Today was a day full of travel. I left Fyn, and Middlefart behind,
and went to a new part of the country. Denmark is composed of four major parts.
There is Sjaelland. This is where Copenhagen is, as well as Roskilde and the
major population of Denmark. This is where I landed. Then there is
Lolland-Flaster (two different island separated by less then a kilometer of
water, often lumped together.) This is where Knutenborg is. Another major
island is Fyn. This is where Odense Domkirke is, as well as Middlefart (which I
realize after three days is actually spelled Middelfart...) the last major part
of Denmark is the Jutland peninsula. (This is actually caped by an island, but
everyone pretends it’s connected...) This is where Ribe, Silkeborg, Herning,
and Jelling are. That is where I am now. Today I first drove to Jelling to see
the oldest remnants of Denmark. Denmark's birth certificate if you will. They
are two large mounds, the remains of the outline of a Viking ship (made of
stone), a (guess what!) church (renovated in 2000) and two stone proclaiming
Denmark as a kingdom. Pretty cool stuff. The mounds are still present
(though empty, as they used to have bodies and stuff in them, we will get to
that later...) Three of the many stones outlining the ship are still standing.
The church is standing, though renovated. And the monoliths are still in there
original position, though the paint is gone, and the runes are faded. The text
is something like: “Me, Harold Bluetooth and my wife are Christians. Y'll
better deal.” :p This leads me to the mounds. The mounds were traditional
pagan burial mounds. They were thought to be for Gorm the Old (the first king
of Denmark) and his wife, and the second for Harold's wife. Though excavated
many times, no bodies were found. Finally, when archeologist started looking at
the small church that stands near the rune stones, they found the body of a
man. With some DNA test in Copenhagen, they realized that those bones were
actually the bones of Gorm the Old. This leads the scientist to their most recent
conclusion, that Gorm was buried in the empty burial chamber in one of the
mounds, until Harold had become Christian. There Harold (his son) took him
baptized his dead body and buried him under his church. His wife, and
Harold and his wife were buried elsewhere. The floor of the church now has a
black unbroken line. Where Gorm was reburied is marked by a piece of sterling
silver. So I stood on top of my oldest traceable roots, the reason I am a
Dane, and the beginning of my religion today.
After this we drove to Herning, which is where I grandfather (on
my dads side) lives. He didn't want to talk to me and my brothers, because we
don't speak the language, therefore we sat and read for 5 hours. It wasn't the
best, but he served great food, and gave us money. I realize despite the fact I
don't know him very well, I love him. Near the end of our visit with him, we
went to see his wife's grave. This was very bittersweet. I'd never seen it, but
now I have. This was the second church I was at today. Lastly I left for Silkeborg
where my cousins live.
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