Gorm - part 1 of 3
Stewart Baldwin
Old") of Denmark and his predecessors has been divided into three
parts because of length. Those who wish to respond are urged to save
bandwidth and memory space by quoting only relevant parts, instead of
quoting the entire part.
Begin part 1 of 3
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GORM OF DENMARK AND HIS IMMEDIATE PREDECESSORS
based on the earliest authorities
by Stewart Baldwin
INTRODUCTION
From the late eighth to the late ninth century, it is possible to
work out (with some gaps) a basic succession of Kings of Denmark
(see http://www.rootsweb.com/~medieval/danking.htm). Then, in
the late ninth century, our sources dry up, and there are few
early sources which give the history of the kings of that period.
Not until Harald, son of Gorm, do the sources reach their earlier
level. Of course, there are the late Icelandic sagas, the native
histories of Saxo and Svend Aggeson, late king lists, and other
sources, but their authority is very dubious for the period prior
to Gorm. Whenever the data from these late sources can be
checked against the more reliable contemporary sources, reasons
for grave suspicion emerge. For example, the story of Gorm "the
Old" given in the Icelandic sagas (there being no known early
authority for the nickname "the Old") has the story of his death
as a prominent feature, in which he is survived by his wife
Thyre. Since it is known from the contemporary evidence that
Thyre died before Gorm, the saga story of Gorm's death is shown
to be a fabrication, casting suspicion on the saga material. The
sagas and other late sources are full of errors and inventions,
and even if they do preserve some valid tidbits of history, there
seems to be no reasonable way of separating these from the many
inventions.
Thus, the account given here is based only on the earliest
authorities, that is, those works written before 1100 that are
known to mention Danish kings from the late ninth century, up to
and including Gorm. There are few enough of these that the
relevant passages can be quoted in their entirety, for the
benefit of those who wish to read the sources directly and form
their own conclusions. These sources will first be quoted, and
then an outline of the meager conclusions which can be reached
will follow.
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RUNIC INSCRIPTIONS
The earliest sources for the history of the kings of Denmark
during the tenth century, and the only ones which are strictly
contemporary, are several runic inscriptions in Jutland that
mention certain Danish kings, including Gorm and his son Harald.
The dynasty of Haddeby (Hedeby, Haithabu) is represented by two
runic inscriptions in South Jutland, called Haddeby Stones 2 and
4. (Haddeby Stones 1 and 3 are later, from the time of Gorm's
grandson Svend, and contain no genealogical data.) The family of
Gorm is represented in the well known Jelling monuments in North
Jutland, and on Sonder Vissing Stone 1, also in North Jutland.
Transcriptions and translations of these stones have been given
by both A. V. Storm [Storm 328-47] and Erik Moltke [Moltke
192-223]. Moltke's treatment has been preferred in the
transcriptions below, except that the modern convention for the
spacing of words has been followed here. (It was common to split
words on runestones between lines.)
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Haddeby Stone 2, South Jutland [Moltke 193-4; also Storm 330,
where it is called Vedelspang Stone I]
asfrižr karži kumbl žaun aft siktriku sun [s]in aui* knubu
[*error for "auk" - Moltke 194]
Moltke's translation:
Asfrid [Asfrižr] made this monument in memory of Sigtryg
[Siktriku], her son and Gnupa's [Knubu].
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Haddeby Stone 4, South Jutland [Moltke 194-5; also Storm 332,
where it is called Vedelspand Stone II]
Text:
asfrižr karži kubl žausi tutiR užinka[u]rs aft Siktriuk kunuk sun
sin auk knubu
kurmR raist run[aR]*
[These last three words are on another part of the stone, and
were apparently overlooked by Storm. Of course, the Gorm who
carved the stone for Asfrid would be a different man from King
Gorm.]
Moltke's translation:
Asfrid [Asfrižr] Odinkar's [Užinkaur] daughter made this monument
in memory of King Sigtryg [Siktriuk], her son and Gnupa's
[Knubu]. Gorm [Kurmr] cut the runes.
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Jelling Stone 1, North Jutland [Moltke 206-7; Storm 336]
Text:
kurmr kunukr k[ar]ži kubl žusi aft Žurui kunu sini tanmarkaR but
Moltke's translation:
King Gorm [Kurmr] made this monument in memory of Thorvi (Thyre)
[Žurui], his wife, Denmark's adornment.
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Jelling Stone 2, North Jutland [Moltke 207; Storm 340]
Text:
haraltr kunukR baž kaurua kubl žausi aft kurm fažur sin auk aft
Žaurui mužur sina sa haraltr ias saR uan tanmaurk ala auk Nuruiak
auk t[a]ni [karži] kristna
Moltke's translation:
King Harald [Haraltr] commanded this monument to be made in
memory of Gorm [Kurm], his father, and in memory of Thorvi
(Thyre) [Žaurui], his mother - that Harald [haraltr] who had won
the whole of Denmark for himself, and Norway, and made the Danes
Christian
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Sonder Vissing Stone 1, North Jutland [Moltke 203]
Text:
tufa let kaurua kubl mistiuis tutiR uft mužur sina kuna harats*
hins kuža kurms sunaR
[*spelling error for "haralts" - Moltke 203]
Moltke's translation:
Tove [Tufa], Mistivoj's [Mistiui] daughter, wife of Harald
[Hara[l]t] the Good Gorm's [Kurm] son, had this monument made in
memory of her mother.
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ARCHAELOGICAL FINDS AT JELLING
The site containing the Jelling stones also has an old church and
two large mounds, containing finds which have an important
bearing on the chronology of Gorm's reign. The North Mound
contains a (pagan) burial chamber, which dendrochronological
(tree-ring) dating shows to have been built either in the year
958 or shortly thereafter [Andersen 281, citing Christainsen-Krogh].
The burial chamber had been plundered long before the first
archaelogical investigations. In the old church, a grave was
found in a prominent position, apparently the founder of the church,
the skeleton having apparently been removed from elsewhere [Krogh
200-1]. The bones (of a single individual) indicate a man about 173
cm. (5 ft. 7 in.) tall, aged perhaps 35 to 50 years old [Krogh 202],
although the judgement of age is subject to considerable error. While
Krogh was of the opinion that the bones were carefully moved from the
burial chamber to the church, Andersen argued against that
interpretation, offering the opinion that there was no evidence
that the burial chamber had been opened prior to the time that it
was plundered. (I find Andersen's arguments more persuasive, but
have not seen any replies that Krogh might have made.) Krogh's
interpretation suggests that the body buried in the church is
that of Gorm (which requires the assumption of a removal from the
burial chamber to the church, as Gorm was a pagan by all
accounts). Andersen made the tentative suggestion that the body
was that of Gorm's son Harald, the probable founder of the church
located there. If the body was that of either Gorm or Harald,
then any age estimates for the body would have important
chronological implications. [Note: Thanks are due to Todd
Farmerie for providing me with copies of the articles by Andersen
and Krogh.]
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WIDUKIND
Strictly speaking, the above runestones are the only contemporary
documentation that we have for Gorm and his family, and for the
kings ruling at Hedeby. However, the above king Knuba ("Chnuba")
is also mentioned in Widukind's "Res gestae Saxonicae", which
places him in the year 934. Since "Res gestae Saxonicae" was
written about 968, this almost contemporary source gives us a
chronological fix for the period that one of these kings was
reigning.
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Widukind's "Res gestae Saxonicae", Book 1, section 40 (part):
Latin text (from PL 137: 156):
(DCCCCXXXIV) Cum autem omnes in circuitu nationes subjecisset,
Danos, qui navali latrocinio Fresones incursabant, cum exercitu
adiit vicitque, et tributarios faciens, regem eorum nomine
Chnubam baptismum percipere fecit.
English translation from Storm 335:
(934) [Henry the Fowler,] after having subdued all nations around
him, attacked the Danes, who had harried the Frisians from the
sea, and he subdued them, and made them pay taxes, and compelled
their king, Chnuba, to be baptised.
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End part 1 of 3