Saturday, July 18, 2026
We left our little apartment and headed for the rune stones of Jelling.
Outlets here seem happy.
Driving through Denmark is very pretty. We are usually the only car on the road until we actually get to a town. Then there are as many as 3 or 4 cars.
King Gorm erected the first rune stone in memory of his wife, Thyra, the pride of Denmark. It was the first time the name Denmark was used in writing.
Gorm’s son (not named Gormsen) was Harald Bluetooth. His (larger) runestone is said to be Denmark’s birth certificate. On it, he asserts his rights to the throne, his authority over large areas of land, and his conversion of Danes to Christianity.
It all looks like stripes and squiggles to me. This key chain had more definition than the rocks themselves. Perhaps you can read what it says better that way.
Just in case you are not up on your rulers of Denmark, here is a handy poster.
The Jelling church is thought to be where Harald’s hall was located. Near the 11th century, the wooden church was rebuilt with stone. A burial chamber underneath contains the bones of a man, presumed to be King Gorm. He would have been moved from a grave in the Northern mound to this place.
We couldn’t go into the church because there was a wedding. Oh well. We got a picture of the bride.
There are two mounds north and south of the church. They are the largest and second largest man-made mounds from the Viking era. They are about 30 feet tall – 52 steps up.
There is a giant ship buried behind the church. It is there so that the souls of those buried nearby can ride on it to heaven, or wherever they were going. They have its size and place marked with big tiles.
There is a graveyard around the church – set up like the one we saw yesterday. I guess Danes really know how to do a cemetery. The one yesterday was so much bigger and more nature-y, but this one was lovely as well.
Are these topiary silos?
This beautiful carved dragon (?) was by the steps down to the rest room. I guess everyone will see it there.
We shopped and I got a new (I do not have an old…) salt boat!
There are these fun slalom inducing signs periodically in the road. Or I should say formerly fun, until we realized they are for two-way traffic. It is totally weird to have to wait for someone to zigzag at you. What happens when there are more cars?
Danish hay bales are big. Keith didn’t know how they piled them so high. I decided they must just add them to the bottom.
We saw a bunch of cars and a sign (is that swimming? He is just standing there) and a parking lot, so we pulled in. Why not? We are free to be and do! When we got out of the car, there was no one around. We walked along the edge of the lake (and the lake is right there – very near) and looked through the trees at it. We walked north a bit until the sidewalk ended and there was nothing and no one. We walked back to the parking lot. I peered through the trees and could see a swimming area. It was 62 degrees and the wind was really blowing. We got back in the car. I watched a dad and two elementary school kids dancing down the path from the south. They had swimsuits and towels. Danes are tough. It occurred to me this morning that the magnificent weather last night probably had a lot to do with all the people out – this is NOT a very warm place very often.
We stopped in a town just because it was supposed to be a pretty harbor town. It was. I picked out a nice boathouse area for myself.
Our room in Aarhus has great windows. GREAT WINDOWS!
This hotel also has the ugliest art (?) in the lobby.
We could see a place called Street Food from our great windows, so that is where we went for supper. It is a food hall. There were so many choices, but we ended up with Korean fried chicken (“KFC”) from a Japanese place (what?) and teriyaki chicken from a … a somewhere else place. Delicious.
While we were coming downtown and waiting at a stop light, a tiny three wheeled car passed by with a Saint Bernard sticking his head out the side window. We were silent as it zoomed past, then I said, “Did you see that?” We turned and then were behind them at the next light. It was better from the side, but it’s just great to think about a tiny car and a giant dog.
[Editor’s (Keith’s) note: Modern Bluetooth technology was created to unite PC and mobile technology, and Harald Bluetooth had united Norway and Denmark, so Bluetooth was indeed named in his honor.]