King Hardeknud

Jelling
From 891 the Danish kingdom was ruled by King Hardeknud (Knud 1.) He ruled his kingdom from Jovik (York – England) which at this time was under Danelaw (Danish territory) But the Danes were not satisfied that their kingdom was ruled from abroad, so when Hardeknuds son Gorm Knudsøn took over the throne in 935 he chose to sail back to Denmark to rule his kingdom from the motherland. There were several possible coastal cities Gorm could choose as the royal seat, but he chose the place that would later be known as Jelling. This place was stratically not the best place to choose, so why choose this place and not a place that was already well established. The answer to this could possibly found at Gorm’s great-grandfathers memorial, for at the place King Gorm chose his high castle there was a stone ship. (A stone ship is a Nordic burial form of large stones that are placed as a ship) The larger a stone ship was, the greater the status of the deceased had, and this stone ship is the largest ever seen in Scandinavia, therefore it is obvious to think that this is a legacy of Ragnarr Loðbrók and this makes sense if you read the Danish chronicles and the Norse sagas where it is told that Hardeknuds (Knud 1.) is the son of Sigurd Ragnarrsøn, thus Gorm is Ragnarr Loðbróks great grandson. When Gorm wife Queen Thyra dies in 950 she is buried in a large burial mound which is placed in the middle of the stone ship, when the gorm dies in 958 a burial mound is built for him at the south end of the stone ship.
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In this picture the stone ship is marked in yellow and the palisade wall is marked in white, both have center in the middle of the ship where the north mound is located.
– Thomas Meldgaard. Einherjar Viking Wear –