Jensen Family Background An Historical Compendium

Jensen Family Reunion Keystone, CO July 25-28, 2008

Assembled by James Edwin Jensen

2 Table of Contents

The Land of My Birth 4-6

The Story of Holger Danske 7-9

The Origin of the Danish 10-11

The Jensen Name 12

A Story of 13-72

Important Dates in Danish History 73-78

Family Background – Random Notes 79-85

The Happiest Place on Earth Is…….. 86-91

3 The Land of my Birth

Written by J.P. Jensen in a Blue Spiral Notebook in the spring and summer of 1957 Translated by Volmer Jensen in April 2002

This spring, 1957, marked my anniversary of 50 years in U.S.A.. Mrs. Jensen and I had often talked how nice it would be to take a trip to Denmark, Land of my birth, and , Land of her parents birth, so figured the 50 year anniversary would be the time and begin making plans accordingly, writing for reservations to Overseas Lines. To our surprise most reservations had been made months before the sailing dates, however a cancellation had been made and a dandy cabin on the Norwegian M.S. Bergensfiord sailing from N. York direct to on June 7th . Could not get ready, Volmer and so fort(h). Had to give up going on that one.

(At this point the editor/transcriber will clarify that he was in college in Brookings, SD and they felt they could not leave until he was home)

However, a Cabin would be available on M.S. Oslofiord sailing from N.Y. to in Norway on June 18th. Sent for this reservation and also for the rail ticket to N.Y.. Only tr(o)uble Oslo instead Copenhagen, Passports, pictures and so fort(h).

Morning June 15th started for Minneapolis, got there in the evening, fine Hotel, The Andrews at Hennepin Ave..(Ray and Margaret Burnett and Volmer Jensen drove them by car to Minneapolis) Sunday the 16th had Lunch, Rev. & Mrs. Quanbeck, Delegates to Lutheran Church Convention. Held at Trinity Lutheran Church, 9 young men Ordained to the Lutheran Ministry, very impressive service, met Mrs. H. O. Johnson at their home for the evening. Left Minneapolis at 10:30 PM Burlington Station, joined party Norwegian singers going on the same ship to Norway. Change to Pe(n)nsylvania Railway in Chicago at morn on the 17th, got to N.Y., and at the pier by 8 o’clock, in our stateroom by 9, June 18.

Ship to leave pier at 11:30. A niece and her Minister husband from NY( This was cousin Helen Safstrom and her first husband) met us at the boat to say hello an wave goodby(e) as the proud and beautiful ship pulled away and broke the streamers while Orchestra played Our National Anthem and Norway’s, and Denmark’s, soon out of the bay and passing the Statue of Liberty.

19th, Not much going just water and getting aquinted with some of the 700 passengers.

20th of June our wedding day and wedding Trip never had time before. Saw the first icebergs as nearing New Foundland about 20 in all, turned very cold.

Friday 21th(st) fine day, lots of whales, one hit boat, movies in evening.

Sat 22 Nature film of Denmark, Norway, , Finland. very good.

Sun June 23: Church services at 10:30. 3 Traveling Ministers and singers lay Nordcap singers, very good.

Mon 24th Took some pictures, we are nearing Norway and got to get Landing cards for

4 tomorrow, dance tonight.

Tuesday June 25th, Klif of Norway, Town of Bergen in sight, a boat with Pilot meet Oslofiord at 12 noon and took over, at 2:00 Kl we were at the dock, wonderful bus tour with guide. Edward Griegs Traldhouses(?), Fanetsft(?) Church all wood, no nails, 1100 years, Bergen 65,000 population, very old but pretty town.

Wed June 26th Docked at at 7 a.m. and was walking up town by 9 around a bea(u)tifull Lake with Swans and ducks, Pigeons, visited the old Cathedral all stave work fine old Bldg., had to be back by 10 Kl sailing for Kristiansand and by evening where there walking the town, Sun still shining at 9:30 PM, long days now. 11KL still daylight.

Thurs June 27th Landing at Oslo at 9 AM, a fine sunshiny morning, the end of our Ticket, at 11 we got of the Oslofjord, and I was on my way up town to find a passage to Copenhagen Denmark. Luck was good, got a sailing on Krawn Prince Olaf at 4 PM same day, sent Tellegram to Edwin, Birthday, phoned Anna (JPs Sister in Copenhagen) from ship same Night.

Friday June 28th Arrived Copenhagen at 8 AM after a stormy night on the little sea of between Norway and Denmark. Mrs Jensen got her 3rd degree in Seamanship that night, overslept, all the folks on the dock waiting with 2 cars, went to my sisters (Anna) Apartment in Copenhagen, had Lunch and we all started for the old Farm about 40 Miles south from Copenhagen, a buitifull (beautiful) drive, good roads, Flowers and Fields with grain and beets and well kept Buildings. I could tell the old Farm a long ways of(f) but inside My Brother (Christian) had made so many changes and moderniced so much I hardly know the place from 26 years ago when last there. We have so to speak nothing but talk and visit and eat and look things over for 2 days, very little sleep, but we had to get ready for the big 4 of July at Rebild(?), where the Danish Americans gather each year by the Thousand to celebrate America’s Independence day, 9 of us in 2 cars started for this on the 3 of July, phoned ahead for hotel reservations also reservations for 2 cars on the ferry the 4 of July, Tellogram from Mr. Eisenhower, Danish King, 23,000 people attending, really something for a small country.

After we got back it was party and banquets on top one another for several days and nights, so decided to go to my sister(Katrine) on the I(s)land , here we cross the longest in Europe 2 1/2 Miles, taken care of Railroads, Automobiles, Bikes and what have you. Sister have fine Store, her husband is a printer, works in a nearby town, nearly all people have Colony gardens and raise a lot for the table in summer, took in a lot of sights and stayed a week. This Island raise a lot of Sugar beets and have 2 Sugar factories

About the 16 July we decided to go back to visit a nephew apprentice in a printshop on the other side the long Bridge, Stayed with him and wife a couple days. (Knud and Irja ) Took in some real sights from the Viking days and old fort from the 9th century overlooking the Ocean , big channel all around and stave and brick walls 6 foot t(h)ick and a tal(l) tower inside.

July 20th Going on bus trip to see all the old Churches and Manor house, an Sjelland, a lovely trip. Grain getting ready for Harvest and flowers all over, took all Afternoon.

Had a few days in Copenhagen and saw one of the best zoo’s in the World, more wild animals are born here and raised succesfully than any other place. The Amusement Park of Tivoli has no equal any place, from seven Thousand to 70 Thousand go t(h)rough the gates everyday in

5 summer, cost 10 Krones or 15 cents, stay as long as your wants. Light system and Orkestra and all worth $5.00 to see and hear.

Norway the Land of Mountains. The Last of July we took a trip to Tron(d)heim pretty well north in Norway to find some of Mrs. Jensen’s Cousins, From Copenhagen we crossed into Sweden on the ferry train and all, hardly know before the Swedis Custom Officer asked for our pas(s)port, in Sweden we rasle(???) (saw) Farms fenced rock, looked poor besides Denmark, got a little better later, Finely timber, and Mountains as we got closer to Norway. Oslo at 12 Night. Had Hotel at Students home, fine place but a long ways out. Next morning at 9 we started again and from then on it real(l)y was scenery to behold, stip (steep) Cliff and water falls rushing down from Snow capped Mountains, below the Valley called (looked this up on a map to get the spelling right) little house and Hay hung on wires to cure, went through don’t know how many tunnels cut trough the Mountains, A lot of small Stations all the way, each had a sign so many feet above Sealevel, at a small Station we got out to get a Sandwich, A man hollered “are you lost”, turned out to be from Montana.

Arrived at Tron(d)heim late in the evening as the people we where (were) going to visit was elderly folks decided to go to a Hotel, but every place filled, meet (met) a couple young men on Street, one spoke fairly good English, directed us to Student home and found it a fine place, all new, but a long ways out, same as in Oslo.

(This is where the note book ended. Kind of like in the middle of a page and all else is missing. If any of the family can find the missing manuscript there will be a big reward or at least some pie and ice cream. Volmer)

6 The Story of Holger Danske

Holger Danske by (1845)

N Denmark there stands an old castle named Kronenburg, close by the Sound of Elsinore, where large ships, both English, Russian, and Prussian, pass by hundreds every day. And they salute the old castle with cannons, “Boom, boom,” which is as if they said, “Good-day.” And the cannons of the old castle answer “Boom,” which means “Many thanks.” In winter no ships sail by, for the whole Sound is covered with ice as far as the Swedish coast, and has quite the appearance of a high-road. The Danish and the Swedish wave, and and say, “Good-day,” and “Thank you” to each other, not with cannons, but with a friendly shake of the hand; and they exchange white bread and biscuits with each other, because foreign articles taste the best. But the most beautiful sight of all is the old castle of Kronenburg, where Holger Danske sits in the deep, dark cellar, into which no one goes. He is clad in iron and steel, and rests his head on his strong arm; his long beard hangs down upon the marble table, into which it has become firmly rooted; he sleeps and dreams, but in his dreams he sees everything that happens in Denmark. On each Christmas-eve an angel comes to him and tells him that all he has dreamed is true, and that he may go to sleep again in peace, as Denmark is not yet in any real danger; but should danger ever come, then Holger Danske will rouse himself, and the table will burst asunder as he draws out his beard. Then he will come forth in his strength, and strike a blow that shall sound in all the countries of the world. An old grandfather sat and told his little grandson all this about Holger Danske, and the boy knew that what his grandfather told him must be true. As the old man related this story, he was carving an image in wood to represent Holger Danske, to be fastened to the prow of a ship; for the old grandfather was a carver in wood, that is, one who carved figures for the heads of ships, according to the names given to them. And now he had carved Holger Danske, who stood there erect and proud, with his long beard, holding in one hand his broad battle-axe, while with the other he leaned on the Danish arms. The old grandfather told the little boy a great deal about Danish men and women who had distinguished themselves in olden times, so that he fancied he knew as much even as Holger Danske himself, who, after all, could only dream; and when the little fellow went to bed, he thought so much about it that he actually pressed his chin against the counterpane, and imagined that he had a long beard which had become rooted to it. But the old grandfather remained sitting at his work and carving away at the last part of it, which was the Danish arms. And when he had finished he looked at the whole figure, and thought of all he had heard and

7 read, and what he had that evening related to his little grandson. Then he nodded his head, wiped his spectacles and put them on, and said, “Ah, yes; Holger Danske will not appear in my lifetime, but the boy who is in bed there may very likely live to see him when the event really comes to pass.” And the old grandfather nodded again; and the more he looked at Holger Danske, the more satisfied he felt that he had carved a good image of him. It seemed to glow with the color of life; the armor glittered like iron and steel. The hearts in the Danish arms grew more and more red; while the lions, with gold crowns on their heads, were leaping up.1 “That is the most beautiful coat of arms in the world,” said the old man. “The lions represent strength; and the hearts, gentleness and love.” And as he gazed on the uppermost lion, he thought of King Canute, who chained great England to Denmark’s throne; and he looked at the second lion, and thought of Waldemar, who untied Denmark and conquered the . The third lion reminded him of Margaret, who united Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. But when he gazed at the red hearts, their colors glowed more deeply, even as flames, and his memory followed each in turn. The first led him to a dark, narrow prison, in which sat a prisoner, a beautiful woman, daughter of Christian the Fourth, Eleanor Ulfeld,2 and the flame became a rose on her bosom, and its blossoms were not more pure than the heart of this noblest and best of all Danish women. “Ah, yes; that is indeed a noble heart in the Danish arms,” said the grandfather. and his spirit followed the second flame, which carried him out to sea,3 where cannons roared and the ships lay shrouded in smoke, and the flaming heart attached itself to the breast of Hvitfeldt in the form of the ribbon of an order, as he blew himself and his ship into the air in order to save the fleet. And the third flame led him to ’s wretched huts, where the preacher, Hans Egede,4 ruled with love in every word and action. The flame was as a star on his breast, and added another heart to the Danish arms. And as the old grandfather’s spirit followed the next hovering flame, he knew whither it would lead him. In a peasant woman’s humble room stood Frederick the Sixth,5 writing his name with chalk on the beam. The flame trembled on his breast and in his heart, and it was in the peasant’s room that his heart became one for the Danish arms. The old grandfather wiped his eyes, for he had known King Frederick, with his silvery locks and his honest blue eyes, and had lived for him, and he folded his hands and remained for some time silent. Then his daughter came to him and said it was getting late, that he ought to rest for a while, and that the supper was on the table. “What you have been carving is very beautiful, grandfather,” said she. “Holger Danske and the old coat of arms; it seems to me as if I have seen the face somewhere.” “No, that is impossible,” replied the old grandfather; “but I have seen it, and I have tried to carve it in wood, as I have retained it in my memory. It was a long time ago, while the English fleet lay in the roads, on the second of April,6 when we showed that we were true, ancient Danes. I was on board the Denmark, in Steene Bille’s squadron; I had a man by my side whom even the cannon balls seemed to fear. He sung old songs in a merry voice, and fired and fought as if he were something more than a man. I still remember his face, but from whence he came, or whither he went, I know not; no one knows. I have often thought it might have been

8 Holger Danske himself, who had swam down to us from Kronenburg to help us in the hour of danger. That was my idea, and there stands his likeness.” The wooden figure threw a gigantic shadow on the wall, and even on part of the ceiling; it seemed as if the real Holger Danske stood behind it, for the shadow moved; but this was no doubt caused by the flame of the lamp not burning steadily. Then the daughter-in-law kissed the old grandfather, and led him to a large arm- chair by the table; and she, and her husband, who was the son of the old man and the father of the little boy who lay in bed, sat down to supper with him. And the old grandfather talked of the Danish lions and the Danish hearts, emblems of strength and gentleness, and explained quite clearly that there is another strength than that which lies in a sword, and he pointed to a shelf where lay a number of old books, and amongst them a collection of Holberg’s plays, which are much read and are so clever and amusing that it is easy to fancy we have known the people of those days, who are described in them. “He knew how to fight also,” said the old man; “for he lashed the follies and prejudices of people during his whole life.” Then the grandfather nodded to a place above the looking-glass, where hung an almanac, with a representation of the Round Tower7 upon it, and said “Tycho Brahe was another of those who used a sword, but not one to cut into the flesh and bone, but to make the way of the stars of heaven clear, and plain to be understood. And then he whose father belonged to my calling,—yes, he, the son of the old image- carver, he whom we ourselves have seen, with his silvery locks and his broad shoulders, whose name is known in all lands;—yes, he was a sculptor, while I am only a carver. Holger Danske can appear in marble, so that people in all countries of the world may hear of the strength of Denmark. Now let us drink the health of Bertel.”8 But the little boy in bed saw plainly the old castle of Kronenburg, and the Sound of Elsinore, and Holger Danske, far down in the cellar, with his beard rooted to the table, and dreaming of everything that was passing above him. And Holger Danske did dream of the little humble room in which the image- carver sat; he heard all that had been said, and he nodded in his dream, saying, “Ah, yes, remember me, you Danish people, keep me in your memory, I will come to you in the hour of need.” The bright morning light shone over Kronenburg, and the wind brought the sound of the hunting-horn across from the neighboring shores. The ships sailed by and saluted the castle with the boom of the cannon, and Kronenburg returned the salute, “Boom, boom.” But the roaring cannons did not awake Holger Danske, for they meant only “Good morning,” and “Thank you.” They must fire in another fashion before he awakes; but wake he will, for there is energy yet in Holger Danske.

9 Origin of the Danish Flag

According to the legend, Dannebrog fell down from the sky on June 15, 1219 to the Danish King Valdemar II during his crusade to . With the flag in hand, the King won the battle at Lyndanisse near Reval (Tallin).The flag was given to him as a divine approval. Evidently it didn't help much against the Nazis.

10 11 The Jensen Name Jensen is a Danish and Norwegian originally patronymic surname, literally meaning son of Jens. Today however it is used as a generic surname for both men and women. The prefix Jens- is the most common Danish version of the biblical Ioanne (English: John). Jensen is the most common surname in Denmark where it is shared by about 5% (288,050 people as of 1 January 2007) of the population. Since 1 January 2001 the number of people in Denmark with the surname Jensen has been reduced from 312,396 as people has changed to more unique surnames. It should be mentioned, that people called for example Uffe Ellemann-Jensen or Jens Martin Jensen Vestergaard are not counted as people having the surname Jensen by Statistics Denmark[1]. Jensen is also very common in Norway, where it is the ninth commonest surname, but nevertheless shared by about 0.5% of the population (plus 0.1% spelled Jenssen)[2]. The name is also in use in the . The frequent occurrences of Jensen as a given name outside , mainly , , Canada, the U.S.A. and southeast Asia[3], is due to immigration from the . Immigrants to English-speaking countries often spelled it Jenson.

12 A Story of Denmark

Kongeriget Danmark Kingdom of Denmark

Flag Coat of arms

Motto: none (Royal motto: Guds hjælp, Folkets kærlighed, Danmarks styrke "The Help of God, the Love of the People, the Strength of Denmark")

Anthem: (national)

Royal anthem: Kong Christian (royal) Capital Copenhagen (and largest city) 55°43′N, 12°34′E Official languages Danish1 Demonym Danish Parliamentary democracy and Government Constitutional monarchy - Monarch Margrethe II Anders Fogh - Prime Minister Rasmussen Folketing - Pedersen Speaker Consolidation (prehistoric) 1 January 1973 EU accession (7th) Area 43,094 km² (134th²) - Total 16,639² sq mi - Water (%) 1.6² Population - 2008 estimate 5,475,791 (108th) 129.16/km² (78th²) - Density 334.53/sq mi GDP (PPP) 2006 estimate - Total $198.5 billion (45th) - Per capita $37,000 (6th) GDP (nominal) 2007 estimate - Total $311.3 billion (27th)

13 - Per capita $57,261 (6th) Gini (1997) 24.7 (low) (1st) ▲ HDI (2004) 0.943 (high) (14th) Currency (DKK) Time zone CET² (UTC+1) - Summer (DST) CEST² (UTC+2) Internet TLD .dk2,3 Calling code +454 1 Co-official with Greenlandic in Greenland, and Faroese in the Faroe Islands. German is recognised as a protected in the South (Sønderjylland) area of Denmark. Danish is recognized as a protected minority language in the Schleswig- region of Germany. ² For Denmark excluding the Faroe Islands and Greenland. ³ The TLD .eu is shared with other countries. 4 The Faroe Islands use +298 and Greenland uses +299.

The Kingdom of Denmark (Danish: Kongeriget Danmark (help·info), IPA: [ dænm̥ ɑɡ̊], (archaic:) IPA: [ danm̥ ɑːɡ̊]), commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries. The mainland is bordered to the south by Germany; Denmark is southwest of Sweden and south of Norway. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the . The country consists of a large peninsula, Jutland (Jylland) and many islands, most notably (Sjælland), (Fyn), Vendsyssel-, , Falster and as well as hundreds of minor islands often referred to as the Danish Archipelago. Denmark has long controlled the approach to the , and these waters are also known as the . The Faroe Islands and Greenland are autonomous provinces of Denmark with home rule. Denmark is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of government. Denmark has a state-level government and local governments in 98 municipalities. Denmark is a member of NATO and the European Union, having joined the European Economic Community in 1973. Denmark has not joined the Eurozone. Originally a seafaring nation relying on fishing, farming and trade, Denmark experienced steady industrialization in the 19th and 20th centuries. Denmark had the world's 3rd highest GDP per capita in 1970. Between 1970 and 1990 the level of taxation and regulation increased dramatically as Denmark adopted the Nordic model welfare state. After falling sharply behind in prosperity, unemployment and other indicators, Denmark took steps in economic liberalization in the 1980s and 1990s, including abolishing almost all job market regulation. Despite relatively high taxation, the economy is otherwise quite unregulated and Index of Economic Freedom ranks Denmark the world's 11th most economically free country (4th in Europe).

14 From 2006 to 2008, surveys[1] ranked Denmark as "the happiest place in the world," based on standards of health, welfare, and education. In the 2008 survey, the Global Peace Index ranks Denmark as the second most peaceful country in the world, after .[2] In 2008, the capital and largest city, Copenhagen, was ranked the most liveable city in the world by Monocle magazine.[3] The Danish is close to Swedish and Norwegian, which they share strong cultural and historical ties with. 82.0% of the inhabitants of Denmark and 90.3% of the ethnic Danes are members of the Lutheran state church. About 9% of residents are citizens of other countries. Etymology

The etymology of the word Denmark, and especially the relationship between Danes and Denmark and the unifying of Denmark as a single Kingdom is a subject that attracts some debate.[4][5] The debate is centered primarily around the prefix 'Dan' and whether it refers to the Dani or a historical person Dan and the exact meaning of the -mark ending. The issue is further complicated by a number of references to various Dani people in Scandinavian or other places in Europe in ancient Greek and Roman accounts (like Ptolemy, Jordanes and Gregory of Tours), as well as some medieval literature (like Adam of Bremen, Beowulf, Widsith and Poetic Edda). Most handbooks derive[6] the first part of the word, and the name of the people, from a word meaning "flat land", related to German Tenne "threshing floor", English den "cave", Sanskrit dhánuṣ- "desert". The -mark is believed to mean woodland or borderland (see marches), with probable references to the border forests in south Schleswig,[7] maybe similar to , Telemark or .[8]

Mythological explanations Some of the earliest descriptions of the origin of the word 'Denmark', describing a territory, are found in the Chronicon Lethrense (12th century), Svend Aagesen (late 12th century), (early 13th century) and the Ballad of (mid 15th century). There are however many more Danish annals and yearbooks containing various other details, similar tales in other variations, other names or spelling variations, and so on. The Chronicon Lethrense explains that when the Roman Emperor Augustus went against Denmark in the time of David, Denmark consisted of the territory Jutland, Funen, Zealand, Møn, Falster, Lolland and Skåne, but was not called Denmark (Dania) because they were governed by the Swedish king Ypper.[9] He had three sons, Nori, Østen and Dan. Dan was sent to govern Zealand, Møn, Falster and Lolland, which became known jointly as

15 Videslev. When the were fighting Emperor Augustus they called upon Dan to help and upon victory made him king of Jutland, Fuen, Videslev and Skåne. After a council about what to call this new united land, they named it Denmark (Dania) after the new king, Dan. Saxo relates that the legendary Danish King Dan, son of Humbli, gave the name to the Danish people, though he does not expressly state that he also is the origin of the word "Denmark". Rather he tells that England ultimately derives its name from Dan’s brother Angle. As a side note, however, Saxo also tells that the Norman historian Dudo of Saint-Quentin had already written that the Danish people and Denmark derived their name from the Dacian people of modern day Romania and northern Bulgaria. From Dudo we hear that Rollo was expelled from Dacia and went to with six boats. In the Ballad of Eric we hear that the Gothic king Humli set his son Dan to rule the settlers of a territory called Vetala, and after Dan, Vetala was named Denmark.

Earliest occurrences

The Stones, commonly referred to as Denmark's "birth certificate", seen from the north with "Gorm's Mound" in the background. The earliest mention of a territory called "Denmark" is found in King Alfred the Great's modified translation into of Paulus Orosius' Seven Books of History Against The Pagans ["Historiarum adversum Paganos Libri Septem"], written by Alfred when king of Wessex in the years 871-899. In a passage introduced to the text by Alfred, we read about Ohthere from Hålogaland’s travels in the Nordic region, during which 'Denmark [Denamearc] was on his [port side]... And then for two days he had on his [port side] the islands which belong to Denmark'.[10] The earliest mention of the word "Denmark" within Denmark itself is found on the two rune stones at Jelling, believed to have been erected by (c. 955) and (c. 965). The larger stone of the two is often cited as Denmark's birth certificate, though both use the word "Denmark", in the form of (acc.) tanmaurk [danmɒrk] (large Jelling stone) and (gen.) [11] tanmarkaR [danmarkaɽ] (small Jelling stone). The inhabitants of Denmark are there called tani [danɪ] ("Danes" in the acc.).

16 In the Song of Roland, estimated to have been written between 1040 and 1115, though the oldest manuscript dates to 1140-1170, the first mention of the legendary Danish hero Holger Danske appears, who is specifically mentioned, several times, as "Holger of Denmark" (Oger de Denemarche) History

Main article:

Hankehøj, by Johan Lundbye. A Danish down. Note the glacial character of the terrain and the burial mound of an early chief in the centre

A photo of the Gundestrup cauldron The earliest archaeological findings in Denmark date back to 130,000 – 110,000 BC in the Eem interglacial period.[12] People have inhabited Denmark since about 12,500 BC and agriculture has been in evidence since 3,900 BC.[13] The (1,800–600 BC) in Denmark was marked by burial mounds, which left an abundance of findings including lurs and the Sun Chariot. During the Pre-Roman Iron Age (500 BC – AD 1), native groups began migrating south, although[13] the first Danish people came to the country between the Pre-Roman and the Germanic Iron Age,[14] in the Roman Iron Age (AD 1–400). The Roman provinces maintained trade routes and relations with native tribes in Denmark and Roman coins have been found in Denmark. Evidence of strong Celtic cultural influence dates from this period in Denmark and much of northwest Europe and is among other things reflected in the finding of the Gundestrup cauldron. Historians believe that before the arrival of the precursors to the Danes, who came from the islands (Zealand) and Skåne and spoke an early form of north Germanic, most of

17 Jutland and some islands were settled by Jutes. They were later invited to Great Britain as mercenaries by Brythonic king Vortigern, and were granted the south-eastern territories of Kent, the Isle of Wight, among other areas, where they settled. They were later absorbed or ethnically cleansed by the invading and , who formed the Anglo-Saxons.[15] The remaining population in Jutland assimilated in with the Danes, due territorial expansions from the south and the east, and the Jutes being initially weakened after their emigrations. The exact origins of the Danish nation have been lost in history. However, a short note[16] about the Dani in "The Origin and Deeds of the " from 551 by historian Jordanes is believed by some to be an early mention of the Danes,[17] one of the ethnic groups from whom the modern Danish people are descended. The defense structures were built in phases from the 3rd century forward,[18] and the sheer size of the construction efforts in 737 are attributed to the emergence of a Danish king.[18] The new runic alphabet was first used at the same time and Ribe, the oldest town of Denmark, was founded about 700 AD.

Iron age Main article:

The Ladby ship, the only ship burial found in Denmark During the 8th-11th centuries, the Danes were known as , together with Norwegians, and Gotlanders. Viking explorers first discovered and settled Iceland in the 9th century, on their way toward the Faroe Islands. From there, Greenland and () were also settled. Utilizing their great skills in shipbuilding they raided and conquered parts of and the British Isles. But they also excelled in trading along the coasts and rivers of Europe, running trade routes from Greenland in the north to Constantinople in the south via Russian rivers. The Danish Vikings were most active in the British Isles and Western Europe, and they raided, conquered and settled parts of England (their earliest settlements included sites in the Danelaw, , and Normandy). In the early 8th century, 's Christian empire had expanded to the southern border of the Danes, and Frankish sources (F.ex. Notker of St

18 Gall) provide the earliest historical evidence of the Danes. These report a King Gudfred, who appeared in present day Holstein with a navy in 804 AD where diplomacy took place with the ; In 808, the same King Gudfred attacked the Obotrite, a Wend people and conquered the city of whose population was displaced or abducted, to ; In 809, King Godfred and emissaries of Charlemagne failed to negotiate peace and the next year, 810, King Godfred attacked the Frisians with 200 ships. The oldest parts of the defensive works of Danevirke near Hedeby at least date from the summer of 755 and were expanded with large works in the 10th century. The size and amount of troops needed to man it indicates a quite powerful ruler in the area, which might be consistent with the kings the Frankish sources. In 815 AD, Emperor Louis the Pious attacked Jutland apparently in support of a contender to the throne, perhaps , but was turned back by the sons of Godfred, who likely were the sons of the above mentioned Godfred. At the same time Saint Ansgar traveled to Hedeby and started the Catholic Christianization of Scandinavia. The Danes were united and officially Christianized in 965 AD by Harald Blåtand, the story of which is recorded on the Jelling stones. The exact extent of Harald's Danish Kingdom is unknown, although it's reasonable to believe that it stretched from the defensive line of Dannevirke, including the Viking city of Hedeby, across Jutland, the Danish isles and into southern present day Sweden; Scania and perhaps and . Furthermore, the Jelling stones attest that Harald had also "won" Norway. The son of Harald, mounted a series of wars of conquest against England, which was completed by Svend's son Canute the Great by the middle of the 11th century. The reign of Canute the Great (Danish:Knud) represented the peak of the Danish Viking age. King Knud's North Sea Empire included Denmark (1018), Norway (1028), England (1035) and held strong influence over the north-eastern coast of Germany.[citation needed] Following the death of Canute the Great Denmark and England was divided. Sweyn Estridsen's son, Canute II and IV, depending on whose royal line is being figured, raided England for the last time in 1075. He planned another invasion to take the throne of England from an aging William I. He called up a fleet of 1000 Danish ships, 60 Norwegian long boats, with plans to meet with another 600 ships under Duke Robert of Flanders in the summer of 1086. Canute, however, was beginning to realize that the imposition of the tithe on Danish peasants and nobles to fund the expansion of monasteries and churches and a new head tax (Danish:nefgjald) had brought his people to the verge of rebellion. Canute took weeks to arrive at Struer where the fleet had aseembled, but he found only the Norwegians still there. The Danes had waited so long for the king that they began to starve and sailed home in disgust.[citation needed]

19 Canute thanked the Norwegians for their patience and then went from assembly to assembly (Danish:landsting) outlawing any sailor, captain, or soldier who refused to pay a fine which amounted to more than a years harvest for most farmers. When the king refused to back down, the peasants in Vendsyssel went on a rampage burning royal properties and murdering the hated tax collectors.[citation needed] Canute and his fled south with a growing army of rebels on his heels. Canute fled to the royal property outside the town of on Funen with his two brothers. The peasants on funen weren't any happier with Canute than anyone else and charged after the king. Canute and his brother, Prince Benedict, fled to St Albans Priory for sanctuary. Canute took communion realizing his days were numbered.[citation needed] After several attempts to break in and then bloody hand to hand fighting in the church, Benedict was cut down and Canute struck in the head by a large stone and then speared from the front. He died at the base of the main altar 10 July 1086. And there the Benedictines buried him.[citation needed] When Queen Edele came to take Canute's body to Flanders, a wonderful light shone around the church and it was taken as a sign that Canute should remain where he was. People flocked to his grave when it was reported that the blind had received their sight, the lame walked, and deaf heard.[citation needed] His brother Olaf, who succeeded Canute, had a short reign and Denmark was plagued with famine so often that Olaf will forever be known as Olaf Hunger. Canute was canonized in 1101, and St Canute's Cathedral became one of Scandinavia's most popular pilgrimage sites in the Middle Ages.[citation needed] The death of St Canute marks the end of the great Viking Age. Never again would massive flotillas of Scandinavians meet each year to ravage the rest of Christian Europe. Denmark was thoroughly Christian, though for generations Danes quietly held onto old customs that are vague reminders of pre-Christian times.[citation needed]

Medieval Denmark From the Viking age towards the end of the 13th century, the kingdom of Denmark consisted of Jutland, north from the River and the islands of Zealand, Funen, Bornholm, Skåne, Halland and Blekinge. From the end of the 13th century the lands between the Eider River and the river Kongeåen were separated from the kingdom as two vassal duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. In 1658 Skåne, Halland and Blekinge were ceded to Sweden. Following the end of the 11th century, Denmark underwent a transition from a patchwork of regional chiefs (Danish:jarls) with a weak and semi- elected royal institution, into a realm which more reflected European feudalism, with a powerful king ruling through an influential nobility. The period is marked by internal strife and the generally weak geopolitical position

20 of the realm, which for long stretches fell under German influence. The period also featured the first of large stone buildings (mostly churches), a deep penetration by the Christian faith, the appearance of monastic orders in Denmark and the first written historical works such as the ("Deeds of the Danes"). German political as well as religious influence firmly ended in the last decades of the 12th century under the rule of King Valdemar the Great and his foster brother Hvide, Archbishop of ; through successful wars against Wend peoples of northeast Germany and the German Empire.

The tomb of Margrethe I in Cathedral A high point was reached during the reign of Valdemar II, who led the formation of a Danish "Baltic Sea Empire", which by 1221 extended control from Estonia in the east to Norway in the north. In this period several of the "regional" law codes were given; notably the Code of Jutland from 1241, which asserted several modern concepts like right of property; "that the king cannot rule without and beyond the law"; "and that all men are equal to the law". Following the death of Valdemar II in 1241 and to the ascension of Valdemar IV in 1340, the kingdom was in general decline due to internal strife and the rise of the . The competition between the sons of Valdemar II, had the longterm result that the southern parts of Jutland were separated from the kingdom of Denmark and became semi-independent vassal duchies/counties. During the reign of Valdemar IV and his daughter Margrethe I, the realm was re-invigorated and following the Battle of Falköping, Margrethe I had her sister's son, Eric of crowned King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden after the signing of the union charter of (The ), Trinity Sunday 1397. Much of the next 125 years of Scandinavian history revolves around this union, with Sweden breaking off and being re-conquered repeatedly. The issue was for practical purposes resolved on the 17 June 1523 as Swedish King Gustav Vasa conquered the city of Stockholm.

21 Denmark and Norway remained in a until the , 1814. The Protestant Reformation came to Scandinavia in 1520s. On Easter Sunday 1525 Hans Tausen, a monk in the Order of St John's Hospitalers, proclaimed aloud the need for Luther's reforms in the . His sermon was the beginning of a ten year struggle which would change Denmark forever. Tausen was hustled off to a monastery in Viborg in northern Jutland where he would be isolated and away from Copenhagen and the court. Tausen simply preached through the window of his locked chamber. At first curious Danes came to hear the strange new ideas that Tausen was preaching. Within weeks Tausen was freed by his loyal followers and then a Franciscan abbey church was broken open so Viborgers could hear God's word under a roof. Luther's ideas were accepted so rapidly that the local bishop and other churchmen in Viborg were unable to cope. In many churches the mass was celebrated alongside Lutheran sermons and then Tausen's version of Luther's teachings began to spread to other parts of Jutland. Within a year Tausen was the personal chaplain of King Frederik I. Frederik tried to balance the old and new ideas insisting that they coexist; it lasted only as long as Frederik did. A mob stormed Our Lady Church in Copenhagen in 1531 tearing down statues, destroying side altars, artwork, and relics that had accumulated through its long history. Similar events happened through the country, although for the most part the change was peaceful. The majority of common people saw the reduced influence and wealth of the church as a liberating , but their new found influence wasn't to last long. At the death of Frederick I two claimants to the throne, one backed by Protestant Lũbeck and the other by Catholic nobles caused a civil war known as the Count's Feud (Danish: Grevens Fejde). The massacre of Skipper Clement's peasant army at brought an end of the war with the pro- Lutheran party firmly in charge. Denmark became officially Lutheran in 1536. Denmark's Catholic bishops were arrested and imprisoned. Abbeys, nunneries, monasteries and other church properties were confiscated by local nobility and the crown. Monks, nuns, and clergy lost their livelihood. The bishops who agreed to marry and not stir up trouble were given former church lands as personal estates. Catholic influence remained longest in Viborg and the nearby area, northern Jutland, where change permeated slowly, all though the reformation originally began there.[19]

Modern history

22

King Christian IV attacked Sweden in the 1611–13 Kalmar War but failed to accomplish his main objective of forcing Sweden to return to the union with Denmark. The war led to no territorial changes, but Sweden was forced to pay a war indemnity of 1 million silver riksdaler to Denmark, an amount known as the Älvsborg ransom.[20] King Christian used this money to found several towns and fortresses, most notably Glückstadt (founded as a rival to Hamburg), Christiania (following a fire destroying the original city), Christianshavn, Christianstad, and Christiansand. Christian also constructed a number of buildings, most notably Børsen, Rundetårn, Nyboder, Rosenborg, a silver mine and a copper mill. Inspired by the Dutch East India Company, he founded a similar Danish company and planned to claim Sri Lanka as a colony but the company only managed to acquire Tranquebar on India's Coromandel Coast. In the Thirty Year's War, Christian tried to become the leader of the Lutheran states in Germany, but suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Lutter resulting in a Catholic army under Albrecht von Wallenstein occupying and pillaging Jutland. Denmark managed to avoid territorial concessions, but ' intervention in Germany was seen as a sign that the military power of Sweden was on the rise while Denmark's influence in the region was declining. In 1643, Swedish armies invaded Jutland and in 1644 Skåne. In the 1645 Treaty of Brømsebro,

23 Denmark surrendered Halland, , the last parts of Danish Estonia, and several provinces in Norway. In 1657, King Frederick III declared war on Sweden and marched on Bremen-Verden. This led to a massive Danish defeat and the armies of King Charles X Gustav of Sweden conquered both Jutland, Funen and much of Zealand before signing the Peace of Roskilde in February 1658 which gave Sweden control of Skåne, Blekinge, Trøndelag and the island of Bornholm. Charles X Gustav quickly regretted not having destroyed Denmark completely and in August 1658 he began a two-year long siege of Copenhagen but failed to take the capital. In the following peace settlement, Denmark managed to maintain its independence and regain control of Trøndelag and Bornholm. Denmark tried to regain control of Skåne in the Scanian War (1675–79) but it ended in failure. Following the Great Northern War (1700–21), Denmark managed to restore control of the parts of Schleswig and Holstein ruled by the house of Holstein-Gottorp in 1721 and 1773, respectively. Denmark prospered greatly in the last decades of the 18th century due to its neutral status allowing it to trade with both sides in the many contemporary wars. In the , Denmark originally tried to pursue a policy of neutrality to continue the lucrative trade with both France and the and joined the League of Armed Neutrality with Russia, Sweden and Prussia. The British considered this a hostile act and attacked Copenhagen in both 1801 and 1807, in one case carrying off the Danish fleet, in the other, burning large parts of the Danish capital. These events mark the end of the prosperous Florissant Age and resulted in the Dano-British Gunboat War. British control over the waterways between Denmark and Norway proved disastrous to the union's economy and in 1813, Denmark-Norway went bankrupt. The post- Napoleonic Congress of Vienna demanded the dissolution of the Dano- Norwegian union, and this was confirmed by the Treaty of in 1814. Denmark-Norway had briefly hoped to restore the Scandinavian union in 1809, but these hopes were dashed when the estates of Sweden rejected a proposal to let Frederick VI of Denmark succeed the deposed Gustav IV Adolf and instead gave the crown to Charles XIII. Norway entered a new union with Sweden which lasted until 1905. Denmark kept the colonies of Iceland, Faroe Islands and Greenland. Apart from the Nordic colonies, Denmark ruled over (Tranquebar in India) from 1620 to 1869, the (Ghana) from 1658 to 1850, and the Danish (the U.S. Virgin Islands) from 1671 to 1917.

24

Den Grundlovsgivende Rigsforsamling (The Constitutional Assembly. The Assembly created The Danish constitution), 1860–1864 painting by The Danish liberal and national movement gained momentum in the 1830s, and after the European Revolutions of 1848 Denmark peacefully became a constitutional monarchy on 5 June 1849. After the Second War of Schleswig (Danish: Slesvig) in 1864, Denmark was forced to cede Schleswig and Holstein to Prussia, in a defeat that left deep marks on the Danish national identity. After these events, Denmark returned to its traditional policy of neutrality, also keeping Denmark neutral in World War I. Following the defeat of Germany, the Versailles powers offered to return the then-German region of Schleswig-Holstein to Denmark. Fearing German irredentism, Denmark refused to consider the return of the area and insisted on a plebiscite concerning the return of Schleswig. The two Schleswig Plebiscites took place on 10 February and 14 March, respectively. On 5 July 1920 after the plebiscite and the King's signature (6 July) on the reunion document, Northern Schleswig (Sønderjylland) was recovered by Denmark, thereby adding 163,600 inhabitants and 3,984 km². The reunion day (Genforeningsdag) is celebrated every year 15 June on Valdemarsdag. Germany's invasion of Denmark on 9 April 1940 – codenamed Operation Weserübung – met only two hours of military resistance before the Danish government surrendered. Economic co-operation between Germany and Denmark continued until 1943, when the Danish government refused further co-operation and its navy sank most of its ships and sent as many of their officers as they could to Sweden. During the war, the government was extremely helpful towards Jews living in the country, and the resistance managed to get most of the Jews to Sweden and safety. Denmark led many "inside operations" or sabotage against the German facilities. Iceland severed ties to Denmark and became an independent , and in 1948 the Faroe Islands gained home rule. After the war, Denmark became one of the founding members of the United Nations and NATO and in 1973, along with Britain and Ireland, joined the European Economic Community (now the European Union) after a public referendum. Greenland gained home rule in 1979. Despite its small size Denmark has been participating in major military and humanitary operations, most notably the UN and NATO led operations on and in Bosnia, , Kosovo, Ethiopia, Iraq and Afghanistan. Geography

Main article:

25

Denmark's northernmost point is point (the north beach of the Skaw) at 57° 45' 7" northern latitude, the southernmost is Gedser point (the southern tip of Falster) at 54° 33' 35" northern latitude, the westernmost point is Blåvandshuk at 8° 4' 22" eastern longitude, and the easternmost point is Østerskær at 15° 11' 55" eastern longitude. This is in the archipelago 18 kilometres northeast of Bornholm. The distance from east to west is 452 kilometres (281 mi), from north to south 368 kilometres (229 mi). Denmark consists of the peninsula of Jutland (Jylland) and 443 named islands (1419 islands above 100 m² in total (2005)).[21] Of these, 72 are inhabited (2008),[22] with the largest being Zealand (Sjælland) and Funen (Fyn). The island of Bornholm is located somewhat east of the rest of the country, in the Baltic Sea. Many of the larger islands are connected by ; the Øresund Bridge connects Zealand with Sweden, the Bridge connects Funen with Zealand, and the Bridge connects Jutland with Funen. Ferries or small aircraft connect to the smaller islands. Main cities are the capital Copenhagen (on Zealand), Århus, Aalborg and (in Jutland) and Odense (on Funen). The country is flat with little elevation; having an average height above sea level of only 31 metres (102 ft) and the highest natural point is Møllehøj,

26 at 170.86 metres (560.56 ft). Other hills in the same area southwest of Århus are Yding Skovhøj at 170.77 metres (560.27 ft) and Ejer Bavnehøj at 170.35 metres (558.89 ft).[23] The area of inland water is: (eastern Denmark) 210 km² (81 sq mi); (western D.) 490 km² (189 sq mi). Denmark is split into 443 named islands which results in a long coastline, 7,314 kilometres (4,544 mi).[24] A perfect circle enclosing the same area as Denmark would have a circumference of only 742 kilometres (461 mi). Another feature that shows the close connection between the land and ocean is that no location in Denmark is further from the coast than 52 kilometres (32.3 mi). The size of the land area of Denmark cannot be stated exactly since the ocean constantly erodes and adds material to the coastline, and because of human land reclamation projects (to counter erosion). On the southwest coast of Jutland, the tide is between 1 and 2 metres (3 to 6.5 ft), and the tideline moves outward and inward on a 10 kilometres (6 mi) stretch.[25]

Denmark seen from space Phytogeographically, Denmark (including Greenland and the Faroe Islands) belongs to the Boreal Kingdom and is shared between the Arctic, Atlantic European and Central European provinces of the Circumboreal Region. According to the WWF, the territory of Denmark can be subdivided into two ecoregions: the Atlantic mixed forests and Baltic mixed forests. The Faroe Islands are covered by the Faroe Islands boreal grasslands, while Greenland hosts the ecoregions of Kalaallit Nunaat high arctic tundra and Kalaallit Nunaat low arctic tundra. The climate is in the temperate zone. The winters are not particularly cold with mean temperatures in January and February of 0.0 °C and the summers are cool with mean temperature in August 15.7 °C.[26] There is a lot of wind, which is stronger during the winter and weaker during the summer. Denmark has an average of 170 rainy days. The greatest rainfall comes in November.[27] Because of Denmark's northern location, the length of the day with sunlight varies greatly. There are short days during the winter with sunrise coming around 9:30 a.m. and sunset 4:30 p.m., as well as long summer days with sunrise at 3:30 a.m. and sunset at 10 p.m.[28] The shortest and longest days of the year have traditionally been celebrated. The celebration for the

27 shortest day corresponds roughly with Christmas (Danish: jul) and modern celebrations concentrate on Christmas Eve, 24 December. The Norse word jól is a plural, indicating that pre-Christian society celebrated a season with multiple feasts.[29] introduced the celebration of Christmas, resulting in the use of the Norse name also for the Christian celebration. Efforts by the Catholic Church to replace this name with kristmesse were unsuccessful. The celebration for the longest day is Midsummer Day, which is known in Denmark as sankthansaften (St. John's evening).[30] Celebrations of Midsummer have taken place since pre-Christian times.[31] Government and politics

Main article: Politics of Denmark The Kingdom of Denmark is a constitutional monarchy. As stipulated in the Danish Constitution, the monarch is not answerable for his or her actions, and his or her person is sacrosanct. The monarch formally appoints and dismisses the Prime Minister and other ministers. The prime minister is customarily chosen through negotiation between the parliament party leaders. Before being validated through royal assent, all bills and important government measures must be discussed in Statsrådet, a privy council headed by the monarch. The Danish privy council's protocols are secret. Although the monarch is formally given executive power this power is strictly ceremonial. The monarch is expected to be entirely apolitical and refrain from influencing the government in any way or form. For example, members of the royal family do not cast their votes in elections and referendums even though they have the right. Any interference in the government by the monarch is almost unheard of and would almost certainly create a constitutional crisis (q.v. Easter Crisis of 1920.) Image:Jonny Margerethe 5 sep 2004 .jpg Queen Margrethe II Image:Anders Fjogh Rasmussen - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos 2008.jpg Prime Minister of Denmark: Anders Fjogh Rasmussen While executive authority formally belongs to the monarch (as head of state), legislative authority is vested in the executive (Prime Minister) and the Danish parliament conjointly. Judicial authority lies with the courts of justice. Executive authority is exercised on behalf of the monarch by the prime minister and other cabinet ministers who head departments. The cabinet, including the Prime Minister, and other ministers collectively make up the government. These ministers are responsible to Folketinget (the Danish

28 Parliament), the legislative body, which is traditionally considered to be supreme (that is, able to legislate on any matter and not bound by decisions of its predecessors). The Folketing is the national legislature. It has the ultimate legislative authority according to the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty, however questions over sovereignty have been brought forward because of Denmark’s entry into the European Union. In theory however, the doctrine prevails. Parliament consists of 179 members elected by proportional majority. Parliamentary elections are held at least every four years, but it is within the powers of the Prime Minister to call one at his discretion before this period has elapsed. On a vote of no confidence the parliament may force a single minister or the entire government to resign. The Danish political system has traditionally generated coalitions. Most Danish post-war governments have been minority coalitions ruling with the support of non-governmant parties.[32] Since November 2001, the Danish Prime Minister has been Anders Fjogh Rasmussen from the Venstre party, a center-right liberal party. The government is a coalition consisting of Venstre and the Conservative People's Party, with parliamentary support from the Danish People's Party (Dansk Folkeparti). The three parties obtained a parliamentary majority in the 2001 elections and maintained it virtually unchanged in the 2005 election. On 24 October 2007 an early election was called by the Prime Minister for 13 November. Following the election the Danish People's party was strengthened while Mr. Anders Fjogh Rasmussen's Venstre lost 6 mandates and the Conservative Party retained the same amount of seats in Parliament as prior to the election. The result ensured that Anders Fjogh Rasmussen could continue as Prime Minister for a third term. Regions and municipalities

Main articles: and Municipalities of Denmark Denmark is divided into five regions (Danish: regioner, singular: region) and a total of 98 municipalities. The regions were created on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish Municipal Reform to replace the country's traditional thirteen counties (amter). At the same time, smaller municipalities (kommuner) were merged into larger units, cutting the number of municipalities from 270 to 98. The most important area of responsibility for the new regions is the national health service. Unlike the former counties, the regions are not allowed to levy taxes, and the health service is primarily financed by a national 8% (sundhedsbidrag) tax combined with funds from both government and municipalities. Each Regional Council consists of 41 elected politicians elected as part of the 2005 Danish municipal elections.

29 Most of the new municipalities have a population of at least 20,000 people, although a few exceptions were made to this rule. The Ertholmene archipelago (96 inhabitants (2008)) is neither part of a municipality, nor a region but belongs to the Ministry of Defence.[33] Greenland and the Faroe Islands are also parts of the Kingdom of Denmark, as members of Rigsfællesskabet but have autonomous status and are largely self-governing, and are each represented by two seats in the parliament. Area Density (Pop Country/Region Population (km²) per km²) Denmark 5,484,723 43,094 127 Faroe Islands 47,017 1,399 34 (Denmark) Greenland (Denmark) 56,916 2,175,600 0.026 Economy

Denmark's market economy features very efficient agriculture, up-to-date small-scale and corporate industry, extensive government welfare measures, above average European living standards,[34][35] a stable currency, and high dependence on foreign trade. Denmark is a net exporter of food and energy and has for a number of years had a balance of payments surplus while battling an equivalent of approximately 39% of GNP foreign debt or more than 300 billion DKK .[36] Also of importance is the sea territory of more than 105,000 km² (40,000+ sq mi). Denmark has a GDP per capita higher than that of most European countries, and 15-20% above that of the United States.[37] Denmark is one of the most competitive economies in the world according to World Economic Forum 2008 report, IMD, and The Economist.[38] According to World Bank, Denmark has the most flexible labor market in Europe. It easy to hire, fire, and find a job. According to rankings by OECD, Denmark has the least financial regulation in EU-15 countries and also one of the least regulated product markets. Around 2.9 million residents are in labor market. Out of these, a third has a higher education degree, one of the top rates in the world. GDP per hour worked was 10th highest in 2006 and unemployment very low. Denmark has an advanced telecommunication infrastructure. Denmark has a company tax rate of 25% and a special tax regime for expatriates.[39] Denmark's national currency, the krone (plural: kroner), is de facto linked to the Euro through ERMII.[40] The exchange rate is very steady at approx. 7.45 kroner per euro. Currently the krone converts to American dollars at a rate of about USD 0.21 per krone (about 4.7 kroner per dollar). (Exchange rates updated April 2008) The government has met the economic

30 convergence criteria for participating in the third phase (the common European currency — the Euro) of the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union (EMU), but Denmark, in a September 2000 referendum, rejected The Monetary Union. The Government of Fogh Rasmussen, re- elected in November 2007, announced a new referendum on the euro for 2008 or 2009 at the latest.[41] Denmark is home to many multi-national companies, among them: A. P. Moller-Maersk Group (Maersk — international shipping), Lego (children's toys), Bang & Olufsen (hi-fi equipment), Carlsberg (beer), Vestas (wind turbines), Novozymes (enzymes and biotech) and the pharmaceutical companies Lundbeck and Novo Nordisk. International companies such as CSC, Dell, Microsoft and Nokia have place large global business centres in Copenhagen. Support for free trade is high - in a recent poll 76% responded that globalization is a good thing.[42] 70% of trade flows are inside the European Union. Main exports include: Animal Foodstuffs, Chemicals, Dairy Products, Electronic Equipment, Fish, Furniture, Leather, Machinery, Meat, Oil and Gas, and Sugar.[43]

Education Main article:

An old observatory in the University of Copenhagen, Denmark's oldest and largest university The Danish education system provides access to primary school, secondary school, and most kinds of higher education. Attendance at "Folkeskole" is compulsory for a minimum of 9 years, and a maximum of 10. About 99% of students attend compulsory elementary school, 86% attend

31 secondary school, and 41% pursue further education. All college education in Denmark is free. Primary school in Denmark is called "den Danske Folkeskole" ("Danish Public School"). It runs from 1st to 10th grade, though 10th grade is optional, as is the introductory "kindergarten class" ("børnehaveklasse"). Students can alternatively attend "free schools" ("Friskole"), or private schools ("Privatskole"), i.e. schools that are not under the administration of the municipalities, such as Christian schools or Waldorf Schools. The Programme for International Student Assessment, coordinated by the OECD, currently ranks Denmark's education as the 24th best in the world, being neither significantly higher nor lower than the OECD average.[6] Following graduation from Folkeskolen, there are several other educational opportunities, including Gymnasium (academically oriented upper secondary education), Higher Preparatory Examination (HF) (similar to Gymnasium, but one year shorter), Higher Technical Examination Programme (HTX) (with focus on Mathematics and engineering), and Higher Commercial Examination Programme (HHX) (with a focus on trade and business), as well as vocational education, training young people for work in specific trades by a combination of teaching and apprenticeship. Gymnasium, HF, HTX and HHX aim at qualifying students for higher education in universities and colleges. Denmark has several universities; the largest and oldest are the University of Copenhagen (founded 1479) and University of (founded 1928). Folkehøjskolerne, ("Folk high schools") introduced by politician, clergyman and poet N.F.S. Grundtvig in the 19th century, are social, informal education structures without tests or grades but emphasising communal learning, self-discovery, enlightenment, and learning how to think.[44]

Energy

Offshore wind turbines near Copenhagen See also: Nordic energy market and Wind power in Denmark Most electricity is produced from coal. Taxpayer-subsidized wind turbines produce an estimated 20% of electricity as of 2007.[45] However, the

32 production varies. Denmark is connected by transmission line to other European countries. Therefore companies import additional power from its neighbours. Because of nuclear ban, wind power privileges, and taxes, Denmark has the highest household electricity prices in the world.[46]

Transport Main article:

Øresund Bridge from Denmark to Sweden. On the right is the artificial Peberholm island, and on the left . Picture is taken from the air. Significant investment has been made in recent decades in building road and rail links between Copenhagen and Malmö, Sweden (the Øresund Bridge), and between Zealand and Funen (the ). The Copenhagen Malmö Port was also formed between the two cities as the common port for the cities of both nations. The main railway operator is Danske Statsbaner (Danish State Railways) for passenger services and Railion for freight trains. The railway tracks are maintained by Banedanmark. Copenhagen has a small Metro system and the greater Copenhagen area has an extensive electrified suburban railway network. Denmark's national airline (together with Norway and Sweden) is System (SAS) and is the country's largest airport, and also the biggest hub in Scandinavia. A ferry link to the Faroe Islands is maintained by . Other international ferry services are mainly operated by DFDS (to Norway and the UK) and (to Germany and Sweden).

Public policy See also: Nordic model and After abolishing almost all labor market regulation in 1994 and 1996, Denmark has much more unregulated labor market than almost all European countries. According World Bank labor market rankings, the labor market

33 flexibility is at the same levels as the United States. A diminishing 75% of employees belong to unions for unemployment benefits, but large share of people make contracts individually rather than collectively, and many are dropping union membership altogether[citation needed]. Relationships between unions and employers are generally cooperative: unions often have a day-to- day role in managing the workplace, and their representatives sit on most companies' board of directors. Rules on work schedules and pay are negotiated between unions and employers, with minimal government involvement. The unemployment rate for December 2007 was 2.7%, for a total of 74,900 persons, a reduction by 112,800 persons —2,400 per month — or 60% since December 2003.[47] The Eurostat unemployment number for April and May 2008 is 2.7%, the lowest in the EU. It should however be noted that this has been achieved by employing more than 38% [48] of the total workforce in public sector jobs. Another measure of the situation on the labour market is the employment rate, that is the percentage of people aged 15 to 64 (i.e. the working age group) in employment out of the total number of people aged 15 to 64. The employment rate for Denmark in 2007 was 77.1% according to Eurostat. Of all countries in the world, only Switzerland with 78.% and Iceland with 85.1% had a higher employment rate. [49] The number of unemployed is forecast to be 65,000 in 2015. The number of people in the working age group, less disability pensioners etc., will grow by 10,000 to 2,860,000, and jobs by 70,000 to 2,790,000.[50] Parttime jobs included.[51] Because of the present high demand and short supply of skilled labour, for instance for factory and service jobs, including hospital nurses and physicians, the annual average working hours have risen, especially compared with the economic downturn 1987 –1993.[52] Increasingly, service workers of all kinds are in demand, i.e. in the postal services and as bus drivers, and academics.[52] In the fall of 2007, more than 250,000 foreigners are working in the country, of which 23,000 still residing in Germany or Sweden. According to TV2 (Denmark),3 January 2007, 66,000 jobs are not filled, but sometimes this regards jobs for which there isn't even labour available in Germany.[53] The level of unemployment benefits is dependent on former employment and at times also on membership of an unemployment fund, which is almost always -but need not be- administered by a trade union, and the previous payment of contributions. However, the largest share of the financing is still carried by the central government and is financed by general taxation, and only to a minor degree from earmarked contributions. There is no taxation, however, on proceeds gained from selling one´s home (provided there was any home equity (da:friværdi)), as the marginal tax rate on capital income from housing savings is about 0 percent.[54] The Danish welfare model is accompanied by a taxation system that is both broad based (25% VAT, not including excise, duty and tax) and with

34 world record income tax rates (minimum tax rate for adults is 42% scaling to over 60% except for the residents of Ertholmene that escape the otherwise ubiquitous 8% healthcare tax fraction of the income taxes). Other taxes include the registration tax on private vehicles, at a rate of 180%, on top of VAT. Lately (July, 2007) this has been changed slightly in an attempt to favor more fuel efficient cars but maintaining the average taxation level more or less unchanged.[55] Demographics

Main articles: Demographics of Denmark and According to figures from Statistics Denmark, on January 1 2007 91.1% of Denmark’s population of over 5.4 million was of Danish descent.[56] Many of the remaining 8.9% were immigrants, or descendents of recent immigrants, from South Asia and the Middle East, many having arrived since an "Alien law" (Udlændingeloven) was enacted in 1983 allowing the immigration of family members. There are also small groups of Inuit from Greenland and Faroese. During recent years, anti-immigration sentiment has resulted in some of the toughest immigration laws in the European Union.[57][58] Nevertheless, the number of residence permits granted related to labour and to people from within the EU/EEA has increased since implementation of new immigration laws in 2001. However, the number of immigrants allowed into Denmark for family reunification decreased 70% between 2001 and 2006 to 4,198. During the same period the number of asylum permits granted has decreased by 82.5% to 1,095, reflecting a 84% decrease in asylum seekers to 1,960.[59] Denmark’s population (as at 1 January 2008) was 5,475,791, giving Denmark a population density of 129.16 inhabitants per km2 (334.53 inh/sq mi).[60] As in most countries, the population is not distributed evenly. Although the land area east of the Great Belt only makes up 9,622 km² (3,715 sq mi), 22.7% of Denmark's land area, as of 1 January 2008 it has 45% (2,465,348) of the population. The average population density of this area is 256.2 inhabitants per km² (663.6 per sq mi). The average density in the west of the country (32,772 km²/12,653 sq mi) is 91.86/km² (237.91 per sq mi) (3,010,443 people) (2008). The median age is 39.8 years with 0.98 males per female. 98.2% of the population is literate (age 15 and up). The birth rate is 1.74 children born per woman (2006 est.), which will be reflected in a drop in the ratio of workers to pensioners. Despite the low birth rate, the population is still growing at an average annual rate of 0.33%.[61] Danish is the and is spoken throughout the country. English and German are the most widely spoken foreign languages.

35 Religion

Burial mound from the 900s in Jelling churchyard According to official statistics from April 2008, 82.0%[62] of the population of Denmark are members of the Lutheran state church, the Danish (Den Danske Folkekirke), also known as the Church of Denmark. If immigrants and descendants of immigrants are excluded from the statistics, the member rate is even higher, approximately 90,3%. According to article 6 of the Constitution, the Royal family must belong to this Church. 3% of the Danish population adhere to Islam, and other religions in Denmark include non-Lutheran Christian denominations. The oldest state recognised religious societies and churches are:

The Catholic Church in Denmark recognised by the state since 1682

The Reformed Church recognised by the state since 1682.

Det Mosaiske Troessamfund, the main Jewish organisation in Denmark, recognised by the state since 1682. Religion, religious societies and churches do not need to be state- recognised in Denmark and can be granted the right to perform weddings etc. without this recognition. According to the most recent Eurobarometer Poll 2005,[63] 31% of Danish citizens responded that "they believe there is a god", whereas 49% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force" and 19% that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, god, or life force". According to a 2005 study by Zuckerman, Denmark has the third highest proportion of atheists and agnostics in the world, estimated to be between 43% and 80%.[64][65] After Iceland, Denmark is the 2nd most acceptant country of the theory of biological evolution.[66] Culture

36 Main article: See also: List of Danes

Windmills and yellow brick houses accent the gently rolling meadowlands of Denmark Hans Christian Andersen is known beyond Denmark for his fairy tales, such as The Emperor's New Clothes, The Little Mermaid, and The Ugly Duckling. (pen name: Isak Dinesen), Nobel laureate author Henrik Pontoppidan, Nobel laureate physicist Niels Bohr, the comedic pianist Victor Borge and the philosopher Søren Kierkegaard have also made a name for themselves outside Denmark. The capital city of Copenhagen includes the Tivoli gardens, the Palace (home of the Danish monarchy), and The Little Mermaid sculpture.[67] The second largest city in Denmark is Aarhus. Aarhus is an old Viking Age city and one of the oldest cities in the country. The largest cathedral in Denmark and the second largest cathedral in Northern Europe is Aarhus Cathedral. Historically, Denmark, like its Scandinavian neighbors, has been one of the most socially progressive cultures in the world. For example, in 1969, Denmark was the first country to legalize pornography.[68] And in 1989, Denmark enacted a registered partnership law, being the first country in the world to grant same-sex couples nearly all of the rights and responsibilities of marriage.[69]

Cinema Main article: Cinema of Denmark The three big internationally important waves of Danish cinema have been:

37 The erotic melodrama of the silent era.

The increasingly explicit sex films of the 1960s and 1970s.

The Dogme95-movement of the late 1990s. Danish filmmakers of note include:

Carl Th. Dreyer (1889-1968), one of the most acclaimed directors in the history of cinema.

Erik Balling, Oscar-nominated creator of Olsen-banden (1968).

Gabriel Axel, Oscar-winner for Babette's Feast (1987).

Bille August, Oscar-winner for (1987).

Thomas Vinterberg, celebrated for Festen (1998), co-creator of Dogme95.

Lars von Trier, Oscar-nominated for Dancer in the Dark (2000), co- creator of Dogme95 and of Zentropa. A locally popular film genre is the charmingly simplistic "folkekomedie" (folk comedy), which originated in the 1930s and gained widespread dominance from the 1950s until the 1970s, usually scorned by critics and loved by the audience. Notable folkekomedie-films include Barken Margrethe (1934), De røde heste (1950), Far til fire (1953) and Olsen-banden (1968). Since the 1980s, Danish filmmaking has been almost completely controlled by the state through The Danish Film Institute, which was founded in 1972. This has resulted in a much criticized lack of innovation[citation needed] (Dogme95 happened in spite of strong resistance from the Film Institute) and frequent accusations of nepotism and cronyism, but also a high level of professionalism even if more or less reserved for a few selected genres and production companies (mainly Nordisk Film, Zentropa and Nimbus Film).[7] Danish cinema remains highly respected internationally, and Danish films (today almost exclusively consisting of social realist dramas, social realist comedies, children's films and documentaries) receive many awards at major international film festivals.

Sports Main article: Sports in Denmark The most popular is football. Sailing and other water sports are popular, as are indoor sports such as , and

38 various forms of gymnastics. In Denmark there is also a small group of people doing motorsport, but with some success. The most successful driver on the race ever, with eight 1st places is , who comes from Denmark. In speedway Denmark has won several World Championships. Other notable Danish sportspeople include American football's National Football League all-time leading scorer Morten Andersen, cyclists , Rolf Sørensen, and Michael Rasmussen, badminton- player and , table tennis-player Michael Maze, poker Hall of Fame player Gus Hansen and football players Michael and and . Teenager is rising up the rankings on the WTA tennis tour. Denmark is also the home and birthplace of former WBA & WBC Supermiddleweight boxing champion, .

1992 football champions In 1992, the national football team were crowned European champions. Remarkably, the team had finished second in their qualifying group behind Yugoslavia and as a result had failed to qualify for the final tournament. They gained their place in the tournament at the last moment when the warring Yugoslavs were expelled from the competition. Once in the finals the Danes reached the final where they defeated reigning World champions Germany.

Music Main article: Music of Denmark Denmark has long been a center of cultural innovation. Its capital, Copenhagen, and its multiple outlying islands have a wide range of folk traditions, while an extensive recording industry has produced pop stars and a host of performers from a multitude of genres. The famous drummer Lars Ulrich from Metallica is from Denmark. Among other names, Whigfield and the '90's pop band Aqua also come from Denmark, as well as current (March 2008) US hitlist top name Ida Corr and group Alphabeat.

Food Main article: Cuisine of Denmark The cuisine of Denmark, like that in the other Nordic countries (Finland, Norway, Iceland, and Sweden), as well as that of northern Germany, its neighbour to the south, consists mainly of meat and fish. This stems from the country's agricultural past, as well as its geography and climate of long, cold winters.

39 Traditional Danish food includes frikadeller (fried meatballs, often served with potatoes and various sorts of gravy), karbonader/krebinetter (another sort of fried meatballs), steaks and so on, usually eaten with potatoes. Fish is also widely eaten, especially on the west coast of Jutland. A traditionally favourite condiment, remoulade, is eaten with french fries, on fried plaice, on salami or roast beef sandwiches. Smoked fish dishes (herring, mackerel, eel) from local smoking houses or røgerier, especially on the island of Bornholm, are increasingly popular. One of the most interesting aspects of Danish food is the wide variety of attractive open rugbrød (Rye-bread) sandwiches or smørrebrød traditionally served for the mid-day meal or frokost. This usually starts with fish such as marinated herring, smoked eel or hot fried breaded plaice. Then come meat sandwiches such as cold roast beef with remoulade and fried onions, roast pork and crackling with red cabbage, hot veal medallions, Danish meat balls (frikadeller) or liver paté with bacon and mushrooms. Some typically Danish items are Sol over Gudhjem, literally 'sun over Gudhjem', consisting of smoked herring, chives and with raw egg yolk (the "sun") on top; or Dyrlægens natmad, 'vet's late-night bite', with liver paté, saltmeat (corned veal), onions and jellied consommé. Finally cheese is served with radishes, nuts or grapes. Lager beer accompanied by small glasses of snaps or aquavit are the preferred drinks for a Danish frokost. Military

Main articles: Military of Denmark and Military history of Denmark

HMDS Absalon. Denmark's armed forces are known as the (Danish: Forsvaret). During peacetime, the Ministry of Defence in Denmark employs around 33,000 in total. The main military branches employ almost 27,000: 15,460 in the , 5,300 in the and 6,050 in the Royal Danish Air Force (all including conscripts). The Danish Emergency Management Agency (Danish: Beredskabsstyrelsen) employs 2,000 (including conscripts), and about 4,000 are in non-branch-specific services like the Danish Defence Command, the Danish Defence Research Establishment, and the Danish Defense Intelligence Service. Furthermore

40 around 55,000 serve as volunteers in the Danish Home Guard (Danish: Hjemmeværnet). The Danish Defence currently (as of 9 April 2008) has around 1,400[70] staff in international missions, not including standing contributions to NATO SNMCMG1. The three largest contributions are in Afghanistan (ISAF, 696 persons), Kosovo (KFOR, 312 persons), and Lebanon (UNIFIL, 50 persons). Between 2003 and 2007, there were approximately 450 Danish soldiers in Iraq.[71]

THE DANISH VIKINGS The three centuries of the Viking era

In the year 793 The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle refers to a Viking raid on the Lindisfarne Monastery on an island off the coast of northeastern England:

"In this year dire forewarnings came over the land of the Northumbrians and miserably terrified the people; dragons were seen flying in the air. A great famine soon followed these tokens; and a little after that, in the same year, on the VIth of the Ides of January (Jan. 8th) the havoc of heathen men miserably destroyed God's church at Lindisfarne, through rapine and slaughter."

This raid, the first registered Viking raid in Europe, is now traditionally used as the date of the beginning of the Viking era. We do, though, have indirect information about earlier Viking raids on England and in Scandinavia several of the features characteristic of the social order of the Viking era go back to the earlier 700s so that the beginning of the period may well be dated to the first half of the eighth century.

During the following three hundred years or so Scandinavia played a prominent part in many important and dramatic events in Europe. In their open square rigged vessels the Vikings plied the coastal waters of Europe and disembarked as traders, buccaneers or colonisers - whichever the scenario might recommend.

The word Viking is seen on several contemporary Scandinavian runic stones, probably in the context of "one fighting at sea" or "battle at sea". Elsewhere in the world the Norsemen were otherwise referred to. The Franks called them "ascomans" or "normanni" while the Anglo-Saxon sources frequently used the designation "dani". In Byzantium and in the Arab lands they were called "rus" or "al-Magus".

Sweden, Norway and Denmark had each their own sphere of interest matching their location. For the Swedes it was easy to cross the Baltic Sea and settle in

41 the Baltics from where they proceeded down the Russian rivers to the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. The sphere of the Norwegians comprised the Atlantic Isles, and Ireland. They also settled in Iceland and Greenland and visited Vinland in North America. The Danes sailed along the coast of western Europe and to east England. Often crews consisting of men from more than one of the countries would join on these voyages.

The three Viking centuries changed Denmark fundamentally. From being an almost unknown heathen area Denmark had by the end of the Viking period developed into a well-defined kingdom belonging to the European Christian societies. The Viking era ended around the middle of the eleventh century; often the year 1042, when King Harthacnud died, denotes the beginning of the new times. His death was the termination of the epoch during which Danish kings occupied the English throne.

In search of new territory

There has been much discussion of what brought about this apparently sudden expansion from the Scandinavian countries in the early . Probably it was merely an expansion of what was already going on during the centuries preceding the Viking era but a change of certain circumstances makes the departure nearly explosive. In the European perspective we are in a period in which the political and economic point of gravity has moved from the Mediterranean region towards the north. Arab penetration into the Mediterranean countries during the early 700s disrupted trade between Byzantium and western Europe. Trade between East and West must look for new routes and from now on travelled through the Baltic Sea and Scandinavia by the Russian rivers of the Dnieper and the Volga.

As a result of the unification of the Frankish realm commercial intercourse in northwestern Europe grew by leaps and bounds around 600 to 700, and already at the beginning of the Viking era solid trade relations had been established between Denmark and the Rhenish region. The city of at the lower course of the Rhine was a major trade centre in northern Europe. From Dorestad goods were transported by ship to other parts of the Frankish realm and to England.

The Vikings were adventurous, curious and well-oriented about the unstable political conditions prevailing in several areas of western Europe. The shift of the European trade centres towards the north provided new openings for easy booty and the Vikings wasted no time in making the best of this new situation.

In this context the vessel was essential. The Nordic ships were seaworthy, swift vessels well suited for surprise attacks and speedy withdrawal.

Sources

42

The Viking era offers the first written sources describing contemporary Denmark. Most information is attributable to foreign prelates who in their attempts to convert the heathen Norsemen to the true Christian faith described conditions in this Nordic country.

The Vikings themselves were, however, not entirely ignorant of writing. On the large memorial stones - the runic stones - they give ultra-short accounts of events and people. For the first time in history the Danes present themselves and speak in their own voice.

Archaeological pieces of evidence are, however, fundamental to our understanding of the contemporary society. Almost daily our knowledge is widened by new finds from archaeological investigations. Improved excavating methods coupled with the aid of technical and scientifically allied disciplines draw an increasingly detailed picture of the Viking era.

Society and housing

Denmark is an agricultural country. During the Viking era, and all the way to our own day and age, agriculture has been the principal source of revenue. The grain cultivated was barley, rye, oat and wheat. Bone finds show that farmers kept cattle, pigs, horses, sheep and goats. Warriors for the ships and for the growing population of merchants and artisans were recruited from the agricultural class.

Together villages and farms constituted major units, settlements, and it may reasonably be surmised that the free inhabitants of the settlements largely managed their own affairs at regular public meetings where conflicts were resolved. Society was divided into social classes and three classes are easily discernible: the elite warrior class headed by the king; the free farmers; and the thralls without legal rights.

In recent years a number of extensive archaeological investigations have been conducted of farms and village settlements in Denmark. The village of Vorbasse in Jutland shows traces of uninterrupted building from the time b.c. and up to the village as we know it today. The Viking-era building at Vorbasse falls into two phases. The former ran from the 700s into the 900s, with a village of seven farms lining an 8-10 metre wide street. The farms were large, rectangular plots, delimited by fences and with a gate opening towards the street. Each farm consisted of a large main building, with one part accommodating humans, the other part used as stable with partitioned pens, and finally a series of smaller structures. The main buildings were about 30 metres in length with room for humans and somewhere between 20 and 30 animals. The smaller buildings served as barns, workshops and probably as shelter for servants and thralls.

43 Around the year one thousand the structure of Vorbasse altered. The total area of the village was widened, new farms were built one of which was considerably larger than the farms of the former village. It was known as the farm of a great noble. People no longer lived under the same roof as the animals. Separate cowsheds accommodating up to 50 head of cattle were erected. At the same time the total number of farms in the village appears not to have increased.

The village of Vorbasse had easy access to low-lying wetlands suitable for grazing cattle, and the large number of divided pens clearly suggests that cattle farming must have been quite important. During the first phase of the settlement the number of cattle must have hovered around 150 head, a number apparently growing in the 11th century when new, separate cowsheds went up. The cattle supplied milk, meat, traction and hides and was probably bred also for purposes of sale.

It is difficult to estimate the size of the Danish population during the Viking era. Despite comprehensive research only a few settlements from the period have been excavated and suggest no substantial growth in the rural population throughout the Viking period. While the village is a continuation of existing construction the Viking era provides us with the first proper townships in Denmark.

The two oldest Danish towns are, naturally, located close to the European continent and at either side of the root of Jutland: Ribe in the west and Hedeby in the east.

As early as the 700s Ribe was a well-organised trade centre where markets were held regularly. From Ribe connections were good with England, Friesland and the Frankish empire and the town has undoubtedly been important as the gate of Scandinavia to northwestern Europe. Contact must have been close with the extensive Danish hinterland, and the many imported finds from the Frankish area - including large amounts of glass - suggest brisk contacts with the south. Remnants of a number of specialist handicrafts executed in the market place have been excavated, such as bead and comb objects, textile and leather work, smithery and amber cutting.

Ribe's commercial days of glory stretched from the 700s to the mid 800s when the market place seems to have been falling behind in importance. Perhaps it was Hedeby which took over part of the trade previously passing through Ribe.

Hedeby's location makes it the southwestern junction of the Baltic trade. The Frankish national annals state about the foundation of Hedeby that in 808 King Godfred ravaged a Slav trade market named Reric and that he moved the merchants from there to Hedeby while at the same time reinforcing the large ramparts of Danevirke as protection against enemies coming from the south. Like Ribe, Hedeby dates back to the 700s but probably it was not until the intervention

44 of Godfred in the early 800s that the actual foundation was laid for the largest Viking era town in northern Europe. From then on Hedeby is often referred to in foreign written sources as well as on domestic runic stones and in skaldic epics.

Based on the archaeological investigations of Hedeby it looks like the development was from the very start established according to a regular layout. Streets were built parallel with each other and perpendicular to the watercourse traversing the town. The town was divided into fenced-in plots, the end of each house facing the plank-covered streets. The houses were rather small, their floor area rarely exceeding 60 square metres. They were built close to each other, without much outdoor space. In the harbour area remains of jetties stretching from the land into the harbour have been found, and the harbour basin itself was protected against maritime raids by a semicircular wooden palisade rammed into the water.

More than 340,000 antiquities were excavated when Hedeby was dug out. They are evidence of handicrafts, trade and daily necessities. The large semicircular rampart around the town was not constructed until the mid-900s during a period of unrest.

We have an eye-witness description from the second half of the 900s from the Spanish Arab At-Tartuschi who visited Hedeby. His account may be paraphrased as follows:

"Schleswig (Hedeby) is a very large town at the extreme end of the world ocean. In its interior one finds fresh-water sources. The inhabitants worship Sirius, except for a minority of Christians who have a church of their own there. They celebrate a feast at which all get together to honour their god and to eat and drink. He who slaughters a sacrificial animal puts up poles at the door to his courtyard and impales the animal on them, be it a piece of cattle, a ram, billygoat or a pig so that his neighbours will be aware that he is making a sacrifice in honour of his god. The town is poor in goods and riches. People eat mainly fish which exist in abundance. Babies are thrown into the sea for reasons of economy. The right to divorce belongs to the women. They let themselves be divorced when they are so inclined. Artificial eye make-up is another peculiarity; when they wear it their beauty never disappears, indeed it is enhanced in both men and women. Further: Never did I hear singing fouler than that of the Schleswegians, it is a rumbling emanating from their throats, similar to that of a dog but even more bestial."

The background for this creation of a town was to protect the interests of trade. Without peace and security merchants would stay away. It was up to the king to enforce market peace and take steps to do whatever possible to keep buccaneers from raiding the ships bringing goods to the market. In return for this protection he could collect dues from the merchants.

45 During the Viking age and in step with the increase of the king's power the creation of new towns in the rest of Denmark accelerated and by the mid-1000s the foundation stones were laid of several of the towns that still exist today.

Kings and religion

The first indubitable king's name in historic sources crops up in connection with the earliest known mission in Denmark in the early 700s. At that time the English missionary Willibrord, archbishop of Utrecht, visited the tribe of the wild Danes. About this the legend says: "This is where Ongendus (probably a Latin version of the Nordic name Angantyr) is to have reigned, a man more cruel than a wild beast and harder than stone, but according to God's will he did treat the preacher of truth honourably." This may be the very same Ongendus who founded the town of Ribe.

There is much to indicate that already in the early 700s a strong central power prevailed in Denmark, at least in Jutland. The oldest phase of the great defence rampart in the south - the Danevirke - dates back to the year 737, and in 726 a one kilometre long wood-lined canal was established across the narrowest part of the island of Samsø for the purpose of controlling navigation in the Danish belts. Projects of this magnitude must have required a firm organisation.

Throughout the 800s Frankish sources provide sporadic news about Danish kings. We have already mentioned King Godfred who founded Hedeby in 808 and who was sufficiently powerful to threaten Charlemagne. Other kings mentioned are Horik the Older and Horik the Younger who in the 850s allowed the missionary Ansgar to build churches in both Hedeby and Ribe. But it is only in the mid-900s that we have adequate information to observe a coherent list of kings.

The territory which was later to constitute medieval Denmark was to all appearances more or less unified around the year 800. One thing is sure, namely that by the early 800s King Godfred reigned not only over Jutland but also over southern Norway and Scania.

The designation Denmark (Danmark) originates from "the Danes" - "the tribe of the savage Danes" - as they are referred to in connection with the visit of Willibrord the missionary. The name Denmark is used the first time in the travel descriptions of Ottar and Wulfstan as these committed them to paper at the English court during the second half of the 800s. Ottar lived in northern Norway and travelled northwards by ship around the North Cape and into the White Sea, and southwards to the trading place Skiringssal on the Oslo Fjord and then on to Hedeby. Part of Ottar's account reads: "And he said that from Skiringssal it took him five days to sail to the commercial town of Hedeby. It is located between the Wends, the Saxons and the Anglians; to port was Denmark, to starboard the open sea for three days; and then, two days before arriving at Hedeby, he had

46 Jutland and Sillende and many isles to starboard. This is where the Anglians lived before settling in this country (NB! the travel accounts were told in England). And during these two days he had the Danish isles to port."

Wulfstan tells about a voyage from Hedeby to the town of Truso on the estuary of the Weichsel river in what is today Poland. Among Wulfstan' s accounts: "He left from Hedeby, reached Truso in seven days and nights, and the ship set sail the whole trip. The land of the Wends was to starboard while to port were , Lolland, Falster and Scania. These territories all belong to Denmark."

The Wends mentioned by Wulfstan were the neighbours of the Danes to the south on the Baltic Sea. The land was inhabited by a number of West Slav tribes which in the 6-700s had penetrated from eastern Europe to the Baltic Sea and with whom the Danes alternated between belligerent and peaceful contacts.

By the mid-900s Gorm the Old was king of Denmark. "Gorm, King, raised this monument to his wife , benefactress of Denmark" is the text of the smaller of the runic stones erected at the church at Jelling. This is the first time the name of the king is mentioned in Danish territory. Gorm was succeeded as king by his son Harald. From thence the throne is inherited and has existed uninterrupted ever since. King Harald likewise placed a memorial stone in Jelling the text of which reads: "King Harald had these memorials done in honour of Gorm his father and Thyra his mother, the Harald who won all Denmark and Norway and made the Danes Christians." Harald's runic stone has been called the baptismal certificate of Denmark and is the official farewell of Denmark to the ancient gods. This faith in gods has been alleged by the missionaries arriving from the south; they fancied the designations heathens and wild barbarians about non-Christians. However, the most important written sources for the understanding of the Nordic mythology are the so-called Edda Poems: the elder Edda collected around the year 1200 by an anonymous Icelander, and the younger Edda by Snorre in the early . Snorre describes the mythology as a whole which begins with genesis and ends with ragnarok, the doom of the world. is the august principal god while among the other gods Thor is especially prominent. Odin was the god of war and the paradise of the Viking warrior was Valhalla where time was spent on noble battle and feast. The most favoured god seems to have been Thor, however. Thor is invoked on the runic stones: "To Thor be devoted these ." The name of Thor recurs in many local names and his hammer was a popular motif on jewellery. Thor was also a warrior god who showed himself in thunder: Thor crash. Undoubtedly noble battle ranked among the finest virtues of the Vikings. Conversion to Christendom was hardly very sudden since missionaries had been active in Denmark for more than 200 years; nor does the conversion of faith appear to have reduced the lust for battle.

In addition to the famous runic stone Harald built two colossal mounds: kings' graves, and a church in Jelling. Most likely Harald was also the promoter of the

47 construction of the four large circular castles strategically placed in various locations in Denmark. The common feature of the castles was the circular ramparts protecting a barracks-like military installation.

Around the year 987, Harald was displaced from the throne by his son Svend Tveskæg. Svend went for power and riches in England and in 1013 he conquered the entire country but died already in 1014. In Denmark, his son Harald became king. However, as early as 1018 when Harald died, Cnute the Great was king of both England and Denmark. Cnute the Great died in 1035 and was succeeded in Denmark, and in 1040 in England too, by his son Harthacnute who passed away in 1042.

THE VIKING RAIDS

The west European continent

To the south the powerful neighbour of Denmark was the Frankish empire. Around the year 800 Charlemagne had defeated the Saxons and the Frankish empire now bordered Denmark with the Eider river. In the 830s domestic conflict replaced many years of stable reign in the Frankish empire, ending in 843 with a tripartition of the realm and leading thus to a weakening of the naval defence along the west European coast. Already by the beginning of the century the maritime raids by the Vikings had grown into problems of a dimension which forced Charlemagne to organise a coastal defence between the mouths of the Rhine and the Seine against pirates ravaging and plundering the North Sea. Events in the Frankish empire turned out to the advantage of the Norsemen, however, and from the 830s raids grew and spread.

The town of Dorestad was pillaged several times as were other places in Friesland. In 841 a Viking fleet sailed down the Seine for the first time, plundering Rouen, among other places. In 845 Danish King Horik dispatched a Danish fleet down the river. It devastated Hamburg but it was an exception that the king himself was involved. Magnates and expelled relatives of the royal family were often mentioned as leaders of the Viking raids but ordinarily the king was apparently not engaged in the plunderings. Several Danish kings have, indeed, assured the Frankish rulers that they had no part in the unrest.

In 845, on 28 March, was devastated and the city had to pay a ransom of the unheard sum of 7000 pounds of silver. The rumour of this easily earned money probably spread swiftly for soon Viking fleets appeared on all major rivers in the western part of the Frankish empire. Towns, churches and monasteries were assaulted as described by the monk Ermentarius of Noirmoutier in the 860s:

48 "The number of ships is growing. Endless flocks of Vikings keep pouring in. Everywhere the Christians are massacred, burned and pillaged. The Vikings take everything that comes their way. Nobody is able to resist them. They have captured Bordeaux, Périgeux, Limoges, Angoulême and Toulouse. Angers, Tours and Orléans have been annihilated. A countless fleet moves up the Seine, and all over the country viciousness is growing. Rouen has been devastated, plundered and sacked. Paris, Beauvais and Meaux are captured, the strong fortress of Melun has been razed to the ground, Chartres is occupied, Evreux and Bayeux plundered and all towns besieged."

From the mid-800s some of the Vikings settle in various places of the Frankish empire. They were used as mercenaries in domestic French conflicts and were also bought, for money and land, to defend the coasts against raids from other Vikings.

Nearly every year up to the late 800s has its own stories of battles one place or the other south of the river Eider and all the way down to the Mediterranean. As time went on the defence against the Vikings became better organised, and towards the end of the 800s the good times for plundering along the west European coast began petering out. In 885 a Danish army again reached Paris which had by now become well fortified. The Danes occupied both banks of the Seine, and for eight months besieged the Cité-Isle without being able to capture the city. This was considered a huge victory for the Franks.

In 911 chieftain Rollo was assigned several land areas around the Seine from Rouen to the ocean by the west Frankish King Charles the Simple in turn for defending the coasts against other Norsemen. This became the origin of the duchy of Normandy. Duke William the Conqueror who in 1066 defeated the English in the battle of Hastings was a direct descendant of Rollo.

The Vikings also made it into the Mediterranean area. In 844 they were in and conquered Seville; the Arabs were militarily well-organised and usually able to reject the raids.

Arab sources furthermore tell about raids on the northafrican coast. Nor was Italy spared. According to the written sources the Vikings in 860, believing it was Rome, conquered the northitalian town of Luna. At first they besieged the town but failure to make any real progress prompted them to use trickery. The Viking chieftain Hastings pretended to be dead and his men convinced the Luna inhabitants that the last wish of their leader had been to get a Christian funeral. The coffin, accompanied by a large group of mourners, was carried into the town but hardly had the funeral ceremony begun before Hastings dashed out, sword in hand, and cleft the bishop's head. Now the town was quickly conquered. Only then did it dawn upon Hastings that it was not Rome he had captured and on the way back the town of Pisa had to suffer for the disappointment of the Vikings.

49

England

England was the preferred goal and largest source of income for the Vikings. The country was divided into a number of small kingdoms which were often at odds, a situation the Danes knew how to make the best of. In 835 they plundered the area surrounding the estuary of the Thames. These plunderings can be considered the beginning of Danish activities in England throughout the next few centuries. There were plunderings, conquest of land with subsequent settlement. The end was the conquest by Svend Tveskæg and Cnute the Great of the entire country at the conclusion of the Viking era.

In 865 a large army of Vikings planted itself in East Anglia where it began several years of war and conquest. The crucial event took place in 876 when the military leader Halfdan allocated land to his men in Northumbria. This gesture was repeated the following year in the kingdom of Mercia where the Vikings received land and became permanent settlers on farms. The rest of the army was given land in 879 in East Anglia. This meant the creation of Danelaw, the country living under Danish law and reign. Together with the royal quarters at York, the five towns of Lincoln, Stamford, Nottingham, Derby and Leicester became the strongpoints of the Danish reign.

In the south, in the kingdom of Wessex, the English King Alfred continued to reign. In 866 a peace treaty was concluded between the Viking King Guthrum and King Alfred on peaceful relations between the two groups of people. Apparently the Danes did not consider the peace treaty particularly binding since already in 892 the Danes once again tried to subdue Wessex. A large Viking fleet arrived from the Frankish empire to England and with this as their ally the permanently settled Danes attacked Wessex. The battle went on for four years without the Vikings managing to vanquish King Alfred whereafter the Danish army disbanded. King Alfred died in 899 but his descendants gradually recaptured the Danish possessions, and by the 920s Mercia and Northumbria were once more under Anglo-Saxon supremacy. Today the Nordic settlement in England is easily discernible in the many surviving geographical names. The Vikings had brought their own name custom from home and we have examples of a number of place names identical to those used in the North, among them -by, -toft and -torp. Place names alone ending on -by are known in the former "Danelaw".

Through long periods of the 900s it was relatively peaceful along the west European and English coasts but bH{+_e end of the 900s hostilities returned. From 980 on sources tell of frequent raids and huge demands of silver for the marauding Vikings. In 1013 Svend Tveskæg subjugated all of England. He died in 1014 but in 1016 his son Cnute the Great reconquered power. King Cnute died in 1035 and with the conclusion of his reign stability in England was no more.

50 The last Danish king occupying the English throne was who died in 1042.

As already said, it is not possible to discern Norwegians, Danes and Swedes from each other in the ships' crews arriving at the west European coast and England. The crews were often a mixed lot but sources clearly show that the Danes dominated in raids on England while the Norwegians played the most prominent part in the northern English isles, the , in Scotland and Ireland.

The ship

For good reason the ship has become a symbol of the Viking era. Seaworthiness and competent seamanship were the basis of the unification of the island realm of Denmark and a prerequisite of the numerous Viking cruises into other parts of the world. Contemporary west European sources provide scant information about ships and navigation but in the poetry of the later sagas the importance of the ship in daily life is treated more realistically. However, the all-important clue to the ship-building of the time originates in archaeological finds.

In Viking ship research the classics are the two Norwegian burial ships known as the Oseberg and the Gokstad which were unearthed in 1904 and 1880 on the west bank of the Oslo Fjord. They are magnificent royal ships, dating to the years 800 and 900, respectively. Burial by ship is known also in Denmark, at Ladby on the island of Funen.

The Nordic shipbuilders went for lightness, strength and resilience in their vessels. The typical feature of the Viking ship is that it tapers at both ends with a smoothly curved transition between keel and stern. Ribs and planks ensuring the interior shoring are placed symmetrically abeam and regularly distributed lengthwise in the boat, while the exterior shell has clinkered planks overlapping each other along the edges. The ship was steered by a lateral rudder placed at the stern end in the right side of the navigation direction. The propelling force was sail and oars. The ship had one mast and one rectangular sail: a square sail.

Speaking somewhat simply, the can be divided into two categories: merchantmen and warships. The merchantmen were tall and wide in proportion to their length. Fore and aft they were half-decked, with an open cargohold amidships. The merchantmen had only few oars, meant for special manoeuvres but were otherwise constructed exclusively for sail.

The warships were low and narrow in proportion to their length and the deck ran the full length of the ship. Oar holes were evenly placed in the entire boat, two notches at each frame. The warships were a combination of sail and row boats.

51 The span of the Viking ship construction was well demonstrated in the five Viking ships found at Skuldelev in Roskilde Fjord. The ships, which were no longer in service, had been filled with stones and scuttled by the mid-1000s in order to close one of the lanes leading into the important commercial town of Roskilde. In 1962 a sheet piling was rammed down around the closure, the water was pumped out and the ships excavated. The five Skuldelev ships represent five different kinds of ship, two merchantmen, two warships and one ferry or fishing boat. The larger of the merchantmen was a hefty cargo vessel, 16.6 m long and 4.5 m abeam. It is probably the knarr type, an ocean-going freighter whose range included the North Atlantic to Iceland, Greenland and North America. The ship was built of fir, oak and lime. The building place may have been Norway as there was very little fir in Denmark during the Viking era. Its capacity was a cargo of 20-25 tonnes and it was propelled by a rectangular sail of approx. 86 square metres.

The smaller merchantman is an elegantly shaped oak vessel, l4 m long and 3.4 m abeam. The ship was well-suited for navigation in the Danish waters and the Baltic Sea and its crew comprised four or five people. The sail must have measured 45 square metres, and the capacity was about five tonnes of goods.

The smaller of the Skuldelev warships is built of oak, ash and fir. Its length is 17.5 metres and beam 2.5 metres, accommodating 13 pairs of oars and a crew of about 30 warriors. Along the gunwale a shield strap held the shields of the crew in place.

The other warship found at Skuldelev is a long ship, approx. 30 metres in length and with a beam of 4.5 metres, with room for 30 pairs of oars and a crew of 60-100 men. The ship is built of oak, and analyses of the wood have disclosed that it was probably built near Dublin in Ireland towards the end of the Viking age. The ship's rectangular sail measured about 150 square metres.

The fifth ship found at Skuldelev is a small freighter, l2 metres long, 2.5 metres abeam. It was built of fir planks and may have served as a fishing boat or a ferry.

The navigation abilities of the Viking ships have been much discussed for many years. To investigate this problem more closely three identical copies of three of the Skuldelev boats have over the past decade been built under the supervision of specialised scientists. In 1983, near Ålesund in Norway, a copy was launched of the larger merchantman: "the knarr". The copy, named "Saga Siglar", set out in 1984 on a circumnavigation of the globe with the first part of the voyage following the ancient Viking route across the North Atlantic to Iceland and Greenland. In 1984, in Roskilde, a copy of the smaller merchantman named "Roar Ege" was launched. The ship was built using exactly the same technique as can be read from the original find, i.e. entirely without the use of saw but with the axe as the essential tool for cleaving and trimming of all the ship's parts. The ship was equipped with modern electronic measuring equipment which accurately records

52 the movements of the vessel over the bottom of the sea, and it has since been tested under all imaginable wind and weather conditions.

Finally, in autumn 1991, a copy of the small warship was launched from Skuldelev. It was named "Helge Ask" and is scheduled in the years ahead to be subjected to the same test sailings as the "Roar Ege". For the merchantmen the most important qualities were cargo capacity and seaworthiness while for the warships speed and manoeuverability have been decisive.

The navigation tests done so far with the two copies of the merchantmen from Skuldelev have provided us with a good background for evaluating the sailing qualities of the freighters. On the basis of the tests it can be concluded that already by the Viking age a navigation standard had been achieved which fully matched that of the smaller merchantmen at the end of the sailing ship era shortly before World War I. n

Selected general bibliography on the Viking age

Barthélemy, P.: Les Vikings, Paris 1988 / Graham-Campbell, J.: The Viking World, London 1989 and 1991 / Graham-Campbell, J. & Kidd, J.: The Vikings, London 1980 / Magnusson, M.: Les Vikings, Paris 1978 / Randsborg, K.: The Viking Age in Denmark, London 1980 / Roesdahl, E.: Viking Age in Denmark, London 1982 / Sawyer, P.H.: Kings and Vikings, London 1982 / Wilson, D.M.: The Vikings and their Origins, London 1970 and 1989.

Historical considerations

In England the Viking Age began dramatically on June 8, 793 when Norsemen destroyed the abbey on Lindisfarne, a center of learning famous across the continent. Monks were killed in the abbey, thrown into the sea to drown or carried away as slaves along with the church treasures. Three Viking ships had beached in Portland Bay four years earlier, but the incursion may have been a trading expedition that went wrong rather than a piratical raid. Lindisfarne was different. The devastation of Northumbria's Holy Island shocked and alerted the royal Courts of Europe. Never before has such an atrocity been seen, declared the Northumbrian Scholar, Alcuin of York. More than any other single event, the attack on Lindisfarne cast a shadow on the perception of the Vikings for the next twelve centuries. Not until 1890s did scholars outside Scandinavia begin seriously to reassess the achievements of the Vikings, recognizing the artistry, the technological skills and the seamanship.[4] Until Victoria's reign in Britain, Vikings were portrayed as violent and bloodthirsty. The chronicles of medieval England had always portrayed them as rapacious 'wolves among sheep'. During the nineteenth century public

53 perceptions changed. In 1920 a winged-helmeted Viking was introduced as a radiator cap figure on a new Rover car. That marked the cultural rehabilitation of the Vikings in Britain. The first challenges to the many anti-Viking images in Britain emerged in the 17th century. Pioneering scholarly editions of the Viking Age began to reach a small readership in Britain. Archaeologists began to dig up Britain's Viking past. Linguistic enthusiasts started to work on identifying Viking-Age origins for rural idioms and proverbs. The new dictionaries of the language enabled the Victorians to grapple with the primary Icelandic Sagas. In Scandinavia Thomas Bartholin and Ole Worm, the 17th-century Danish scholars and Olaf Rudbeck in Sweden were the first to set the standard for using runic inscriptions and Icelandic Sagas as historical sources. During the Age of Enlightenment and Nordic Renaissance historical scholarship in Scandinavia became more rational and pragmatic in the works of a Danish historian Ludvig Holberg and Swedish Olof von Dalin. The latter half of the 18th century the Icelandic Sagas were still used as important historical sources but the Viking Age was not regarded as a golden age but rather as a barbaric and uncivilized period in the history of the Nordic countries. Until recently the history of the Viking Age was largely based on Icelandic Sagas, the history of the Danes written by Saxo Grammaticus, the Russian Primary Chronicle and the The War of the Irish with the Foreigners. Few scholars still accept these texts as reliable sources; historians nowadays rely more on archaeology and numismatics, disciplines that have made valuable contributions toward understanding the period.[5]

Historical background

History of Scandinavia

Stone Age

Bronze Age

Viking Age

Christianization

Kalmar Union

54 Great Northern War

Monetary Union

Defence Union

Nordic Council The Vikings that travelled to western and eastern Europe were essentially from Denmark, Norway and Sweden. They also settled Iceland, Greenland and (briefly) North America. It is believed that Denmark was largely settled by Germanic people from present-day Sweden in the fifth and sixth centuries.[citation needed] Their language became the mother-tongue of present-day Scandinavian languages. By 800, a strong central authority appears to have been established in Jutland, and the Danes were beginning to look beyond their own territory for land, trade and plunder. Norway had been settled over many centuries by from Denmark and Sweden who had established farming and fishing communities around its coasts and lakes. The mountainous terrain and the fjords formed strong natural boundaries, and the communities remained independent of each other, unlike the situation in Denmark which is lowland. By 800, some 30 petty kingdoms existed in Norway. The sea was the easiest way of communication between the Norwegian kingdoms and the outside world. It was in the eighth century that ships of war began to be built and sent on raiding expeditions to initiate the Viking Age, but the northern sea rovers were traders, colonizers and explorers as well as plunderers. Prior to 1000, details of Swedish events are obscure. It is known that there were two tribes in the country during Roman times: the Suiones (Swedes) in the north Svealand; and the Gothones (Goths), in the south (hence called Gothia). Probable causes of

Viking society was based on agriculture and trade with other peoples and placed great emphasis on the concept of honour both in combat (for example, it was unfair and wrong to attack an enemy already in a fight with another) and in the criminal justice system. It is unknown what triggered the Vikings' expansion and conquests, although it coincided with the Medieval Warm Period (800 – 1300) and stopped with the start of the Little Ice Age (about 1250 – 1850). The lack of pack-ice would have allowed Scandinavians to go "a-Viking" or "raiding".

55 With the means of travel (longships and open water), their desire for goods led Scandinavian traders to explore and develop extensive trading partnerships in the territories they explored. It has been suggested that the Scandinavians suffered from unequal trade practices imposed by Christian advocates and that this eventually led to the breakdown in trade relations and raiding. British merchants who declared openly that they were Christian and would not trade with heathens and infidels (Muslims and the Norse) would get preferred status for availability and pricing of goods through a Christian network of traders. A two-tiered system of pricing existed with both declared and undeclared merchants trading secretly with banned parties. Viking raiding expeditions were separate from and coexisted with regular trading expeditions. A people with the tradition of raiding their neighbours when their honour had been impugned might easily fall to raiding foreign peoples who impugned their honour. Historians also suggest that the Scandinavian population was too large for the peninsula and there were not enough crops to feed everyone. This led to a hunt for more land to feed the ever growing Viking population. Particularly for the settlement and conquest period that followed the early raids, the internal strife in Scandinavia resulted in the progressive centralisation of power into fewer hands. This meant that lower classes who wanted not to be oppressed by greedy kings went in search of their own lands. Thus, Iceland became Europe's first modern republic, with an annual assembly of elected officials called the Althing. Historic overview

The earliest date given for a Viking raid is 787 AD when, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a group of men from Norway sailed to Portland, in Dorset. There, they were mistaken for merchants by a royal official, and they murdered him when he tried to get them to accompany him to the king's manor to pay a trading tax on their goods. The beginning of the Viking Age in the British Isles is, however, often given as 793, when it is recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle that the Northmen raided the important island monastery of Lindisfarne. "AD. 793. This year came dreadful fore-warnings over the land of the Northumbrians, terrifying the people most woefully: these were immense sheets of light rushing through the air, and whirlwinds, and fiery dragons flying across the firmament. These tremendous tokens were soon followed by a great famine: and not long after, on the sixth day before the ides of January in the same year, the harrowing inroads of heathen men made lamentable havoc in the church of God in Holy-island (Lindisfarne), by rapine and slaughter." -Anglo Saxon Chronicle.

56 In 794, according to the Annals of Ulster, there was a serious attack on Lindisfarne's mother-house of Iona which was followed in 795 by raids upon the northern coast of Ireland. From bases there, they were able to attack Iona again in 802, cause great slaughter amongst the Céli Dé Brethren, and burn the abbey to the ground. The end of the Viking Age is traditionally marked in England by the failed invasion attempted by Haraldr Harðráði, who was defeated by Saxon King Harold Godwinson in 1066 at the Battle of Stamford Bridge; in Ireland, the capture of Dublin by Strongbow and his Hiberno-Norman forces in 1171; and by the defeat of King Hákon Hákonarson at the Battle of by troops loyal to Alexander III. Godwinson was subsequently defeated within a month by another Viking descendant, William, Duke of Normandy (Normandy had been acquired by Vikings (Normans) in 911). Scotland took its present form when it regained territory from the Norse between the thirteenth and the fifteenth centuries. The traditional definition is no longer accepted by most Scandinavian historians and archaeologists. Instead, the Viking age is thought to have ended with the establishment of royal authority in the Scandinavian countries and the establishment of Christianity as the dominant religion. The date is usually put somewhere in the early 11th century in all three Scandinavian countries, but for Denmark it can be argued to be much earlier, and for Sweden much later. The end of the Viking-era in Norway is marked by the Battle of Stiklestad in 1030. They proclaimed Norway as a Christian nation, and Norwegians could no longer be called Vikings. The clinker-built longships used by the Scandinavians were uniquely suited to both deep and shallow waters and thus extended the reach of Norse raiders, traders and settlers along coastlines and along the major river valleys of northwestern Europe. Rurik also expanded to the east and in 859 founded the city of Novgorod (which means "new city") on Volkhov River. His successors moved further founding the first East Slavs state of Kievan Rus with the capital in Kiev, which persisted until 1240, the time of Mongol invasion. Other Norse people, particularly those from the area that is now modern-day Sweden and Norway, continued south on Slavic rivers to the Black Sea and then on to Constantinople. Whenever these Viking ships ran aground in shallow waters, the Vikings would reportedly turn them on their sides and drag them across the land into deeper waters. The Kingdom of the Franks under Charlemagne was particularly hard-hit by these raiders, who could sail down the Seine with near impunity. Near the end of Charlemagne's reign (and throughout the reigns of his sons and grandsons) a string of heavy raids began, culminating in a gradual

57 Scandinavian conquest and settlement of the region now known as Normandy. In 911, French King Charles the Simple was able to make an agreement with the Viking warleader Rollo, a chieftain of disputed Norwegian or Danish origins.[6] Charles gave Rollo the title of duke and granted him and his followers possession of Normandy. In return, Rollo swore fealty to Charles, converted to Christianity, and undertook to defend the northern region of France against the incursions of other Viking groups. The results were, in a historical sense, rather ironic: several generations later, the Norman descendants of these Viking settlers not only thereafter identified themselves as French, but carried the , and their variant of the French culture into England in 1066, after the Norman Conquest, and became the ruling aristocracy of Anglo-Saxon England.

Geography

Viking expeditions (blue line): depicting the immense breadth of their voyages through most of Europe, the , Northern , Asia Minor, the Arctic and North America There are various theories concerning the causes of the Viking invasions. For people living along the coast, it would seem natural to seek new land by the sea. Another reason was that during this period England, Wales and Ireland, which were divided into many different warring kingdoms, were in internal disarray and became easy prey. The Franks, however, had well- defended coasts and heavily fortified ports and harbours. Pure thirst for adventure may also have been a factor. A reason for the raids is believed by some to be over-population caused by technological advances, such as the use of iron. Although another cause could well have been pressure caused by the Frankish expansion to the south of Scandinavia and their subsequent attacks upon the Viking peoples. Another possibly contributing factor is that Harald I of Norway ("") had united Norway around this time, and the bulk of the Vikings were displaced warriors who had been driven out of his kingdom and who had nowhere to go. Consequently, these Vikings became raiders, in search of subsistence and bases to launch counter-raids against Harald. One theory that has been suggested is that the Vikings would plant crops after the winter and go raiding as soon as the ice melted on the sea, then returned home with their loot, in time to harvest the crops. They became wandering raiders and mercenaries, like their Celtic cousins. One important center of trade was at Hedeby. Close to the border with the Franks, it was effectively a crossroads between the cultures, until its eventual destruction by the Norwegians in an internecine dispute around 1050 York was the center of the kingdom of Jorvik from 866, and discoveries there

58 show that Scandinavian trade connections in the 10th century reached beyond Byzantium (e.g. a silk cap, a counterfeit of a coin from Samarkand and a cowry shell from the Red Sea or the Persian Gulf), although they could be Byzantine imports, and there is no reason to assume that the Varangians travelled significantly beyond Byzantium and the Caspian Sea. North Western Europe England

Guests from Overseas, Nicholas Roerich (1899). According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, after Lindisfarne was raided in 793, Vikings continued on small-scale raids across England. Viking raiders struck England in 793 and raided a Christian monastery that held Saint Cuthbert’s relics. The raiders killed the monks and captured the valuables. This raid was called the beginning of the “Viking Age of Invasion”, made possible by the Viking longship. There was great violence during the last decade of the 8th century on England’s northern and western shores. While the initial raiding groups were small, it is believed that a great amount of planning was involved. During the winter between 840 and 841, the Norwegians raided during the winter instead of the usual summer. They waited on an island off Ireland. In 865 a large army of Danish Vikings, supposedly led by Ivar, Halfdan and Guthrum, arrived in East Anglia. They proceeded to cross England into Northumbria and captured York (Jorvik), where some settled as farmers. Most of the English kingdoms, being in turmoil, could not stand against the Vikings, but Alfred of Wessex managed to keep the Vikings out of his country. Alfred and his successors continued to drive back the Viking frontier and take York. A new wave of Norwegian Vikings appeared in England in 947 when Erik Bloodaxe captured York. The Viking presence continued through the reign of the Danish King Canute the Great (1016-1035), after which a series of inheritance arguments weakened the family reign. The Viking presence dwindled until 1066, when the Norwegians lost their final battle with the English. The Vikings did not get everything their way. In one situation in England, a small Viking fleet attacked a rich monastery at Jarrow. The Vikings were met with stronger resistance than they expected: their leaders were killed, the

59 raiders escaped, only to have their ships beached at Tynemouth and the crews killed by locals. This was one of the last raids on England for about 40 years. The Vikings instead focused on Ireland and Scotland.

Fire-gilded dragon's head from Ireland, found in a Viking grave at Stavanger, Norway (Nationalmuseet, Copenhagen)

Ireland Longphort phase 841 - 902[7] The Vikings conducted extensive raids in Ireland and founded the cities of Cork, Dublin and Limerick. The Vikings and Scandinavians settled down and intermixed with the Irish. Literature, crafts, and decorative styles in Ireland and Britain reflected Scandinavian culture. Vikings traded at Irish markets in Dublin. Excavations found imported fabrics from England, Byzantium, Persia, and central Asia. Dublin became so crowded by the 11th century that houses were constructed outside the town walls. The Vikings pillaged monasteries on Ireland's west coast in 795 and then spread out to cover the rest of the coastline. The north and east of the island were most affected. During the first 40 years, the raids were conducted by small, mobile Viking groups. By 830, the groups consisted of large fleets of Viking ships. From 840, the Vikings began establishing permanent bases at the coasts. Dublin was the most significant settlement in the long term. The Irish became accustomed to the Viking presence. In some cases they became allies and also married each other. In 832, a Viking fleet of about 120 invaded kingdoms on Ireland’s northern and eastern coasts. Some believe that the increased number of invaders coincided with Scandinavian leaders' desires to control the profitable raids on the western shores of Ireland. During the mid-830s, raids began to

60 push deeper into Ireland, as opposed to just touching the coasts. Navigable waterways made this deeper penetration possible. After 840, the Vikings had several bases in strategic locations dispersed throughout Ireland. In 838, a small Viking fleet entered the River Liffey in eastern Ireland. The Vikings set up a base, which the Irish called a longphort. This longphort eventually became Dublin. After this interaction, the Irish experienced Viking forces for about 40 years. The Vikings also established longphorts in Cork, Limerick, Waterford, and Wexford. The Vikings could sail through on the main river and branch off into different areas of the country.

Battle of Clontarf One of the last major battles involving Vikings was the Battle of Clontarf in 1014, in which Vikings fought both for High King Brian Boru's army and for the Viking-led army opposing the High King. Irish and Viking literature depict the Battle of Clontarf as a gathering of this world and the supernatural. For example, witches, goblins, and demons were present. A Viking poem portrays the environment as strongly pagan. Valkyries chanted and decided who would live and die.

Scotland The Vikings are supposed to have led their first raids on what is now modern Scotland by the early eighth century. While there are few records, their first known attack was on the Holy island of Iona in 794, the year following the raid on the other Holy island of Lindisfarne, Northumbria. In 839, a large Norse fleet invaded via the River Tay and River Earn, both of which were highly navigable, and reached into the heart of the Pictish kingdom of Fortriu. They defeated Eogán mac Óengusa, king of the Picts, his brother Bran and the king of the Scots of Dál Riata, Áed mac Boanta, along with many members of the Pictish aristocracy in battle. The sophisticated kingdom that had been built fell apart, as did the Pictish leadership, which had been stable for over a hundred years since the time of Óengus mac Fergusa (The accession of Cináed mac Ailpín as king of both Picts and Scots can be attributed to the aftermath of this event). By the mid-ninth century the Norsemen had settled in , the Orkneys (the Nordreys- Norðreyjar), the and Man, (the Sudreys- Súðreyjar - this survives in the Diocese of Sodor and Man) and parts of mainland Scotland. The Norse settlers were to some extent integrating with the local Gaelic population (see-Gall Gaidheal) in the Hebrides and Man. These areas were ruled over by local Jarls, originally captains of ships or Hersirs. The Jarl of and Shetland however, claimed supremacy.

61 In 875, King Harald Finehair led a fleet from Norway to Scotland. In his attempt to unite Norway, he found that many of those opposed to his rise to power had taken refuge in the Isles. From here, they were raiding not only foreign lands but were also attacking Norway itself. He organised a fleet and was able to subdue the rebels, and in doing so brought the independent Jarls under his control, many of the rebels having fled to Iceland. He found himself ruling not only Norway, but the Isles, Man and parts of Scotland. In 876 the Gall-Gaidheal of Man and the Hebrides rebelled against Harald. A fleet was sent against them led by Ketil Flatnose to regain control. On his success, Ketil was to rule the Sudreys as a vassal of King Harald. His grandson Thorstein the Red and Sigurd the Mighty, Jarl of Orkney invaded Scotland were able to exact tribute from nearly half the kingdom until their deaths in battle. Ketil declared himself King of the Isles. Ketil was eventually outlawed and fearing the bounty on his head fled to Iceland. The Gall-Gaidheal Kings of the Isles continued to act semi independently, in 973 forming a defensive pact with the Kings of Scotland and Strathclyde. In 1095, the King of Mann and the Isles Godred Crovan was killed by Magnus Barelegs, King of Norway. Magnus and King Edgar of Scotland agreed a treaty. The islands would be controlled by Norway, but mainland territories would go to Scotland. The King of Norway continued to be nominally king of the Isles and Man. However, in 1156, The kingdom was split into two. The Western Isles and Man continued as to be called the "Kingdom of Man and the Isles", but the came under the influence of Somerled, a Gaelic speaker, who was styled 'King of the Hebrides'. His kingdom was to develop latterly into the Lordship of the Isles. The Jarls of Orkney continued to rule much of Northern Scotland until 1196, when Harald Maddadsson agreed to pay tribute to William the Lion, King of Scots for his territories on the Mainland. The end of the Viking age proper in Scotland is generally considered to be in 1266. In 1263, King Haakon IV of Norway, in retaliation for a Scots expedition to Skye, arrived on the west coast with a fleet from Norway and Orkney. His fleet linked up with those of King Magnus of Man and King Dougal of the Hebrides. After peace talks failed, his forces met with the Scots at Largs, in Ayrshire. The battle proved indecisive, but it did ensure that the Norse were not able to mount a further attack that year. Haakon died overwintering in Orkney, and by 1266, his son Magnus the Law-mender ceded the Kingdom of Man and the Isles, with all territories on mainland Scotland to Alexander III, through the . Orkney and Shetland continued to be ruled as autonomous Jarldoms under Norway until 1468, when King Christian I pledged them as security on the dowry of his daughter, who was betrothed to James III of Scotland. The dowry was never paid, and the islands passed to Scotland.

62

Wales Wales was not colonised by the Vikings as heavily as eastern England. The Vikings did, however, settle in the south around St. David's, Haverfordwest, and Gower, among other places. Place names such as Skokholm, Skomer, and Swansea remain as evidence of the Norse settlement.[8] The Vikings, however, did not subdue the Welsh mountain kingdoms.

Iceland The Norwegians travelled to the north-west and west, founding vibrant communities in the Faroe Islands, Shetland, Orkney, Iceland, Ireland and Great Britain. Apart from Britain and Ireland, Norwegians mostly found largely uninhabited land, and established settlements in those places. According to the saga of , when Erik the Red was exiled from Iceland he went west. There he found a land that he named "Greenland" to attract people from Iceland to settle it with him. Greenland The Viking Age settlements in Greenland were established in the sheltered fjords of the southern and western coast. They settled in three separate areas along approximately 650 kilometers of the western coast.

The (61°00′N, 45°00′W). The remains of about 450 farms have been found here. Erik the Red settled at Brattahlid on Ericsfjord.

The Middle Settlement (62°00′N, 48°00′W) near modern Ivigtut, consisting of about 20 farms.

The , at modern Godthåbsfjord (64°00′N, 51°00′W), established before the 12th century. It has been extensively excavated by archaeologists. Southern and eastern Europe

The Varangians or Varyags (Russian, Ukrainian : Варяги, Varyagi) sometimes referred to as Variagians were Scandinavians, often Swedes, who migrated eastwards and southwards through what is now Russia and Ukraine mainly in the 9th and 10th centuries. Engaging in trade, piracy and mercenary activities, they roamed the river systems and portages of Gardariki, reaching the Caspian Sea and Constantinople. Contemporary English publications also use the name "Viking" for early Varangians in some contexts.[9][10]

63 The term Varangian remained in usage in the Byzantine Empire until the 13th century, largely disconnected from its Scandinavian roots by then. Having settled Aldeigja (Ladoga) in the 750s, Scandinavian colonists were probably an element in the early ethnogenesis of the Rus' people, and likely played a role in the formation of the Rus' Khaganate. The Varangians (Varyags, in Old East Slavic) are first mentioned by the Primary Chronicle as having exacted tribute from the Slavic and Finnic tribes in 859. It was the time of rapid expansion of the Vikings in Northern Europe; England began to pay in 859, and the Curonians of Grobin faced an invasion by the Swedes at about the same date.

Runic graffiti inscribed in a column in Constantinople (now Istanbul) by members of the Varangian Guard. In 862, the Finnic and Slavic tribes rebelled against the Varangian Rus, driving them overseas back to Scandinavia, but soon started to conflict with each other. The disorder prompted the tribes to invite back the Varangian Rus "to come and rule them" and bring peace to the region. Led by Rurik and his brothers Truvor and Sineus, the invited Varangians (called Rus) settled around the town of Holmgard (Novgorod). In the 9th century, the Rus' operated the Volga trade route, which connected Northern Russia (Gardariki) with the Middle East (Serkland). As the Volga route declined by the end of the century, the Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks rapidly overtook it in popularity. Apart from Ladoga and Novgorod, Gnezdovo and Gotland were major centres for Varangian trade.[11] Western historians tend to agree with the Primary Chronicle that these Scandinavians founded Kievan Rus' in the 880s and gave their name to the land. Many Slavic scholars are opposed to this theory of Germanic influence

64 on the Rus' (people) and have suggested alternative scenarios for this part of Eastern European history. In contrast to the intense Scandinavian influence in Normandy and the British Isles, Varangian culture did not survive to a great extent in the East. Instead, the Varangian ruling classes of the two powerful city-states of Novgorod and Kiev were thoroughly Slavicized by the end of the 10th century. Old Norse was spoken in one district of Novgorod, however, until the 13th century. Western Europe France See also: Siege of Paris (885-886) and History of Normandy The French region of Normandy takes its name from the Viking invaders who were called Northmanorum, which means ‘men of the North.’ The first Viking raids began between 790 and 800 on the coasts of western France, and were carried out primarily in the summer, the Vikings spending the winter in Scandinavia. Several coastal areas were lost during the reign of Louis the Pious (814-840). The incursions in 841 caused severe damage to Rouen and Jumièges. The Vikings attackers sought to capture the treasures stored at monasteries, easy prey considering the helplessness of the monks to defend themselves. An expedition in 845 went up the Seine to reached Paris. After 851 they began to stay in the lower Seine valley for the winter. Twice more in the 860s Vikings rowed to Paris, leaving only when they acquired sufficient loot or bribes from the Carolingian rulers. The Carolingian kings in power at the time tended to have contradictory politics, which had severe consequences. In 867, Charles the Bald signed the Treaty of Compiègne, by which he agreed to yield the Cotentin Peninsula to the Breton king Salomon, on the condition that Salomon would take an oath of fidelity and fight as an ally against the Vikings. Nevertheless, in 911 the Viking leader Rollon forced Charles the Simple to sign the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur- Epte, under which Charles gave Rouen and the area of modern Haute- Normandie to Rollon, establishing the Duchy of Normandy. In exchange Rollon pledged vassalage to Charles in 940, agreed to be baptized, and vowed to guard the estuaries of the Seine from further Viking attacks. While many buildings were pillaged, burned, or destroyed by the Viking raids, it is likely that the picture given by ecclesiastical sources is unfairly negative: no city was completely destroyed. On the other hand many monasteries were pillaged and all the abbeys were destroyed. Nevertheless, the activities of Rollon and his successors had the effect of bringing about rapid recovery.

65 The Scandinavian colonization was principally Danish, with a strong Norwegian element. A few Swedes were present. The merging of the Scandinavian and native elements contributed to the creation of one of the most powerful feudal states of Western Europe. The naval ability of the Normans would allow them to conquer England and southern Italy, and play a key role in the Crusades.

Spain After 842, when a permanent base was set up at the mouth of the Loire River, Vikings raids could strike as far as northern Spain.[12] They attacked Cadiz in AD 844.

Other territories

North America Main article: Vinland In about 986, North America was reached by Bjarni Herjólfsson. Leif Ericson and Þórfinnur Karlsefni from Greenland attempted to settle the land, which they dubbed Vinland about 1000 AD. A small settlement was placed on the northern peninsula of Newfoundland, near L'Anse aux Meadows, but previous inhabitants and a cold climate brought it to an end within a few years. The archaeological remains are now a UN World Heritage Site.[13] Influence of Viking settlement on the

The long-term linguistic effect of the Viking settlements in England was threefold: over a thousand words eventually became part of Standard English; a large number of places in the east and north-east of England have Danish names; and many English personal names are of Scandinavian origin.[14] Words that entered the English language by this route include landing, score, beck, fellow, take, busting, and steersman.[14] The vast majority of loan words do not begin to appear in documents until the early twelfth century; these include many modern words which use sk- sounds, such as skirt, sky, and skin; other words appearing in written sources at this time include again, awkward, birth, cake, dregs, fog, freckles, gasp, law, neck, ransack, root, scowl, sister, seat, sly, smile, want, weak, and window.[14] Some of the words that came into use by this route are among the most common in English, such

66 as both, same, get, and give. The system of personal pronouns was affected, with they, them, and their replacing the earlier forms. Old Norse even influenced the verb to be; the replacement of sindon by are is almost certainly Scandinavian in origin, as is the third-person-singular ending -s in the present tense of verbs.[14] There are over 1,500 Scandinavian place names in England, mainly in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire (within the former boundaries of the Danelaw): over 600 end in -by, the Scandinavian word for "village" or "town" — for example Grimsby, Naseby, and Whitby;[15] many others end in -thorpe ("farm"), -thwaite ("clearing"), and -toft ("homestead").[14] The distribution of family names showing Scandinavian influence is still, as an analysis of names ending in -son reveals, concentrated in the north and east, corresponding to areas of former Viking settlement. Early medieval records indicate that over 60% of personal names in Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire showed Scandinavian influence.[14] Technology

A Viking longship Further information: Viking ship, Viking Age arms and armour The Vikings were equipped with the technologically superior longships; for purposes of conducting trade however, another type of ship, the knarr, wider and deeper in draught, were customarily used. The Vikings were competent sailors, adept in land warfare as well as at sea, and they often struck at accessible and poorly-defended targets, usually with near impunity. The effectiveness of these tactics earned vikings a formidable reputation as raiders and pirates, and the chroniclers paid little attention to other aspects of medieval Scandinavian culture. This is further accentuated by the absence of contemporary primary source documentation from within the Viking Age communities themselves, and little documentary evidence is available until later, when Christian sources begin to contribute. It is only over time, as historians and archaeologists have begun to challenge the one-sided

67 descriptions of the chroniclers, that a more balanced picture of the Norsemen has begun to become apparent. Besides allowing the Vikings to travel vast distances, their longships gave them certain tactical advantages in battle. They could perform very efficient hit-and-run attacks, in which they approached quickly and unexpectedly, then left before a counter-offensive could be launched. Because of their negligible draught, longships could sail in shallow waters, allowing the Vikings to travel far inland along the rivers. Their speed was also prodigious for the time, estimated at a maximum of 14 or 15 knots. The use of the longships ended when technology changed, and ships began to be constructed using saws instead of axes. This led to a lesser quality of ships. Together with an increasing centralization of government in the Scandinavian countries, the old system of Leidang — a fleet mobilization system, where every Skipen (ship community) had to deliver one ship and crew — was discontinued. Shipbuilding in the rest of Europe also led to the demise of the longship for military purposes. By the 11th and 12th centuries, fighting ships began to be built with raised platforms fore and aft, from which archers could shoot down into the relatively low longships. There is an archaeological find in Sweden of a bone fragment that has been fixated with in-operated material; the piece is as yet undated. These bones might possibly be the remains of a trader from the Middle East. The nautical achievements of the Vikings were quite exceptional. For instance, they made distance tables for sea voyages that were so exact, that they only differ 2-4% from modern satellite measurements, even on long distances, such as across the . There is a find known as the lenses from the island of Gotland in Sweden that might possibly be components of a telescope, from long before the usually accepted date of invention of the telescope in the 1600s.[16] Religion and archaeology

See also: Viking funeral At the start of the Viking age, the Vikings adhered to the Norse religion and system of beliefs. They believed in a pantheon of gods and goddesses, as well as Valhalla, a heaven for warriors. The lower-class of society would go to a place called "hel", similar to life on earth. According to Viking beliefs, Viking chieftains would please their war-gods by their bravery, and would become "worth-ship;" that is, the chieftain would earn a "burial at sea." They also performed land burials which often still included a ship, treasure, weapons, tools, clothing and even live slaves and women buried alive with the dead chieftain, for his "journey to Valhalla, and adventure and pleasure in the after-life." Then, sages would compose sagas about the exploits of these chieftains, keeping their memories alive. Freyr and his sister Freya were

68 fertility gods. They were responsible for ensuring that people had many children and that the land produced plentiful crops. Some farmers even called their fields after Freyr, in the hope that this would ensure a good harvest. Towards the end of the Viking Age, more and more Scandinavians were converted to Christianity, and often (or mostly) by force. The introduction of Christianity did not instantaneously bring an end to the Viking voyages, but it may have been a contributing factor in bringing the Viking Age to an end. Trade Centres

fortified Viking Town Aros (Aarhus Denmark) 950 AD

fortified Viking Town Aros Some of the most important trading ports during the period include both existing and ancient cities such as Jelling (Denmark), Ribe (Denmark), Roskilde (Denmark), Hedeby (Denmark, now Germany), Aarhus (Denmark), Vineta (Pomerania), Truso (Poland), Kaupang (Norway), Birca (Sweden), Bordeaux (France), Jorvik (England), Dublin (Ireland) and Aldeigjuborg (Russia).

69 Settlements outside Scandinavia

Britain

Jórvík (Yorkshire)

Danelaw

Hjaltland Eastern Europe

Bjarmland

Garðaríki

Serkland

Miklagard Atlantic

Faroe Islands

Greenland

Helluland

Iceland

Markland

Vinland Notes

1. ^ The Viking Age from the Norway article at Encyclopædia Britannica

2. ^ The Viking Age from the Denmark article atEncyclopædia Britannica

3. ^ The Viking Age from the Sweden article at Encyclopædia Britannica

4. ^ Northern Shores by Alan Palmer ; p.21; ISBN 0719562996

5. ^ The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings By Peter Hayes SawyerISBN 0198205260

6. ^ the material suggesting a Norwegian origin identifies him with Hrolf Gangr, also known as Rolf the Walker

70 7. ^ Connolly S.J (1998). The Oxford Companion to Irish History. Oxford University Press, 329. ISBN 0192116959.

8. ^ Welsh place names.

9. ^ Viking (Varangian) Oleg at Encyclopaedia Britannica

10. ^ Viking (Varangian) Rurik at Encyclopaedia Britannica

11. ^ A massive majority (40,000) of all Viking-Age Arabian coins found in Scandinavia were found in Gotland. In Skåne, Öland and Uppland together, about 12,000 coins were found. Other Scandinavian areas have only scattered finds: 1,000 from Denmark and some 500 from Norway. Byzantine coins have been found almost exclusively in Gotland, some 400. See Arkeologi i Norden 2. Författarna och Bokförlaget Natur & kultur. Stockholm 1999. See also Gardell, Carl Johan: Gotlands historia i fickformat, 1987. ISBN 91-7810-885-3.

12. ^ Forte, Oram, and Pedersen. Viking Empires, 60.

13. ^ World Heritage Site reference

14. ^ a b c d e f Crystal, David, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, CUP, 2001 edition, ISBN 0-521-59655-6, p25-6.

15. ^ "The -by ending is almost entirely confined to the area of the Danelaw, supporting a theory of Scandinavian origin, despite the existence of the word by "dwelling" in Old English." Crystal, p 25.

16. ^ Visby lens reference References

Carey, Brian Todd. “Technical marvels, Viking longships sailed seas and rivers, or served as floating battlefields”, Military History 19, no. 6 (2003): 70-72.

Forte, Angelo. Oram, Richard. Pedersen, Frederik. Viking Empires. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005

Henry, Francoise. Irish Art in the Early Christian Period. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1940

71 Hudson, Benjamin. Viking Pirates and Christian Princes: , Religion, and Empire in North America. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.

Maier, Bernhard. The Celts: A history from earliest times to the present. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 2003.

TimeRef - Viking Invasions of England External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Viking Age

Jorvik and the Viking Age (866 AD - 1066 AD)

Old Norse literature from «Kulturformidlingen norrøne tekster og kvad» Norway.

BBC - History - Blood of the Vikings

All About Vikings

Viking memories in Oslo

72 Important Dates in Danish History

Before 1300 5000-4000BC The general geographic outlines of the later Danish region becomes recognizable. 737 Danevirke is founded. 787-1066 The Viking Era. 950 Harald Bluetoooth king. 965 King Harald has himself baptized and makes an inscription in one of the Jelling Stones where he claims to have made the Danes Christians. 985 Sweyn Forkbeard king. 1013-1050 The Danish kings Sweyn Forkbeard and Canute the Great rule a North Sea Empire made up of Denmark, Norway and England. 1014 Harald II king. 1018 Canute the Great king. 1035 Harde Canute king. 1042 Magnus king. 1047 Sweyn II king. 1074 Harald II king. 1080 Canute II king. 1086 Oluf I king. 1095 Erik I king. 1104 Niels king. 1134 Erik II king. 1137 Erik III king. 1146 Sweyn III king. 1146 Canute III king.

73 1154 Valdemar the Great king. 1167 Copenhagen is founded. 1182 Canute IV king. 1202 Valdemar the Victorious king. During Valdemar IIs reign the Danish kingdom becomes exeptionally strong.The frontier advances to the Elbe and the Baltics. 1219 The first use of Dannebrog, the of Denmark, even though the flag as it looks today - red with a white cross - is first known over 150 years later. 1220 King Valdemar II is forced to renounce his hegemony over the Northern Elbe areas. 1241 Erik IV king.

1300-1440

1332-40 Due to expensive and failed wars all taxes are given in pawn to the creditors of the realm. The Danish Crown has no incomes to speak of and no king is appointed. 1340 Valdemar IV succeedes in restoring royal authority. 1368 The Great Hanseatic War. Seventy five Hanseatic towns attack the Danish castles along the Sound. 1375 Margrethe I . 1376 Oluf III king. 1386 To avoid a war on the Southern border and to regain the rich Slesvig region, Margrethe I unites the Danish Duchy of Slesvig with the German County of Holstein. 1396 Erik VII of Pomerania. 1397 The beginning of the Kalmar Union uniting Norway, Sweden and Denmark under one.

1440-1536

1440 Christopher III king. 1448 Christian I king. 1471 Copenhagen University opens. 1481 Hans king. 1495 The first book in Danish is printed - The Danish Rhymed Cronicle.

74 1513 Christian II king. 1520 The Stockholm Bloodbath. Christian II becomes king of Sweden and restores the Kalmar Union, but to maintain power he chooses to crush every conceivable opposition. 1523 Frederik I king. 1526 Frederik I declares the Danish church independent. 1534 Christian III king. 1536 *Civil war. Christian III leads an army of German mercenaries into Copenhagen, and the citizens give up the hope of asserting themselves politically. *Reformation. The Danish church was reestablished as a Lutheran reformed state church with the king as its head.

1536-1660

1559 Frederik II king. 1588 Christian IV king. 1611 Christian IV declares war on Sweden but only with insignificant results. Many wars with Sweden follow during the next century. 1626 Christian IV enters the German Thirty Years War in hope of neutralizing Swedish expansion. 1648 Frederik III king. 1660 *Denmark wins back the island of Bornholm from Sweden. *The introduction of Absolutism - hereditary monarchy (Enevælde). 1663 The Scandinavian Seven Years War.

1660-1720

1666 Denmark takes possession of St. Thomas, one of the Danish West Indian islands. 1670 Christian V king. 1699 Frederik IV king. 1717 Denmark takes possession of St. John, one of the Danish West Indian islands.

1718-1807

1730

75 Christian VI king. 1733 Denmark buys St. Croix, one of the Danish West Indian islands, from France. 1746 Frederik V king. 1753 Frederik V prohibits American sea captains to spread propaganda for the US to stop the Danish emigration to the states. 1766 Christian VII king. 1791 USA and Denmark starts its diplomatic relations. Denmark is thus the country with which the USA has maintained uninterrupted diplomatic relations for the longest time. 1792 Denmark abolishes the slave trade. 1801 *Lord Nelson defeats the Danes in the Battle of Copenhagen. *Great Britain occupies the Danish West Indian islands. 1807 The bombing of Copenhagen by the British. The entire Danish fleet is lost.

1807-1848

1805 Hans Christian Andersen is born. 1808 Frederik VI king. 1813 Denmark goes bankrupt and has to cede Norway to Sweden. 1839 Christian VIII king. 1848 *Frederik VII king. *All slaves at the are emancipated by Govenor .

1848-1901

1849 Frederik VII signs the Constitutional act of the abolishing absolutism and introducing democracy. 1863 Christian IX king. 1864 Prussia and Austria declares war on Denmark and within four days the Danish troops at Dannevirke are forced to surrender to the enemy's military superiority. 1873 Industrial employment for children under ten is prohibited. 1899 Danish trade unions organize a wide-scale strike and lock-out, which leads to an agreement with employer organizations about working conditions. 1901

76 Parliamentarism is introduced in Denmark, no government can rule against the majority of the Parliament.

1901-1939

1906 Frederik VIII king. 1912 Christian X king. 1914 The beginning of World War I. Denmark is neutral. 1915 Women are given the right to vote for the Folketing (the Danish Parliament). 1917 USA buys the Virgin Islands from Denmark for USD 25,000,000. 1918 Iceland separates from Denmark and gain their own government. 1920 The "easter crisis". The king dismisses the Government. 1924 First female minister - Nina Bang - in the Stauning Government. 1933 Social reform which secures full insurance against unemployment, sickness and old age. Medical treatment and old peoples home becomes free.

1939-1945

1940 Denmark is occupied by Nazi Germany on April 9. 1941 Henrik Kauffmann, Danish ambassador to Washington agrees on his own responsibility to the establishment of American military bases in Greenland. 1943 *On August 29, the Danish navy scuttles its fleet to avoid falling into Nazi German hands. *In October, more than 7,000 Danish Jews are warned of their inevitable arrest by Nazi troops and escape across the Sound to neutral Sweden. *The Danish Freedom Council is formed. 1944 Iceland breaks away from union with Denmark and declares independence. 1945 *On May 4-5th, the German forces in Denmark surrender to Britain. *The Nazi German forces on Bornholm refuse to surrender and Bornholm has to suffer Soviet bombardment before the Germans finally surrender a few days later.

1945-1960

1947 Frederik IX king. 1948 *Denmark accepts American Marshall aid as a means to economic reconstruction.

77 *Home rule for the Faroe Islands. 1949 Denmark abandons her neutrality policy and joins the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). 1951 The Nordic Council is established between Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland. 1953 *The Upper Chamber is abolished and the Danish Parliament is made a single legislature. *Female succession to the throne is permitted. *Greenland is made a county instead of a colony. 1954 The state introduces financial support for all students which enables them to study regardless of their parents income.

1961-

1972 Margrethe II queen. 1973 Denmark joins the European Community (EC) after a referendum. 1979 Greenland is granted home rule and starts taking over some of its internal affairs. 1992 *The Maastricht Treaty is rejected by the Danish people through a referendum. *Denmark wins the European Championship in soccer for the first time. *Denmark ratifies the Edinburgh treaty. 1995 First woman bishop in the Danish national church. 1997 Silver jubilee for Queen Margrethe II. 1998 *Denmark ratifies the NATO enlargement on February 3. *Denmark votes for the Schengen treaty.

78 Family Background – Random Notes

Collected for Anna Marie Jensen’s Visit to Denmark in November 2002

THE JENSEN - HANSEN FAMILY

Jens Peder Jensen (my grandfather) was born in 1885 in Denmark. He came to the USA in 1907 and in 1910 filed on the homestead near Faith, SD. In 1911 he married Anna Hansen his childhood sweetheart who was the daughter of his mother’s sister. She had also emigrated to America.

To this marriage was born Edythe in 1913, Folmer in 1915 who died at the age of 8, Edwin in 1919 and Margaret in 1921. Anna died in 1929 of Peritonitis following surgery for a strangulated hernia. In 1935 J.P. married Ida Hegre and to this marriage was born Marie in 1936, Volmer in 1938 and Eldon in 1942.

Jens Peder had six brothers and sisters. These are the ones I know of: • Uncle Hans • Ane Kirstine • Christian • Niels Henry (known as Henry in Denmark) • Katherine

Ane Kirstine was born in 1887 and apparently died very young.

Christian born in 1889 took over the farm when he was old enough. He married Oline Hansen and they had one son Knud born in or about 1930. Knud married Irja in 1955 and they had two children. Laila was born 26 Jan. 1959 and Lasse was born 6 March 1963 (same day as Vaughn Jensen). Knud died last year of lung cancer. Irja lives in her own home near their daughter Laila a few miles west of central Copenhagen.

My grandmother, Anna Marie Jensen was born Anna Marie Hansen. She died quite young and had one sister that I am aware of - Christine. Jens Peder (aka JP) immigrated to the USA just after the turn of the last century, somewhere around 1906, I think. JP and Anna lived near Faith, SD, where my dad Edwin was born, and where I grew up. Hans, one of JP’s brothers also came to the USA from Denmark. JP and Anna had four children, but one died very young (i.e., Folmer). Edythe was the oldest, then Edwin, then Margaret. Of course, Edythe is the only living child from JP’s first wife. After Anna’s death, JP married Ida Hegre, who begat three children: Marie, Volmer, and Eldon.

Hans

79 Hans was born in 1894 and came to the USA at a young age. He served in WW I for the US and we never knew of a marriage but it was rumored he had married once and she had died shortly after. He worked for many years at the ammunition depot in Igloo and lived out his retired years at the Hot Springs Veterans home . He visited often in Faith and his driving would thrill you and scare the crap out of the kids. He would always bring Hershey bars for the kids. Hans died in the 1960s.

Anna

Anna was born in 1891and was the family Character. Anna never married and died in 1982. She came to America in 1955 and lived with J.P. and Ida for about 6 months. She said it was the biggest thrill of her life. She could talk the hind leg off of you.

Christian

Begat Knud. Knud passed away earlier this year and Laila looks after her mother. Laila is Knud’s daughter. Lasse is Knud’s son.

Laila and Flemming Christensen (Laila is Knud’s daughter) [email protected] Bygholmvej 15 2720 Vanlose, DK 45+38 74 03 75 20 10 83 90 Cell

They have two girls- Siri born in January 1995 and Aino (pronounced" ino") born in October 1996. She has two small children and keeps an eye on her mother, who is having quite a time after Knud's death, but was very glad to see Volmer and Vonda when they were there. Volmer spoke with Laila about Anna coming for a visit and she has invited Anna to stay with them. She was educated in the US, speaks fluent English and has visited here several times. Flemming is a geologist and travels a lot. Laila does not drive a car.

Lasse and Eva Jensen (Lasse is Knud’s son) Nodebovej 24 3480 Fredensborg DK 45+48 48 14 80

Lasse was born March 6, 1963. Lasse and Eva have two children. Laura born in 1991 and Rasmus born in 1997. Lasse is a public school teacher and Eva is a Lutheran Minister. They live just a short distance from Lone and Bo Bjordstrup.

80 Niels Henry (known as Henry in Denmark)

Niels Henry was born in 1896. He married Ingeborg and had one son Hans Henrik born inn 1933. He ran a printing shop in Fakse, Denmark and died at the young age of 40 from leukemia. His widow then ran the shop until Hans Henrik took it over. Hans Henrik married Inger in 1955 and they have three children. Annemarie born in 1957, Lisbeth born in 1960 and Karen born in 1963?

Hans Henrik and Inger Jensen Vibevej 10 Fakse, DK 4640 45+56 73 03 21 45+20 21 85 83 (cell) [email protected]

Hans Henrik is Dad's (Edwin) first cousin and is closest to the old family farm and JP’s birthplace. They are both 69 years old and have three girls. Hans Henrik is retired from the printing business. Daughter Annemarie is divorced and has two children, Sarah 15 and Christian 11. Daughter Lisbeth is a nurse and married to Jorgen-Henrik a farmer. Their children are Anna- Elisabeth 13 and Marie-Louise 11. Daughter Karen is not married and has twins. A boy, Casper and a girl, Camilla. I think they are now 4 or 5 and are in foster care. For this reason it is hard to reach them by telephone.

Ingeborg took in a child during the war and raised her like a daughter. She was named Hanne and married Valdemar Jorgensen. They have 4 children Charlotte, Jens, Pernille and Heidi. We have not kept up with them.

E-mail from Hans Henrik in September Dear Jim + family, Of course your daughter will be welcome as anybody in the family will be. (He also provided a good deal of information about his family, which is included in the paragraphs above).

Annemarie Skovgaard Norrevang 73, st.th. 3460 Birkerod Birkeroed 45 45818760 [email protected]

Annemarie is 44 and is divorced. She has a daughter Sarah (15) and a son Christian (11). Annemarie stayed in Bismarck, ND, for a year in 1976-77 living with Uncle Volmer, then later in a rented room.

E-mail from Annemarie to Volmer in September

81 I understand you got home well. It was so very nice to see you again! And my kids loved every minute of it - even Christian who didn’t want to go in the first place (he is shy). Sarah tried to send an email to Britni as soon as we got home, but got the address wrong - but she will be back.

The kids and I are doing well - everything is "as usual", school and work, but thats how we prefer it, even the children. Fall is approaching, the sun is still shining but it is getting cooler by the minute. Yesterday we went to Faxe to celebrate my mothers birthday. Today we are relaxing.

You are welcome to distribute my e-mail address if anyone in the family asks about it. I know I haven’t been the "penpal of the year" rather to the contrary, but it seems as if it might be different in the future.

Lisbeth (42) and Jørgen- (have no address) [email protected] She lives in Haarlev and has 2 daugthers: Anna-Elisabeth (13), Marie-Louise (11).

Karen Jensen (39) Kong Georgsvej 80, 2 th. 2000 Frederiksberg.

Karen is unmarried, but has twins (4 years): a boy Casper and a girl Camilla. Karen lives in Copenhagen. When she was 10 she was run down by a car, and as a result the emotional center in her brain was damaged. She got an education as a chemical engineer. Has twins, but they have been removed from her by the social authorities. She is allowed to see them once a week. In 1981 she visited your brother John in Texas on a tour in U.S.

Katherine

Katherine was 7th and the youngest born November 27, 1898 died in Spring of 1975. She married Peter Sigvardsen Bleeg and they had three children. Peter and Grethe were twins and were born in 1933. Henry was born in 1937. Henry and Peter live close to each other near Odense.

Henry Bleeg Dyngby Mollevej 37, Odder, Dk 8300 45 86 55 64 08 [email protected] [email protected]

Henry is semi-retired and a professor in Micro-Biology in the dental school at Aarhus University. He has been married 3 times and has children by all three wives. He and his first wife Kirsten have one child - Ellen (35) who is married to Bo Bleeg. They have one one son Carl (3) and live in Geneva. They are now divorced. Henry then married Vibeke and they had twins in 1974, Ingrid and Simon. Ingrid (28) just married Flemming (31) this summer. They live in Aarhus. He

82 works for the City and she is a school teacher. Simon died in 1995 in a Mountain Climbing Accident and Vibeke died of Cancer.

Henry then married Pia who is a music professor at Aarhus University. Henry Bleeg lives fairly close to Aarhus. They have two children. Peter is 18, a senior in high school, and is apparently a very talented guitar player. Christina is 15 and in her first year of what we call High School, or as they say Gymnasium.

Peter Sigvardsen lives fairly close to Aarhus. Henry has a small farm like setting with a century old house and the barn, garage and a few acres. They love their rural setting in Odder about 6 miles south of Aarhus. Volmer says that he has not been to Peter's but it is located about 20 miles east of Aarhus.

Peter and Birte Sigvardsen (brother Henry uses the last name Bleeg--note their father has both) Jyllandsvej 8 8400 Ebeltoft DK 45+ 86 34 62 99 I believe Birte is Peters third wife. No Children. Peter has a daughter Mette 44 or so, by his first wife Aase. There are also two children Kirsten and Bente, whose mother was Gerda (I think).

Mette Sigvardsen Bleeg Langbjerg Park 36 3400 Hillerod DK 45+ 48 26 34 12 mebl@alleroed Mette has one daughter Katrine born Oct. 92. Mette also lives close to Lone and Bo.

Kirk & Grethe Sorensen Kobbervej 20 2730 Herlev DK 45+ 42 84 51 42

Grethe is the twin sister of Peter and is a love. Unfortunately does not speak much English nor does her husband Kirk. He is not very well but stays as active as possible and is very independent with his walker. They have two girls. Lone (pronounced Lona) 39 and Lise 35ish. Lone is married to Bo Bjordstrup. Lone and Bo and would be a good people to visit.

Lone and Bo Bordstrup Ostrupvej 3 3480 Fredensborg DK [email protected] 45 48 48 03 15 (Only answered between 8am and noon and 4pm and 7pm.) 45 48 48 03 64

They have a hotel (bed and breakfast) hostel 25 miles north of Copehagen in Fredensborg next to the Queens Summer Palace. They are great hosts and Volmer and Ting stayed at their hostel for two days when they visited in August. They hosted a big family dinner on one evening. They

83 have two wonderful children. Mikkel is soon to be 14 and Emil is 10. She also has some very gracious children, closer to your age (Jim) I suppose...but would love to see Anna also.

E-mail from Bo and Lone 10-2-02 Thank You for your mail about your dauhter's visit in Denmark. I'm sorry the late reply. Please tell Anna that she will be most welcome in our house. We will love to say hello to her. We just had had some wonderful days here together with Volmer, Vonda and Britni.

The Hansen Side - Grandmother Anna’s Sister Christine’s Family

Vibeke is Christine’s granddaughter.

Thomas and Vibeke Basthom-Bille Hoejeloft Vaenge 107 DK 3500 Vaerloese (just NW of Copenhagen) Denmark Home phone: 44 48 39 36 (best in the evening) 45+ 31 60 11 66 (business) [email protected] Work phone: 33 11 59 04 (Mon., Tues., and Wed.); Office is at National Health. Thursday I teach at University (Dental School) and am difficult to get. Friday I am a consultant and am difficult to get.

The live in the Copenhagen area. Vibeke is Dad’s (Edwin) cousin on the Hansen side. Vibeke's father's mother was a sister to Anna (J.P.s first wife) and a first cousin to J.P. Vibeke is a dentist and professor in the University Dental School in Copenhagen and has a general practice. Her husband Thomas is head of a Division in the Govt. Energy and Environment Ministry. They have three Children. Anders 30 is recently finished his residency and is now a Physician. Margrethe 28 is also a Physician and was just married on Aug. 10 to Alun Biggart. Marie Louise is 22 and a student in the School of Dentistry.

Her last e-mail told us of her children's just graduating from college etc. (medical school) and pending weddings. Vibeke’s children would be a little older than Anna but closer in age than any of the other cousin’s kids. Volmer spoke with them about Anna coming for a visit and they would love to have her stay with them. None of the children live at home.

Message from Vibeke received in early September2002 Volmer mentioned your daughter Anna would be traveling in Europa this autumn. We have just had some wonderful days with Volmer, Vonda and Britni, and the weather was exceptionally warm and sunny after the Scandinavian climate. Of course Anna will be welcome in our home and she can stay here if she wants that. We have plenty of rooms since our children don´t live at home any more. Anna will be heartily welcome to stay here and join our family life and do the research she wants to in Danish architecture.

I know very well who your are. Your grandmother Anna (who died very young ) was sister to my grandmother Christine. I remember very well the night around midnight, where the post came with a telegram with the sad message telling your mom, dad and uncle Jens was killed in a car accident and asking my dad to tell the relatives in Denmark.

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I visited you brother John and his family in Dallas 1991 with my daughter Margrethe (she was exchange student that year in Battle Ground, in Washington state) and I met your sister Joanne (Susie) and her family in Faith when the family got together when I visited all the relatives in South Dakota, as far as I remember you weren´t there, you was just divorced at that time... if I remember right. I had a wonderful visit in Faith and Dallas I never will forget.

We live north of Copenhagen (25 minutes by train ), we both go into Copenhagen every day for work. We have 3 children Anders (30 years old ) Margrethe (28 years old ) both just qualified June this year as medical doctors. Margrethe got married August 10 to Alun (from Scotland, but he works in Denmark). Marie-Louise (22 years old) she is studying dentestry at University of Copenhagen.... almost the same age as your Anna. She, Anders and Anders girlfriend Sarah (studying History and Spanish) lives in the city (i.e., Copenhagen) in the same place (first and second floor).

Information and E-Mail Addresses

45 is the country code for Denmark.

Laila and Flemming Christensen [email protected]

Hans Henrik and Inger Jensen [email protected] or possibly [email protected]

Henry Bleeg Dyngby Mollevej 37, Odder, Dk 8300 [email protected]

Lone and Bo Bordstrup [email protected]

Thomas and Vibeke Basthom-Bille [email protected]

Annemarie Skovgaard [email protected]

85 And The Happiest Place On Earth Is...

Happiness map

HOW THE NATIONS RANKED ON HAPPINESS 1st - Denmark 2nd - Switzerland 3rd - Austria 4th - Iceland 5th - The Bahamas 23rd - USA 41st - UK 90th - Japan 178th - Burundi

The Pursuit Of Happiness Little Denmark, with its five-and-a-half million people, is the happiest country in the world, says a study done by an English University. Morley Safer reports why the Danes are so happy and explores why the U.S. is way down the list.

Happiness is that quirky, elusive emotion that the Declaration of Independence maintains we have every right to pursue. And we do pursue it: we are suckers for an endless stream of self-help books that promise a carefree existence for a mere $24.95; and television hucksters of every kind claim they have the key to Nirvana. So the happiness business, at least, is one big smiley face.

As for the rest of us, the main scientific survey of international happiness carried out by Leicester University in England ranks the U.S. a distant 23rd, well behind Canada and Costa Rica. But you'll be pleased to know we beat Iraq and Pakistan.

And the winner, once again, is Denmark.

Over the past 30 years, in survey after survey, this nation of five and a half million people, the land that produced Hans Christian Andersen, the people who consume herring by the ton, consistently beat the rest of the world in the happiness stakes. It's hard to figure: the weather is only so-so, they are heavy drinkers and smokers, their

86 neighbors, the Norwegians, are richer, and their other neighbors, the Swedes, are healthier.

So it's ironic or something that the unhappiest man in history, or at least literary history, was that Prince of Denmark, Hamlet.

Of course Hamlet had every right to be depressed. After all, his uncle murdered his father and seduced and married his mother and was an all around perfect scoundrel. But Hamlet aside, what makes a Dane so happy and why isn't he wallowing in misery and self-doubt like so many of the rest of us?

That's a question that also intrigued Professor Kaare Christensen at the University of Southern Denmark.

"If you ask people on the street where they think the happiest country in the world, they'll say, you know, like, tropical islands and nice places, like Italy or Spain. Places with nice weather and good food. But in Europe, they're actually the most unhappy people," Dr. Christensen explains.

So Christensen and a team of researchers tried to discover just why Denmark finds itself on top of the happiness heap.

"We made fun of it by suggesting it could be because blondes have more fun. But then we could prove that the Swedes have more blondes than the Danes, and they were not as happy. So we tested different hypotheses," Christensen says.

After careful study, Christensen thinks he isolated the key to Danish anti-depression. "What we basically figured out that although the Danes were very happy with their life, when we looked at their expectations they were pretty modest," he says.

By having low expectations, one is rarely disappointed.

Christensen's study was called "Why Danes Are Smug," and essentially his answer was it's because they’re so glum and get happy when things turn out not quite as badly as they expected. "And I was thinking about, What if it was opposite? That Denmark made the worst, number 20, and another country was number one. I'm pretty sure the Danish television would have said, 'Well, number 20's not too bad. You know it's still in the top 25, that's not so bad,'" he says.

History may also play a role in the country's culture of low expectations. If you go to the government's own Web site, it proudly proclaims “the present configuration of the country is the result of 400 years of forced relinquishments of land, surrenders and lost battles."

Could it be that the true secret of happiness is a swift kick in the pants, or a large dose of humiliation?

87 Denmark: The Happiest Place on Earth

Despite High Taxes, Danes Rank Themselves as Happy and Content By BILL WEIR and SYLVIA JOHNSON Jan. 8, 2007

Disney World claims the distinction of being "the happiest place on earth," but if you're really in search of human bliss, you'd be surprised where you'll find it.

Is there a place where people facing the daily grind of life are somehow nudged by their surroundings or their values or their government into being the happiest people on the planet?

You might expect that place would be a tropical paradise with warm sand and soft breezes. Or a Mediterranean village with sun-kissed vineyards. Or the United States -- land of the free and home of the brave. But if you use social science techniques, you'll find some surprises. A paradise like Fiji comes in more than 50 spots below Iceland in happiness rankings. For all its style and cuisine, France and Italy rank well below Canada. And while the United States may be the richest and most powerful country, when it comes to happiness, it is only No. 23.

For the past decade, social scientists and pollsters have given elaborate questionnaires to hundreds of thousands of people around the globe. Two of the largest studies that rank the happiness of countries around the world are the World Map of Happiness from the University of Leiscester and the World Database of Happiness from Ruut Veenhoven of Erasmus University . All the happiness surveys ask people basically the same question: How happy are you?

"The answer you get is not only how they feel right now, but also how they feel about their entire life," explained Dan Buettner, who has studied happiness and longevity around the world through his Blue Zones project Buettner said that if you mine all the databases of universities and research centers, you'll find that the happiest place on earth is ? Denmark. Cold, dreary, unspectacular Denmark.

88 Working to Live

Denmark is a place where stoic locals wear sensible shoes and snack on herring sandwiches. Sure, they produce the occasional supermodel, but its most famous countryman may be the late entertainer Victor Borge.

Could the Danes really be the happiest people in the world? When ABC News anchor Bill Weir traveled there to find out, he asked random Danes to rate themselves in terms of happiness, on a scale of one to 10. Many people rated themselves at least an eight, and there were several nines and 10s. Finally, one grouchy Dane came along who said she didn't believe Danes were so happy. But then she quickly conceded that she herself felt rather content with her life, and said Danes in general had very little to complain about. Danes do have one potential complaint: high taxes. The happiest people in the world pay some of the highest taxes in the world -- between 50 percent and 70 percent of their incomes. In exchange, the government covers all health care and education, and spends more on children and the elderly than any country in the world per capita. With just 5.5 million people, the system is efficient, and people feel "tryghed" -- the Danish word for "tucked in" -- like a snug child.

Those high taxes have another effect. Since a banker can end up taking home as much money as an artist, people don't chose careers based on income or status. "They have this thing called 'Jante-lov,' which essentially says, 'You're no better then anybody else,'" said Buettner. "A garbage man can live in a middle-class neighborhood and hold his head high."

Indeed, garbage man Jan Dion says he's an eight out of 10 in terms of happiness. He said he doesn't mind collecting garbage for a living, because he works just five hours in the morning and then can spend the rest of the day at home with family or coaching his daughter's handball team. Dion says no one judges his choice of career, and he actually loves what he does because he has many friends along his route. It makes him happy when he

89 sees the children who wave to him and the old ladies who bring him cups of coffee.

Josef Bourbon, a carpenter's apprentice, is also happy with his choice of career and enjoys the work. "I think it's about building something, seeing what you've worked on the whole day -- you can see what you've done," he said. On weekends he likes fish and hunt or play with his new puppy.

Don't Worry, Be 'Hygge'

Bourbon is another example of Denmark's unusual social structure, because he happens to be a prince. Descended from a Danish king and related to the royal houses of both Spain and France, Bourbon has chosen to be a carpenter's apprentice, and he rarely discusses his lineage with anyone. Not even with potential dates when he's out on the town.

In all likelihood, Bourbon will probably just keep up his current cozy social life, hanging around with friends and family who live nearby. Danes even have a name for these kind of gatherings, calling these intimate and spontaneous get-togethers 'hygge' (pronounced "hoogey").

Hanging out with other Danes just may be their happiness secret. Ninety-two percent of Danes belong to some kind of social club, dancing, singing, even practicing laughing with other Danes. Get a few people together who enjoy

90 model train building, for example, and the government will pay for it. In Denmark, even friendship is subsidized.

And Denmark is what is called a "post consumerist" society. People have nice things, but shopping and consuming is not a top priority. Even the advertising is often understated. Along with less emphasis on "stuff," and a strong social fabric, Danes also display an amazing level of trust in each other, and their government. A University of Cambridge happiness study found that both kinds of trust were higher in happier places.

In Denmark, you can see trust in action all around you. Vegetable stands run on the honor system, mothers leave babies unattended in strollers outside cafés, and most bicycles are left unlocked. And perhaps the bicycle is the best symbol of Danish happiness. Danes can all afford cars, but they choose bikes -- simple, economical, nonpolluting machines that show no status and help keep people fit.

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