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King of Denmark Gorm den Gamle

King of Denmark Gorm den Gamle

Male Abt 850 - Abt 940  (90 years)  

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  • Name Gorm den Gamle 
    Prefix King of Denmark 
    Birth Abt 850 
    Gender Male 
    Name Gorm The Old 
    Death Abt 940 
    Burial Jelling, Denmark Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Headstones Submit Headstone Photo Submit Headstone Photo 
    Person ID I1493  The Williams Family Tree
    Last Modified 10 Apr 2013 

    Father King Hardeknud Sweynson I, of Denmark
              b. 814, Hord, Jutland, Danmark Find all individuals with events at this location
              d. 884, Sjaelland Island, Danmark Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 70 years) 
    Mother Queen Elgiva of England
              b. 860, Wantage, Berkshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location
              d. 7 Jun 929, Jellinge, Vejle, Denmark Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 69 years) 
    Family ID F36167  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Queen of Denmark Thyra Danebod
              b. Abt 844  
              d. Abt 935 (Age 91 years) 
    Children 
     1. Gunhild Gormsdatter
              b. 904, Jelling Sogn, Tørrild Herred, Vejle Amt, Danmark Find all individuals with events at this location
              d. 1 Nov 987, The Orkney Islands, Orkney, Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 83 years)
     2. King of Denmark Harald Blaatand
              b. Abt 910  
              d. 1 Nov 987, Jomsborg, Denmark Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 77 years)
    Family ID F584  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 3 Jun 2008 

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBurial - - Jelling, Denmark Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Notes 
    • Gorm den Gamle was born about 850 and died about 940. His father was Hardeknud, King of Denmark.

      From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search

      Most Danes know that the official line of Danish kings begins with Gorm the Old, the father of renowned king Harald Bluetooth, who ruled Denmark in the 950s. In reality it ought to start with Harthacnut, his father.

      In the 890s Denmark was conquered by Swedes and king Helge was deposed by Olaf who founded the House of Olaf in Denmark. According to clergyman Adam of Bremen, who came from Germany to record the history of the Archbishop of Bremen and was allowed to "interview" king Sweyn Estridsson, Olaf and two or more of his sons took the realm "by weapons and violence". When Olaf died, two of his sons seem to have ruled simultaneously, and around 915 a son of Olaf's son Gnupa and Danish noblewoman Asfrid became king. This young man, whose name was Sigtrygg, is remembered on two runestones erected by his mother after his death.

      And this is where Harthacnut enters the picture. Probably born in the 880s, he was the son of an otherwise unknown "Sweyn", and is often described as being the grandson (or adopted grandson) of semi-mythic viking chieftain Sigurd Snake-Eye, one of the sons of the legendary Ragnar Lodbrok. This is however impossible to verify. Adam says that Harthacnut (Danish: Hardeknud) came from "Northmannia", the "land of the Northmen", by which he may mean either Norway or Normandy, which had recently been colonized by Danish vikings. But it is also likely that Harthacnut was brought up in the Danelaw territories in East Anglia.

      He must have been a full-grown man with a certain reputation when he came (back?) to Denmark around 916, and according to Adam and his star witness king Sweyn, Harthacnut immediately deposed the young king Sigtrygg. This happened "in the last days of archbishop Hoger", says Adam, and Hoger died around 917. Harthacnut then ruled unopposed for approximately thirty years, and while some researchers have used a somewhat dubious single source, the Saxon chronicles of Widukind, to establish that Sigtrygg's father Gnupa was still king in 934 when the Danes had an altercation with German king Heinrich, there can be little doubt that the king who was supposedly forced to pay a tribute to the German ruler was in fact Harthacnut. Claims that king Heinrich I forced the "heathen" Danish king to be baptized are almost certainly erroneous.

      In 948, the archbishop of Bremen appointed three bishops to Denmark, and that probably signifies a change in government...Harthacnut is usually portrayed as indifferent or hostile towards Christianity, and while that may only be the church's interpretation, it seems likely that a new and more open-minded king had ascended to the throne around 947 or 948.