The Jelling stones (Danish: Jellingstenene) are massive carved runestones from the 10th century, found at the town of Jelling in Denmark. The older of the two Jelling stones was raised by King Gorm the Old in memory of his wife Thyra. The larger of the two stones was raised by King Gorms son, Harald Bluetooth, in memory of his parents, celebrating his conquest of Denmark and Norway, and his conversion of the Danes to Christianity. The runic inions on these stones are considered the best known in Denmark. In 1994, the stones, in addition to the burial mounds and small church nearby, were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as an unparalleled example of both pagan and Christian Nordic culture




The stones are strongly identified with the creation of Denmark as a nation state. Both inions mention the name Danmark (in the form of accusative tanmaurk () on the large stone, and genitive tanmarkar (pronounced ) on the small stone).The larger stone explicitly mentions the conversion of Denmark from Norse paganism and the process of Christianization, alongside a depiction of the crucified Christ; it is therefore popularly dubbed Denmarks baptismal certificate (Danmarks dåbsattest), an expression coined by art historian Rudolf Broby-Johansen in the 1930s. In 1997 a photo of this stone inspired the name Bluetooth for the now-ubiquitous wireless standard


Runestone of Harald Bluetooth


The inion on the larger of the two Jelling stones (Jelling II, Rundata DR 42) translates to:


King Haraldr ordered this monument made in memory of Gormr, his father, and in memory of Thyrvé, his mother; that Haraldr who won for himself all of Denmark and Norway and made the Danes Christian.