1.
Trelleborg (Slagelse)
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The Trelleborg west of Slagelse on the Danish island of Zealand, is one of seven Viking ring castles discovered as of 2014. In its day, the fortress was situated on a peninsula that jutted into the area between two rivers. The swamp was connected to the Great Belt by a lake that at its time could be navigated by Viking ships. Trelleborg is believed to have ordered by King Harald Bluetooth in the year 980 AD and it might have commanded the Great Belt and its sea traffic. Trelleborg is the best preserved of the Viking ring fortresses and there is a museum here since 1995 - Trelleborg Museum -, presenting the story of this particular fortress and the nearby area. Some of the found in connection with the achaeological excavations are on display at the museum. Slagelse Municipality has recently granted DK25 mio. to update Trelleborg Museum with digital and virtual technology, in collaboration with the other Viking ring castles, the project is also applying for admission to UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. In each of the four quarters stood four almost identical longhouses arranged in a square, unlike other ring castles, Trelleborg was extended with a sort of bailey. The whole fortress may have supplied room for some 1,300 people, the circular main castle was surrounded by a 5 m high rampart,17.5 m wide at the base and with a diameter of 137 m. The outer walling was made of oak, two rows of poles were supported by slanted beams from the outside and the room in between the poles was filled with loam and stones. The inside walling was also clad with wood and the two facades were reinforced by beams connecting the two, in the east, there was a 5 m broad berm protected by a ditch with a pointed profile,17 m wide and 4 m deep. The ditch was not filled with water and had a palisade at its base, the two roads were covered with wood, and the four gates lined with stones on the inside. As in Fyrkat, there may have been a path along the inner side of the ramparts. The fortifications encircled a total of 16 longhouses arranged in four squares 29.42 m long each, the houses had a somewhat ship-like form as the long walls were bulging outwards. Each house had four entrances, two at the ends and two in the long walls, and was divided into three rooms with a large central hall and two smaller rooms at the ends. The doors were protected by porches and this part of the fortress seems unique, as other ring castles lack this feature apparently. So far only Aggersborg, Fyrkat and Trelleborg has been excavated as of 2006. The bailey was protected by a rampart of its own to the east, the 14 longhouses of the bailey, each 26.33 meters long, were placed with their axis through the length of the buildings pointing to the center of the main castle
2.
Viking Age
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The Viking Age is the period from the late 8th century to the mid-11th century in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, following the Germanic Iron Age. It is the period of history when Scandinavian Norsemen explored Europe by its seas and rivers for trade, raids, colonisation and conquest. Three Viking ships had beached in Weymouth Bay four years earlier, the Viking devastation of Northumbrias Holy Island was reported by the Northumbrian scholar Alcuin of York, who wrote, Never before in Britain has such a terror appeared. Vikings were portrayed as violent and bloodthirsty by their enemies. The chronicles of medieval England portrayed them as rapacious wolves among sheep, the first challenges to the many anti-Viking images in Britain emerged in the 17th century. Pioneering scholarly works on the Viking Age reached a readership in Britain. Archaeologists began to dig up Britains Viking past, linguistics traced the Viking-Age origins of rural idioms and proverbs. New dictionaries of the Old Norse language enabled more Victorians to read the Icelandic Sagas, the Vikings who invaded western and eastern Europe were chiefly pagans from Denmark, Norway and Sweden. They also settled in the Faroe Islands, Ireland, Iceland, peripheral Scotland, Greenland and their North Germanic language, Old Norse, became the mother-tongue of present-day Scandinavian languages. By 801, a central authority appears to have been established in Jutland. In Norway, mountainous terrain and fjords formed strong natural boundaries, communities there remained independent of each other, unlike the situation in Denmark which is lowland. By 800, some 30 small kingdoms existed in Norway, the sea was the easiest way of communication between the Norwegian kingdoms and the outside world. It was in the 8th century that Scandinavians began to build ships of war, the North Sea rovers were traders, colonisers and explorers as well as plunderers. There are various theories concerning the causes of the Viking invasions, for people living along the coast, it would seem natural to seek new land by the sea. Another reason was that during this period England, Wales and Ireland, the Franks, however, had well-defended coasts and heavily fortified ports and harbours. Pure thirst for adventure may also have been a factor, a reason for the raids is believed by some to be over-population caused by technological advances, such as the use of iron, or a shortage of women due to selective female infanticide. Although another cause could well have been caused by the Frankish expansion to the south of Scandinavia. Consequently, these Vikings became raiders, in search of subsistence, There is ongoing debate among scholars as to why the Scandinavians began to expand during the 8th through 11th centuries
3.
Denmark
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The term Danish Realm refers to the relationship between Denmark proper, the Faroe Islands and Greenland—three countries constituting the Kingdom of Denmark. The legal nature of the Kingdom of Denmark is fundamentally one of a sovereign state. The Faroe Islands and Greenland have been part of the Crown of Denmark since 1397 when the Kalmar Union was ratified, legal matters in The Danish Realm are subject to the Danish Constitution. Beginning in 1953, state law issues within The Danish Realm has been governed by The Unity of the Realm, a less formal name for The Unity of the Realm is the Commonwealth of the Realm. In 1978, The Unity of The Realm was for the first time referred to as rigsfællesskabet. The name caught on and since the 1990s, both The Unity of The Realm and The Danish Realm itself has increasingly been referred to as simply rigsfællesskabet in daily parlance. The Danish Constitution stipulates that the foreign and security interests for all parts of the Danish Realm are the responsibility of the Danish government, the Faroes received home rule in 1948 and Greenland did so in 1979. In 2005, the Faroes received a self-government arrangement, and in 2009 Greenland received self rule, the Danish Realms unique state of internal affairs is acted out in the principle of The Unity of the Realm. This principle is derived from Article 1 of the Danish Constitution which specifies that constitutional law applies equally to all areas of the Danish Realm, the Constitutional Act specifies that sovereignty is to continue to be exclusively with the authorities of the Realm. The language of Denmark is Danish, and the Danish state authorities are based in Denmark, the Kingdom of Denmarks parliament, with its 179 members, is located in the capital, Copenhagen. Two of the members are elected in each of Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The Government ministries are located in Copenhagen, as is the highest court, in principle, the Danish Realm constitutes a unified sovereign state, with equal status between its constituent parts. Devolution differs from federalism in that the powers of the subnational authority ultimately reside in central government. The Self-Government Arrangements devolves political competence and responsibility from the Danish political authorities to the Faroese, the Faroese and Greenlandic authorities administer the tasks taken over from the state, enact legislation in these specific fields and have the economic responsibility for solving these tasks. The Danish government provides a grant to the Faroese and the Greenlandic authorities to cover the costs of these devolved areas. The 1948 Home Rule Act of the Faroe Islands sets out the terms of Faroese home rule, the Act states. the Faroe Islands shall constitute a self-governing community within the State of Denmark. It establishes the government of the Faroe Islands and the Faroese parliament. The Faroe Islands were previously administered as a Danish county, the Home Rule Act abolished the post of Amtmand and these powers were expanded in a 2005 Act, which named the Faroese home government as an equal partner with the Danish government
4.
Scania
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Scania, also known by its local name Skåne, is the southernmost province of Sweden which consists of a peninsula on the southern tip of the Scandinavian Peninsula and some islands close to it. Scania is roughly equivalent to the modern Skåne County, the responsibility for overseeing implementation of state policy in the county is administered by the County Administrative Board. Within Scania there are 33 municipalities that are independent and separate from the Scania Regional Council which has its seat in Kristianstad, the largest city is Malmö, which is also the third largest city in Sweden. To the north, Scania borders the provinces of Halland and Småland, to the northeast Blekinge, to the east and south the Baltic Sea and Bornholm island, since 2000 a road and railway bridge, the Øresund Bridge, bridges the sound to the Danish island of Zealand. The HH Ferry route across the part of Øresund also remains as an important link between the Scandinavian Peninsula and Zealand. Scania is part of the transnational Øresund Region, Scania was part of the kingdom of Denmark up until the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658. The transition to Sweden was later confirmed by the 1660 Treaty of Copenhagen, the 1679 Peace of Lund, the last serious Danish attempt to invade the province failed in 1710, after the Battle of Helsingborg. The period 1658–1720 saw widespread violence by the Swedish militaries against the local population, the same was also true about the Danish military, though to a far lesser extent. The region did not form part of Sweden proper until 1720 and it was then divided in two counties and has since then been regarded as fully integrated in Sweden. Until the early 19th century, a policy of forced assimilation was employed by the Swedish government in what then had been a linguistically Danish region. Controversy relating to whether the Scanian dialects should be classified as a language or as Danish or Swedish dialects remains to this day. From north to south Scania is around 130 kilometres and covers less than 3% of Swedens total area, about 16% of Scanias population is foreign-born. With 120 inh/km2 Scania is the second most densely populated province of Sweden, the western part, along the coast of the Øresund, is by far the most populated part. The endonym used in Swedish and other North Germanic languages is Skåne, the Latinized form Scania occurs especially in British English as an exonym. Scania is the only Swedish province for which exonyms are still used in many languages, e. g. French Scanie, Dutch and German Schonen, Polish Skania, Spanish Escania, Italian Scania. For the provinces modern administrative counterpart, Skåne län, the endonym Skåne is used in English, in the Alfredian translation of Orosiuss and Wulfstans travel accounts, the Old English form Sconeg appears. The names Scania and Scandinavia are considered to have the same etymology, the name is possibly derived from the Germanic root *Skaðin-awjã, which appears in Old Norse as Skáney. According to some scholars, the Germanic stem can be reconstructed as *Skaðan- meaning danger or damage, Skanör in Scania, with its long Falsterbo reef, has the same stem combined with -ör, which means sandbanks
5.
Sweden
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Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and Finland to the east, at 450,295 square kilometres, Sweden is the third-largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of 10.0 million. Sweden consequently has a low density of 22 inhabitants per square kilometre. Approximately 85% of the lives in urban areas. Germanic peoples have inhabited Sweden since prehistoric times, emerging into history as the Geats/Götar and Swedes/Svear, Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, while the north is heavily forested. Sweden is part of the area of Fennoscandia. The climate is in very mild for its northerly latitude due to significant maritime influence. Today, Sweden is a monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a monarch as head of state. The capital city is Stockholm, which is also the most populous city in the country, legislative power is vested in the 349-member unicameral Riksdag. Executive power is exercised by the government chaired by the prime minister, Sweden is a unitary state, currently divided into 21 counties and 290 municipalities. Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages, in the 17th century, it expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire, which became one of the great powers of Europe until the early 18th century. Swedish territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were gradually lost during the 18th and 19th centuries, the last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Norway was militarily forced into personal union. Since then, Sweden has been at peace, maintaining a policy of neutrality in foreign affairs. The union with Norway was peacefully dissolved in 1905, leading to Swedens current borders, though Sweden was formally neutral through both world wars, Sweden engaged in humanitarian efforts, such as taking in refugees from German-occupied Europe. After the end of the Cold War, Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995 and it is also a member of the United Nations, the Nordic Council, Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Sweden maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides health care. The modern name Sweden is derived through back-formation from Old English Swēoþēod and this word is derived from Sweon/Sweonas. The Swedish name Sverige literally means Realm of the Swedes, excluding the Geats in Götaland, the etymology of Swedes, and thus Sweden, is generally not agreed upon but may derive from Proto-Germanic Swihoniz meaning ones own, referring to ones own Germanic tribe
6.
Aggersborg
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Aggersborg is the largest of Denmarks former Viking ring castles, and one of the largest archeological sites in Denmark. It is located near Aggersund on the side of the Limfjord. It consists of a circular rampart surrounded by a ditch, four main roads arranged in a cross connects the castle centre with the outer ring. The roads were tunnelled under the rampart, leaving the circular structure intact. The ring castle had an diameter of 240 metres. The ditch was located eight metres outside of the rampart, and was approximately 1.3 metres deep, the wall is believed to have been four metres tall. The rampart was constructed of soil and turf, reinforced and clad with oak wood, the rampart formed the basis for a wooden parapet. Smaller streets were located within the four sections of the fortress. The modern Aggersborg is a reconstruction created in the 1990s and it is lower than the original fortress. Dating the structure has proven difficult, since the site has also been the site of an Iron Age village. The ring castle is believed to have been constructed around 980 during the reign of king Harold Bluetooth, five of the six ring castles in historical Denmark have been dated to this era. The structure was completed one or two years, and only used for a short period of time, between five and twenty years. Archaeologists have estimated that the castle could hold a 5, 000-man garrison. Twelve longhouses were located in each quadrant, all located on a north-south or west-east axis, no remains of the actual houses exist, but proof of the location of the walls has been found. The individual houses are believed to have similar to the form seen on the Camnin chest. The houses had curved roofs and curved sides, similar to the form of a ship,32.5 metres long and 8.5 metres across and they were divided in a long inner hall, around 19 metres long, with smaller rooms at the end. It is estimated that construction of a single Aggersborg house required 66 large oak trees, the entire structure, housing included, is estimated to have used 5,000 large oaks. A large number of finds have been discovered on the site
7.
Lund
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Lund is a city in the province of Scania, southern Sweden. The town had 87,244 inhabitants in 2015, out of a total of 118,150 in 2016. It is the seat of Lund Municipality, Skåne County, Lund is believed to have been founded around 990, when Scania belonged to Denmark. From 1103 it was the see of the Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Lund, Lund was transferred to Sweden following the signing of the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658. It was temporarily the capital of Sweden between 1716 and 1718, Lund University, established 1666, is today one of Scandinavias largest institutions for education and research. The university and its buildings dominate much of the centre of the city, numerous literary and intellectual figures have lived or studied in Lund, including the writer August Strindberg and the scientist and naturalist Carl Linnaeus. Along with Sigtuna, Lund is the oldest city in present-day Sweden, until the 1980s, the town was thought to have been founded around 1020 by either Sweyn I Forkbeard or his son Canute the Great of Denmark. The area was part of the kingdom of Denmark. But, recent archaeological discoveries suggest that the first settlement dated to circa 990, the Uppåkra settlement dates back to the first century B. C. and its remains are at the present site of the village of Uppåkra. King Sweyn I Forkbeard moved Lund to its present location, a distance of five kilometres. The new location of Lund, on a hill and across a ford, gave the new site considerable defensive advantages in comparison with Uppåkra, the diocese of nearby Dalby was absorbed in 1066. Lund Cathedral was similarly founded in or shortly after 1103, in 1152, the Norwegian archdiocese of Nidaros was founded as a separate province of the church, independent of Lund. In 1164 Sweden also acquired an archbishop of its own, although he was subordinate to the archbishop of Lund. It is still, as the diocese of Lund, a diocese in the Church of Sweden, Lund Cathedral School was founded in 1085 by the Danish king Canute the Saint. This is the oldest school in Scandinavia and one of the oldest in Northern Europe, many prominent people were educated there, among them the actor Max von Sydow and several high-ranking politicians. In 1658, the Scanian lands were ceded by Denmark to Sweden by the Treaty of Roskilde, on December 4,1676 Lund was defended in the Battle of Lund, one of the bloodiest battles fought in Scandinavia. Lund University, established in 1666, is Swedens largest, with 42,000 full or part-time students, the figure includes Lund Institute of Technology, which is to some extent independent of the old university. As late as the 1940s, Lund was a small city with few large-scale industries, covering only about a quarter of the current urban area, and dominated by the cathedral
8.
Odense
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Odense is the third-largest city in Denmark. It has a population of 175,245 as of January 2016, by road, Odense is located 45 kilometres north of Svendborg,144 kilometres to the south of Aarhus and 167 kilometres to the southwest of Copenhagen. Odense has close associations with Hans Christian Andersen who is remembered above all for his fairy tales and he was born in the city in 1805 and spent his childhood years there. There has been settlement in the Odense area for over 4,000 years, although the name was not mentioned in writing until 988. Canute IV of Denmark, generally considered to be the last Viking king, was murdered by peasants in Odenses St Albans Priory on 10 July 1086. Although the city was burned in 1249 following a royal rivalry, in 1865, one of the largest railway terminals in Denmark was built, further increasing the population and commerce, and by 1900, Odense had reached a population of 35,000. Odenses Odinstårnet was one of the tallest towers in Europe when built in 1935 but was destroyed by the Nazis during World War II, the University of Southern Denmark was established in 1966. In the present day, Odense remains the hub of Funen. Several major industries are located in the city including the Albani Brewery and GASA, Denmarks major dealer in vegetables, fruits and flowers. In sports, Odense has a number of clubs including OB, BM, B1909, and B1913, the Odense Bulldogs professional ice hockey team. Odense is served by Hans Christian Andersen Airport and Odense station, Odense is one of Denmarks oldest cities. Archaeological excavations in the vicinity show proof of settlement for over 4,000 years since at least the Stone Age, the earliest community was centred on the higher ground between the Odense River to the south and Naesbyhoved Lake to the north. Nonnebakken, one of Denmarks former Viking ring fortresses, lay to the south of the river, today, Odenses Møntergården Museum has many artefacts related to the early Viking history in the Odense area. The Vikings built numerous fortifications along the banks to defend it against invaders coming in from the coast. The first church in Odense appears to have been St Marys, the territory, previously part of the vast Archbishopric of Hamburg, was created a Catholic diocese in 988. The first recorded bishops of Odense were Odinkar Hvide and Reginbert, recent excavations have shown that from the early 11th century, the town developed in the area around Albani Torv, Fisketorvet, Overgade and Vestergade. By 1070, Odense had already grown into a city of stature in Denmark, the priory no longer exists, although a church has been situated on the site since about 900. At the beginning of the 12th century, Benedictine monks from England founded St Canutes Abbey and it was here the English monk Ælnoth wrote Denmarks first literary work, Vita et Passio S. Canuti
9.
Trelleborg
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Trelleborg is a locality and the seat of Trelleborg Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden, with 28,290 inhabitants in 2010. It is the southernmost town in Sweden, the earliest written record of Trelleborg is from 1257, when Trelleborg was presented as a wedding gift from the Danish royal family to the Swedish Prince Valdemar. It was soon reconquered by the Danes, and it belonged to Denmark until 1658, in medieval times, Trelleborg had an important part in herring fishing. Trelleborg became an important merchant city as merchants from Germany came to trade herring, in 1619 following a devastating fire, the Danish King decided that one merchant city on the coast was sufficient and revoked Trelleborgs status as a merchant city in favour of Malmö. Not until 1840 was Trelleborg allowed to become a merchant city, mostly this was thanks to the work of a few stubborn men, who had continuously been petitioning the Swedish Riksdag with these requests since 1658. The local government reform of 1971 made Trelleborg the seat of Trelleborg Municipality, the first written record of the name is from 1291, Threlæburgh. The name is found in places in Scandinavia. Borg means castle or stronghold and träl can mean thrall, remains of the original stronghold were excavated in 1988. The name may also have originated from the stronghold that remains in the center of the city. Strongholds like that have found at several places around Scandinavia, mostly in the south of Sweden and Denmark. The name is likely to have originated from that borg, during the First World War, and after the February Revolution in Russia 1917, did Germanys hope of a separate peace treaty with Russia rise. But the new Russian temporary leader Alexander Kerensky declined, in August 1917 did Lenin and his entourage arrive to Scania, on this historically important journey, through the train ferry line between Saßnitz and Trelleborg. Much of it has been the work of the influential businessman Johan Kock, other important industries he established were Akzo Nobel Inks, Today called Flint Group Sweden, manufacturing printing inks, and DUX, who make beds. Later in the 1950s, Perstorp Industries was established in Trelleborg and it manufactures flooring boards, Trelleborg continues to be a working-class-oriented city and is politically a traditional stronghold for the Swedish Social Democratic Party. However, since the latest elections in 2006 the Social Democratic Party is in opposition in the municipality and it is today often visited by people travelling from Sweden to Germany because of the ferries to Rostock, Sassnitz, and Lübeck - Travemünde in Germany. The ferries carry passengers on one-day journeys, cars with vacationing families, and heavy trucks on their way through Europe. In April 1917, Lenin arrived with the ferry from Sassnitz to Trelleborg on his way from exile back to Russia to lead the Revolution, Today Trelleborg has the second largest seaport of Sweden, behind Gothenburg. Every year it more than 10 million metric tonnes of cargo
10.
Ravning Bridge
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The Ravning Bridge was a former 760 m long timber bridge, built in Denmark in the 10th century during the Viking age. Located 10 km south of Jelling near the village of Ravning, until the Little Belt Bridge was constructed in 1935, it was the longest bridge in Denmark. In 1953 big shaped oak timber was found near Ravning at the side of the Vejle River Valley. Christriansen, heard about the findings, and measured the timber, later more timber was found where ponds for fish farming were constructed, this time at the north side of the valley. Christriansen concluded that the timber probably was from a bridge and wrote an article about that in 1959. Later the mire in the river valley sank as the result of drainage and regulation of Vejle River, now the National Museum of Denmark became involved. A piece of oak was dated by radiocarbon dating to year 980 with an uncertainty of 100 years, the National Museum made dendrochronological analyses of samples of the timber from the bridge. The conclusion was that the timber was felled in the 980s, like these fortresses, the Ravning Bridge was in use for a short time. The bridge,5 metres wide and almost 760 metres long, the spans were 2.4 m long and 5.5 m wide. The bridge had 280 piers consisting of four vertical posts placed at a distance of 1.2 m, the vertical posts were square with sides of 30 x 30 cm and up to 6 m long. Over the vertical posts were placed 5.5 m long, 25–30 cm high, the girders were connected by longitudinal beams on which the deck of the bridge was built. The deck area covered 3,800 square meters, and it is estimated more than 300 ha of oak forest was felled to construct the bridge. The purpose of the Ravning Bridge has been debated. In the Viking Age the water levels were higher in the Vejle River Valley and ships could navigate further inland, the width of the bridge allowed two trading wagons to pass each other. Project page at the National Museum of Denmark, The bridge over Ravning Enge Brochure from the Danish Agency for Culture, Ravning Enge
11.
Moat
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A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams. In older fortifications, such as hillforts, they are referred to simply as ditches. In later periods, moats or water defences may be largely ornamental and they could also act as sewerage. Some of the earliest evidence of moats has been uncovered around ancient Egyptian castles, one example is at Buhen, a castle excavated in Nubia. Other evidence of ancient moats is found in the ruins of Babylon, and in reliefs from ancient Egypt, Assyria, and other cultures in the region. Evidence of early moats around settlements has been discovered in archaeological sites throughout Southeast Asia, including Noen U-Loke, Ban Non Khrua Chut, Ban Makham Thae. The use of the moats could have been either for defensive or agriculture purposes, moats were excavated around castles and other fortifications as part of the defensive system as an obstacle immediately outside the walls. In suitable locations they might be filled with water, a moat made access to the walls difficult for siege weapons, such as siege towers and battering rams, which needed to be brought up against a wall to be effective. A water-filled moat made the practice of mining, digging tunnels under the castles in order to effect a collapse of the defences, segmented moats have one dry section and one section filled with water. Dry moats cut across the part of a spur or peninsula are called neck ditches. Moats separating different elements of a castle, such as the inner and outer wards are cross ditches, the shared derivation implies that the two features were closely related and possibly constructed at the same time. The term moat is also applied to natural formations reminiscent of the artificial structure, the walls were further protected from infantry attack by wet or dry moats, sometimes in elaborate systems. When this style of fortification was superseded by lines of forts in the mid-19th century. The Walls of Benin were a combination of ramparts and moats, called Iya and it was considered the largest man-made structure lengthwise, second only to the Great Wall of China and the largest earthwork in the world. With more recent work by Patrick Darling, it has established as the largest man-made structure in the world. It enclosed 6,500 km² of community lands and its length was over 16,000 km of earth boundaries. It was estimated that earliest construction began in 800 and continued into the mid-15th century, the walls are built of a ditch and dike structure, the ditch dug to form an inner moat with the excavated earth used to form the exterior rampart
