald broke his oath and fled with his Danes in order to avoid facing the Swedish army at the
Battle of the Fýrisvellir.
As a consequence of Harald's army having lost to the Germans in the shadow of Danevirke in 974, he no longer had control of Norway and Germans having settled back into the border area between Scandinavia and Germany. The German settlers were driven out of Denmark in 983 by an alliance consisting of
Obodrite soldiers and troops loyal to Harald. Soon after, Harald was killed fighting off a rebellion led by his son Sweyn. He was believed to have died in 986, although there are many other accounts that claim he died in 985.
He died 1 November, 985 or 986. His remains were buried in the cathedral at
Roskilde, where his bones are still preserved, walled up in one of the pillars of the choir.
Marriages and issue
- Gyrid Olafsdottir, probably by 950.
- Thyra Haraldsdotter, married Styrbjörn Starke
- Sveyn Forkbeard. Born about 960. Usually given as the son of Harald and Gyrid, though it's said in some of the older sagas that he was an illegitimate son.
- Hakon. Born in 961.
- Gunhild. She married Pallig, Jarl and Ealdorman in Devon. They both died in the St. Brice's Day massacre in November 1002.
- Thora (Tova) the daughter of Mistivir in 970. She raised the Sønder Vissing Runestone after her mother.
Family tree
Pop culture
From 1835 to 1977 it was believed that Harald ordered the death of Haraldskær Woman, a bog body thought to be Sigrid the Haughty until radiocarbon dating proved otherwise.
The old-time radio show "Vic and Sade," written by Paul Rhymer in the 1930s to 1950s, sometimes made mention of "Bluetooth Johnson," a teenage friend of main character Rush Gook. This character presumably was so named in oblique reference to Bluetooth Gormson.
"Bluetooth" now more commonly refers to the Bluetooth wireless specification designed to enable cable-free connections between computers, mobile phones, PDAs, printers, etc. Bluetooth in these devices is named after this king. The Bluetooth logo consists of the Nordic runes for its initials, H and B (Long-branch runes version). Harald is regarded as having united (if temporarily) Denmark, Norway, and Sweden under a single king. Further Information
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