Thyra Danebod

Thyra Danebod and Gorm the Old in a fantasy by August Carl Vilhelm Thomsen (19th century)

Thyra Danebod (* around 880 ; † around 935 in Jelling , Denmark ) by marriage Queen of Denmark ( Jutland ) and ancestor of the Jelling dynasty until 1378. The nickname "Danebot" is a contraction of "Danmarkar bot" on the small Jellingstein.

Runic inscriptions

Jelling

Thyrastein and Haraldstein in Jelling

In Jelling , near Vejle on the east coast of Jutland , the most important archaeological evidence of the Danish early Middle Ages can be found. They not only prove the close relationship between Gorm the Elder and Harald Blauzahns and this place ( the dynasty founded by Gorm is therefore also called Jellinge ), but also the Christianization of Denmark. The oldest documents are the fragments of a stone monument in the form of a ship and the so-called Kleine Jellingstein , which Gorm had set in memory of his wife and whose runic inscription reads: "King Gorm made this monument after Thyra, his wife, Denmark's recovery" . Of the two large frustoconical burial mounds, the northern one contains a large burial chamber made of wood, which was built according to dendrochronological studies in 958/959 and was possibly intended to accommodate Gorm's bones. The southern hill, without a burial site, is likely to have been raised in the 1070s. A stone church, built around 1100, rises between the hills, under which the remains of previous wooden buildings with the skeleton parts of a middle-aged man - possibly that of Gorm, who was brought here after being reburied - have been found. On the south side of the church, Harald Blauzahn had a memorial stone set for his father and mother. This so-called large Jellingstein, «Denmark's stone baptism certificate» , is adorned with an image of Christ and bears the inscription: «Harald erected this monument for King Gorm, his father, and his mother Thyra, the Harald who won all of Denmark and Norway and the Danes made into Christians. "

The rune stones of Jelling are a world heritage site .

Læborgstein and Bækkestein

It is assumed that it is the same Thyra, which is called on the rune stone DR 26 (Læborg stone): " Rafnunga-Tofi hio runaR þæssi æft Þorwi, drotning sina ." (Tofi, descending from Hrafn, made this Runes in memory of Thorwi / Thyre, his mistress.) This Rafnunga-Tofi is also mentioned on the runestone DR 29 = Bækkestein 1 (also in the vicinity of Jelling), where it is said that he built the hill of Thyra: " Tofi, the descendant of Rafn, and Funden and Gnyple, these three made the hill for Thorwi / Thyre. ”Since she is not identified, it is assumed that she was a well-known person. From this, Sawyer concludes that it is the Thyra on the Jellingstein and that Rafnunga-Tofi could have built the south hill in Jelling.

Birgit Sawyer reconstructs the situation as follows: Thyra married Tofi after Gorm's death. After Thyra's death, Harald Blauzahn built a mound in Jelling to commemorate his mother in order to cover up the fact that she had been buried by another sex. He also built Jelling 1 stone to assert his maternal legacy. When Harald turned to Christianity, he also “converted” the Jelling monument by having a church built and erecting the Jelling 2 rune stone. He then called his father Gorm king, which he had not yet done on Jelling 1. In doing so, he demonstrated his claim to power. Sawyer attributes these demonstrations to an intra-family conflict in which Sven ultimately prevailed.

The identity of the Thyra on the rune stones DR 26 and DR 29 on the one hand with the Thyra on the Jelling stones is also disputed. Thyra was a common name at the time.

Lorenz Fröhlich: Thyra Danebod (19th century)

progeny

Thyra married the Danish chief and later King Gorm the Elder († 958). Five children emerged from their marriage:

• Gonnor (899-940) ∞ Ranulf de Crépon
• Gunnhild (around 900− around 970) ∞ King Erik I blood ax of Norway and Northumbria (885–954)
• Harald Blauzahn (910–987)

∞ Gunhild

∞ Princess Tove of Mecklenburg

∞ Princess Gyrithe of Sweden

• Knut Danaast († 940, murdered), Duke of Holstein
• Torke († 985, fallen)

Legends about Thyra

Danewerk

According to excavations, the origin of the Danewerk goes back to the 7th century . The expansion of the wall by the Danish Queen Thyra Danebod in the 10th century is a legend that was first created by Sven Aggesen around 1185 and that Saxo Grammaticus took over and redesigned. It was not mentioned before - with the exception of the Jellingsteine. The Roskilde Chronicle of around 1140 does not mention it. The Chronicon Lethrense (Lejre Chronicle) writes in the middle of the 12th century that the Danework was built by King Dan against Emperor Augustus. The Danewerk is mentioned for the first time in the Franconian Reichsannals in 808. Then the Danish King Gottfred came to Sliesthorp and decided to fortify his borders against the "Sachsland". Thyra is not mentioned in the old sources in connection with the Danewerk.

Averting a famine

Another legend can be found in the Jomsvikings saga. According to this, Thyra is said to have collected grain every summer to avert a famine. This story is based on the 41 chapter of Genesis, in which Joseph hoards grain in Egypt in order to be able to survive a famine.

The name affix “bot / but” is said to have been based on one of the two great deeds.

As Lauritz Weibull has shown, the stories about Thyra are based exclusively on the inscription on the small Jelling stone, where it is called "tanmarkar but", which is usually translated as "ornament of Denmark". What this term “but” actually means is still a matter of dispute today. Adam von Bremen doesn't mention them at all. The Roskilde Chronicle (1138/1139), which records the royal ranks, does not mention Thyra. Thyra remains unknown until the middle of the 12th century. Then she appears out of nowhere with Sven Ågesen with all sorts of fairytale stories. After having subjugated Denmark, Emperor Otto is said to have appeared as Tyras' suitor and enemy at the same time. The relationship between Dido and Iarbas has been identified as the origin of this motif . Saxo Grammaticus knew Ågesen's stories and changed them. He removed the motif of the emperor freeing himself and instead added the motif of connection with the history of the Anglo-Saxon Ætelfled. The parallels go so far that Thyra, like Ætelfled, becomes a daughter of the English king Ætelred with the older English historian Henry of Huntingdon. According to Weibull, it is a free poem that was written at the time of Absalon , when the borders of Denmark were at the center of political action in Denmark.

literature

• Janine Köster: death inscriptions on Viking Age rune stones. de Gruyter 2014. ISBN 978-3-11-034198-0
• Marie Stoklund: Jelling § 2 Runological . In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde. Vol. 16. de Gruyter 2000. ISBN 3-11-016782-4 . Pp. 56-58.
• Lauritz Weibull: Tire Danmarkar bot . In: Scandia 1, 1928 pp. 227-243 .
• Richard Abels: Alfred the Great. War, Culture and Kingship in Anglo-Saxon England (The Medieval World) . London 1998.
• Jessica Amanda Salmonson: The Encyclopedia of Amazons . Paragon House, 1991, ISBN 1-55778-420-5 .
• Hermann Grote : Family Tables of European royal and princely houses . Reprint Verlag, Leipzig, ISBN 3-8262-0710-6 .
• Lutz Mohr : The "small" and the "large Jelling stone" in Jelling / Jutland / Kingdom of Denmark - symbols of fame and power of the kings Gorm the Old (around 900 - around 945) and Harald Blauzahn (around 945 - 986) to the Viking Age. In: Stone Cross Research (SKF). Studies on German and international land monument research. Contributions to rune stone research. Edited by Rainer H. Schmeissner, Volume No. 10 (series of monographs), Regensburg 1999, pp. 62-77

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ferdinand Dupuis-Panther: In the footsteps of "Hamlet" - Denmark: Stations of the world cultural heritage in the northern neighboring country. Retrieved October 5, 2009 . 
2. ↑ Köster p. 181.
3. ↑ Stoklund 2000 p. 58.
4. ↑ Reproduction by Birgit and Peter Sawyer: Die Welt der Wikinger, p. 280 in Köster, p. 181.
5. ^ Judith Lesch: Women in the Viking Age. Boydell & Brewer. 1991 / 2001. ISBN 978-0-85115-360-5 . P. 52.
6. ↑ Chronicon Lethrense : Erat igitur Jucia, quia periculis proxima, quodam lignorum fragore munita, ubi nunc est Danæwirchi, præ insidiis Augusti, primi Cesaris.
7. ↑ N. Lund: Thyra Danabot . In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde. Vol. 30. de Gruyter 2005. ISBN 3-11-018 385-4 . P. 558 f.
8. ↑ Weibull p. 190.
9. ↑ Weibull p. 190.