"Jelling-monumenterne - deres historie og bevaring" (pdf)

English Summary
THE JELLING MONUMENTS
More than a thousand years ago, the monument in Jelling was created in order to show
to posterity:
// Here the country was gathered into a kingdom.
// Here, the name “Denmark” makes its appearance for the first time.
// Here, Christianity became the official religion of Denmark.
// Here, the king – the progenitor of the current Danish house of royalty – was presented.
// Here, stands the symbol of the founding of the Danish nation.
// Here, the change from a Nordic pagan society to a European Christian civilization is
marked out.
There is no similar monument to be found anywhere else in the world.
WORLD HERITAGE
The rune stones in Jelling are unique to
both Denmark’s history and the world’s
heritage. They are part of the composite
monument in Jelling, with the burial
mounds and the church, which in 1994
was included in UNESCO’s world heritage
list. Being singled out as a “World Heritage”
site is a reflection of the monument’s
central importance – and not only in
Denmark but also on a worldwide scale –
as one of the most important memorials,
from the Viking Age. The motivation was
basically that there was no similar monument
to be found anywhere else in the
world that illustrates, and in such an outstanding
and authentic way, the transition
from the old pagan religion to Christianity,
and simultaneously happens to be linked
with the formation of the Danish kingdom
as a nation.
A NOBLE MONUMENT
The Jelling Monuments are Denmark’s history’s
most stately and noble monument.
It consists of the two largest burial mounds
in the nation, two rune stones and the
church that is situated between the burial
mounds. Since 2005, new excavations have
expanded the monument with the discovery
of a huge ship-setting measuring almost
360 meters in length – 4 times as long as
what was previously regarded as the longest
ship-setting in the Nordic lands, and a
four-sided wooden palisade, which once
encircled a ground area of approximately
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