Viking Kings and Danish World Heritage - Jelling

Viking Kings and Danish World Heritage - Jelling

Guidet tour of the famous runic stones of Jelling - the Christian "birth certificate" of Denmark from the Viking age.

Right next to the church of the small Danish town of Jelling, you will find two runic stones; a small older one and a larger younger one dating back to around 950 AD, during the Viking age. They used to be placed on top of the two burial mounds which are in front of their present position.

Through many generations the runic stones have been seen as elements of Danish national identity as they, for the first time, mentioned Denmark as a nation ruled by kings and the runic inscription on the larger, younger stone also says that the Danes have become Christians during the reign of King Harald Bluetooth and on his command.

That is the reason for the larger runic stone's inscription being called the Christian birth certificate of Denmark showing also that Denmark is one of the oldest kingdoms in the world as it has been in existence ever since.

The runic stones of Jelling are so unique that they are one of only three sites in Denmark having been put on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

If the local museum of the Kings of Jelling is open, I'll end the tour so you can visit to the museum on your own. There you can see what the area looked like in Viking times and see the runic stones in their original colour sceme.