Harald Blåtand Gormsson "BlueTooth" king of Denmark

Harald “Bluetooth” Gormsson was a king of Denmark from about 958 until his death, dated in the supplied material to 1 November 985 but also reported as about 985 or 986. He was the son of King Gorm the Old and Thyra Dannebod. The Jelling stone inscription credits him with winning Denmark and Norway and making the Danes Christian. His rule is associated with major building works, including ring fortresses and the Ravning Bridge, as well as with conflicts involving the German emperors and a later rebellion led by his son Sweyn Forkbeard.

Harald “Bluetooth” Gormsson was born in 911 at Jelling, Vejle, Denmark, according to the current family record. He was the son of King Gorm the Old and Thyra Dannebod. In the Jelling stone inscription, his name appears as “Harald king,” and medieval Danish chronicles Latinized his name as Haraldus Gormonis filius, meaning Harald, Gorm’s son.

Harald succeeded to the Danish kingship about 958 and ruled until about 985 or 986. The Jelling stones, which he had erected in honor of his parents, contain the celebrated statement that Harald won all Denmark and Norway and made the Danes Christian. The supplied material states that he professed Christianity and aided its growth, although Christianity had limited success in Denmark and Norway during his time.

Accounts of Harald’s conversion differ. Widukind of Corvey wrote that a cleric named Poppa convinced Harald through a trial involving heated iron. Adam of Bremen, writing about a century after Harald’s death, described a forced conversion after a defeat by Otto I. A much later account in Heimskringla connected Harald’s conversion with Otto II and Earl Haakon. Because these narratives conflict and were written at different times, the circumstances of Harald’s conversion remain uncertain.

Harald is associated with substantial works of construction and defense. He oversaw work at Jelling and fortified Aros, now Aarhus, in 979. Ring fortresses were built at strategic places including Trelleborg on Zealand, Borrering in eastern Zealand, Nonnebakken on Funen, Fyrkat in Himmerland, and Aggersborg near the Limfjord. These fortresses are described as circular sites with gates opening in four directions and courtyards divided into four areas. He is also credited in the supplied material with constructing the Ravning Bridge, described as the oldest known bridge in southern Scandinavia.

His foreign affairs included conflicts and changing authority in Norway and the lands south of Denmark. The supplied material says that Harald aided Richard the Fearless of Normandy in 945 and 963. Following the assassination of King Harald Greycloak of Norway, he gained a temporary and uncertain overlordship in Norway, probably for only a few years during the 970s. After Otto I died, Harald attacked Saxony in 973. Otto II counterattacked in 974 and took Haithabu, the Dannevirke, and possibly much of Jutland. Harald regained some territory in 983 after Otto II was defeated by the Saracens.

Later tradition says that Harald’s son, Sweyn Forkbeard, led a rebellion against him and may have forced him from the Danish throne before his death. The supplied material reports that Harald was wounded while resisting this rebellion. Adam of Bremen stated that he died of his wounds at Jumne or Jomsborg. The current family record gives his death as 1 November 985 at Wolin, Kamień Pomorski, West Pomerania, Poland, while other accounts cited in the supplied material give 985 or 986. One account says that his body was returned for burial at Trinity Church in Roskilde. A proposal based on the Curmsun disc instead suggests burial near Jomsborg, at Groß-Weckow, now Wiejkowo, Poland; this proposed burial place is not presented as certain.

Harald’s byname “Bluetooth” was first documented as blatan in the Chronicon Roskildense, written about 1140. A later chronicle glossed the name as referring to a bluish or black tooth. Family tradition and later explanation have commonly understood the byname as referring to a conspicuous dark tooth, although another interpretation proposes “blue thane” or “dark thane.” In 1997, the Bluetooth wireless specification was named for Harald, by analogy to uniting devices as he was said to have united the Danish tribes. Its logo combines Younger Futhark runes representing H and B.

Historical context

Harald ruled in the late Viking Age, when Danish rulers faced both internal consolidation and pressure from the German emperors to the south. The conversion of Scandinavian rulers and the organization of church authority were contested subjects in medieval writing, which helps explain why surviving accounts of Harald’s baptism differ. His Jelling monument and the network of ring fortresses are among the principal material associations of his reign. The supplied material also notes that a number of later traditions, including stories in Norse sagas, should be treated cautiously.

Sources & research

Current family record: Birth recorded as 911 at Jelling, Vejle, Denmark; death recorded as 1 November 985 at Wolin, Kamień Pomorski, West Pomerania, Poland.
Jelling stone inscription: Harald’s memorial inscription for Gorm and Thyra; cited in the supplied notes as [2], [24], and [25].
Medieval Danish chronicles: Haraldus Gormonis filius; cited as [3].
Curmsun disc inscription: Harald Gormson described as king of the Danes, Scania, Jumne, and Aldinburg; cited as [4] and [10].
Chronicon Roskildense, about 1140: Early documented use of the byname blatan; cited as [5].
Wilhelmi abbatis regum Danorum genealogia: Gloss of the byname as a bluish or black tooth; cited as [6].
Scocozza, 1997: Proposed interpretation of the byname as “blue thane” or “dark thane”; cited as [7].
Ring-fortress description: Cited as [8].
Otto II’s campaign and Harald’s recovery of territory: Cited as [9].
Adam of Bremen, History of the Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen, completed 1076: Harald’s death, conversion account, and church-jurisdiction claim; cited as [10] and [18].
Roskilde burial account: Cited as [11].
Radiocarbon dating of the Haraldskær Woman: Cited as [12].
Hiddensee treasure: Cited as [13].
Denmark’s first nationwide coinage: Cited as [14].
Widukind of Corvey, Res gestae saxonicae sive annalium libri tres, also called Deeds of the Saxons: Account of Poppa and Harald’s conversion; cited as [15].
Saxo Grammaticus, Gesta Danorum: Account of Poppo’s miracle for Sweyn Forkbeard; cited as [16], [20], and [21].
Heimskringla: Later account connecting Harald’s conversion with Otto II and Earl Haakon; cited as [19].
Tamdrup Church altar piece: Depiction of Poppo or Poppa’s miracle and Harald’s baptism; cited as [22].
Interpretation of Jelling mound-building and revived tradition: Cited as [23].
Assessment that Harald professed Christianity but achieved limited success: Cited as [26].
Bluetooth wireless specification naming, 1997: Cited as [27], [28], [29], and [30].
Bluetooth logo as bind runes for H and B: Cited as [31].
Supplied notes also mark several statements as needing citation, including claims concerning a Scania fortress, Ravning Bridge, and saga accounts of Styrbjörn.