Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Jelling stones
The Jelling stones are massive carved runic gravestones from the 10th century, found at Jelling in Denmark.
The older of the two Jelling stones was raised by King Gorm the Old in memory of his wife Thyra; the other was raised by their son, Harald Bluetooth, in memory of his parents.
King Gorm was the first king of all of Denmark, and his lineage runs all the way to the current monarch, Queen Margrethe II -- making Denmark the oldest continuously ruled kingdom in the world. The larger of the two stones, raised by Harald, has been translated from the ancient Viking runes to English as: "King Harald raises these sepulchral monuments after Gorm, his father and Thyra, his mother. That Harald who won the whole of Denmark and Norway and made the Danes Christians."
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