Saturday 1st July 2017 – Odense, Denmark

After a few days with a high temperature, this morning I am feeling much improved and ….. the sun is shining! This means that we have a chance to take a closer look at the farm and the garden that is open to us. The immaculate grass is being mown by a robot lawnmower that, seemingly randomly, turns and pirouettes but it is doing a great job. There is a pond, a decking area with a high-quality table and chairs and, next to the lawnmower’s hutch, a designed barbeque (“firewood is over by the outbuildings”). What a lovely place to have a barbeque with views to the farm buildings and over the fields. If only the weather had been better!

We are off across the sea today to the island of Fyn (aka Funen), the island between the mainland, Jutland and Zealand where Copenhagen is located. Fyn is the greenest of Denmark’s main islands and the population density is low. We took a ‘green’ (picturesque) route to the motorway to cross the bridge that took us to Fyn. Driving in Denmark is very relaxed and we have never found the roads busy. Even this motorway, the main arterial route from Norway, Sweden and Copenhagen to the rest of Europe, is not busy.

Once on Fyn we headed off on more green roads to the minor site of Glavendrup, set in the midst of farmland. There are many beautiful farmhouses around here, many thatched with distinctive pieces of wood over the apex of the thatch, obviously designed to protect the thatch from high winds. I hope to get some photographs of this later but today, every time that we saw one, there was nowhere to stop or it was pouring with rain.

The Glavendrup site consists of a large (50m) Viking stone ship (no burial has been found) that is very close to two much earlier Bronze Age barrows. This indicates that the site was of great importance for many hundreds of years. 200 years ago the site was in danger of being destroyed by gravel quarrying but it was saved and in 1892 it was scheduled. In the very early 20^th century, a local group took an interest in the site and decided to look after it and have done ever since. The site was completely open but the group planted trees all around and that makes it a pretty and intimate area. What makes the site extra special is the rune stone at the prow of the ship. The runes state that the monument was erected for Alle by his wife Ragnhild and his sons. Alle was a Thane (clan chief) and had religious standing as a Gothi (pagan priest). The runes were carved by the stonemason Sote who consecrated them to Thor, the god of thunder. The inscription says ‘woe-betide he who damages the stone or drags it away’. This is what put me off taking it back home, and the max gross weight limit on the van. As there was no grave found, one theory is that Alle died on a faraway raid.

Lovely minor roads took us to the O2 ring road of Odense and we were soon at Odense City Camping.

Photos: Two views of the garden of Kolleruplund camping site – how I would have enjoyed using that barbeque! Note the mower hutch to the left of the barbeque; The closest that we have come to a Danish traffic jam – waiting for a train to cross; The two Bronze Age mounds at Glavendrup – the stones are modern, erected by the conservation group to commemorate anniversaries of important events in Danish history e.g. the liberation from Nazi rule at the end of the Second World War; The Glavendrup rune stone with the stone boat outline in the background.

Friday 30th June 2017 - Kolleruplund, Jelling, Denmark

The weather is still awful this morning – dull and damp, definitely a day for coats and staying indoors where possible. Today’s destination is Jelling, less than a quarter of an hour away. Jelling is very close to the hearts of the Danes, who are extremely proud of their nation. It was, in the 10 century, the royal seat of Gorm the Old, who created the Danish state by conquering its component lands, and of Harald Bluetooth who adopted Christianity as the Danish religion (although Christianity and paganism continued side-by-side for many years). Two rune stones were placed here between two massive mounds, the first, by Gorm the Old, has the first mention of Denmark as a state and the second, by Harald Bluetooth, states that he converted the Danes to Christianity and has the first known depiction of Christ in Denmark. Also between the two mounds and next to the rune stones, is a church which dates to 1100 but at least three older churches lie beneath it.

The weather was not good so we started at the Kongernes Jelling, an exhibition centre very close to the very convenient car park that we had parked in and also opposite the church and mounds. As with all Danish museums, the presentation of the history of the site was excellent with plenty of background information and lots of interactive bit for children and over-grown children. One particularly good interactive display allowed visitors to take a tour around the larger of the two rune stones, the old commissioned by Harald Bluetooth. The stone was originally painted in bright colours and this had been done on the computer-enhanced image. The runes and other features were well explained in English and the figure of Christ was very clear to see. There was also a very interesting section about the excavations and investigations on the site. These showed the uncovering of the stone outline of massive boat encompassing both of the mounds and the church. In addition they also discovered an outer, diamond-shaped palisade 3m high, centred on the northern mound and covering an area of 20 football fields. This has now been marked out on the ground by metal posts and enables visitors to appreciate the size of the site. From the roof of the building, it is possible to view most of the site, although this would have been much more fun if the weather had been better.

We went back to Henrietta for lunch and then headed for the church and rune stones. The weather had not improved and the outdoor areas were visited at speed. The rune stones were very good, although the side of the stone with the representation of Christ was very worn and it could have shown three bears riding on a mini as far as I was concerned. I was even more appreciative of the 3-D graphics that had shown it in its painted glory.

We got back to Kollerupland by 17:00 but the bad weather prevented us from further investigating our environs.

Photos: A particularly amusing interactive display (“touch anything orange and it will interact”) showing five ways to kill a warrior e.g. touching the arrow on the left informs us that the arrow had punctured the warrior’s artery and that he would die from blood loss in 30 minutes – something that every child should know!; Jane about to enter Valhalla; View from the museum roof with the church, north mound and, in the distance far left, the white posts showing the position of the palisade; The Harald Bluetooth rune stone, the side with the majority of runes; The enhanced and painted view of the stone showing the Christ figure engraving; View from the top of the north mound showing the outline of the stone ship and the outer enclosure – the white rectangular areas show the location of large buildings within the enclosure.

Thursday 29th June 2017 – Kolleruplund, Jelling, Denmark

On the move again today and the omens were not good. It absolutely poured with rain overnight and it was still raining in the morning. We headed to the Moesgard Museum just outside Aarhus and were surprised to find that there were a large number of cars in the car parks – all of the other indoor and outdoor museums that we had visited were quiet. Once we had walked to the museum, we realised that this museum was on a different scale to the other that we had seen. Architect designed, this very modern building is built on different levels, largely underground, with sloped, grass-covered roofs that are accessible from inside the museum. It certainly isn’t cheap but is would be very easy to spend a day here. Children’s entrance is free and there are huge numbers of interactive displays to keep them (and adults) amused.

We spent over an hour in the first room and realised that we would have to speed up if we were going to get to our next campsite in time. Most of the museum covers Danish pre-history i.e. pre-Viking, and it is stuffed with amazing finds that are beautifully presented. It is difficult to pick out favourites but the Bronze Age and Roman Iron Age ritual lake deposits were incredible. It is probably best to let the photographs do the talking.

I love the British Museum and I visit it at every opportunity but for a museum to inspire the young with archaeology, this is the best indoor museum that I have visited.

We have being staying at large campsites up to now but tonight we have booked a farm site and, true to its name, we arrived at a remote farm surrounded by fields of cereals. The farmhouse was immaculate and it was a very peaceful setting. If only the weather wasn’t thoroughly miserable – dark and very wet. Connecting the electricity quickly, we hunkered down for the night.

Photos: This site between Jutland and Fyn, now submerged under the sea, dates from around 5,500BC and was rich in fish and oysters, hence a massive deposit of shells, well illustrated in this exhibition; This beautiful pot (3200BC) was from grave goods deposited in a passage grave; These perfect Danish stone daggers from the Late Stone Age to Early Bronze Age (2300-1700BC) were highly prized and traded all over Norway, Sweden, Germany and the Alps; A wooden board from 300BC used to roll and mould peat into pieces that would be dried for fuel – something of particular interest to us as we come from the Somerset Levels where peat has been used as a fuel for thousands of years; Two photographs of bronze neck rings (torcs) deposited in bogs in Jutland in the Bronze and early Iron Ages  - these must have been very expensive items and shows the importance to the people of such offerings; Grauballe Man (3^rd century BC), murdered by slitting his throat and then dumped in the bog, probably as an offering; An army’s equipment, just a small selection of the amazing deposits found in the former Illerup Lake around 200AD representing 350 ordinary soldiers, 30 higher level soldiers (officers?) and 6 top level soldiers. The lake is approx. 100,000 sq. m and 40,000 sq. m have been excavated and 10,000 objects found. It is thought that there were deposits made all across the lake – many more finds to come!

Wednesday 28th June 2017 – Aarhus, Denmark

A relatively relaxed day today with a simple journey into Aarhus by bus. We had a choice of buses to catch and within a few minutes we were on our way, passing an impressive new tram system under construction. We headed for the Viking Museum cunningly hidden under a multi-storey business building. The museum is small but free and well worth a visit. The reason for its location is that a Viking site was discovered when foundations were being excavated for a new Nordea Bank building. Viking Aros has been buried by modern Aarhus and these excavations uncovered part of its ramparts. The town was established by 770 AD but it was in a poor position for defence, so in 934 a rampart was added and it was strengthened in 980 by Harald Bluetooth – that man gets everywhere! On display here, in its original position, is part of the plank causeway behind the rampart showing the wheel tracks of the carts.

We walked the short distance to the cathedral of Aarhus dedicated to St. Clemens, the Danish patron saint of seamen. It was built approx. 1300 AD, is the longest cathedral in Denmark and, like all of the Danish churches that we have visited, has a very simple interior but with lovely carved wood and some impressive wall paintings uncovered after having been whitewashed over for many years.

Photos: It would be easy to walk straight past the museum without realising that it was there; The Viking town of Aros; A soapstone showing a carving of the god Loki with sewn lips (see Ribe 23^rd June), used by a blacksmith in his hearth; The fantastically detailed altar screen carved in 1479 by Bernt Notke from Lubeck; A rather good gravestone from inside the cathedral.

Tuesday 27th June 2017 – Aarhus, Denmark

After a day without Vikings, we were getting withdrawal symptoms so we headed for Fyrkat with its Viking fort. Like Aggersund (see 24/6/17), this was built by Harald Bluetooth in the 10^th century and excavation has shown it to have held 16 long houses, set in squares of four within each quadrant of the circle (see photos). We started our visit 1km away from the fort at the Viking Centre, which is much smaller in area than Ribe (see 23/6/17) and with 9 reconstructed buildings. It is based on a Viking farmstead from the age of Harald Bluetooth. We were able to make some flat bread in one of the houses and had a good chat with one of the staff there who was very knowledgeable about the project. We then went on to view the rest of the site and I was particularly interested to see the long hall that was closed for repair. After 20 years, their oak posts were beginning to rot in the ground and they had decided to replace the rotten parts with concrete which would be hidden from view. This has implications for our project in the Somerset Levels but our oak posts are much more substantial than theirs and that should give it a longer life.

After lunch, we walked through a nature reserve of marshland and lakes to a mill and farm complex below the Viking fort. Of the farm buildings, only the main house is in its original position, with the mill and all the outbuildings having been transported from other parts of Jutland.

We then climbed up to the fort to find, just outside the banks, a full-scale reconstruction of one of the 16 identical long houses. A walk around the ramparts not only gave us great views of the surrounding area but also of the interior layout of the fort where the outlines of all the buildings had been marked with white stones.

Returning to Henrietta we took a scenic route to Mariager where we admired the lovely views over the Mariager Fjord. Motorhomers please note that there is a lovely, official 5-motohome aire at Mariager right on the edge of the fjord and also a campsite on the western edge of the town.

Turning south, we headed for Aarhus and Aarhus Camping.

Photos: View of Fyrkat fort (to left of flag on horizon) from the Viking village looking over the nature reserve; Jane making Viking bread - note the dragon fire coming out of her mouth!; Long house undergoing repair, a 3-year project; The farm and mill complex below the fort; A model showing the internal layout of the fort; A reconstruction of one of the long houses from the interior of the fort; A view from the fort ramparts of the interior, clearly showing the layout of the houses.

Monday 26th June 2017 – Aalborg, Denmark

Today we wanted to have a good look at Aalborg so we took the bus into the city centre and walked to the tourist information centre. They were very helpful and when I asked for a city walking tour, they handed me one of the last paper copies of a comprehensive historic tour guide with two separate walks that could be combined if wanted. Apparently they have had two such guides in the past but both are no longer being printed. Only a few copies of our guide, designed for cruise ship visitors, were left. The idea is that all such guides in the future will be internet or app based although the walking guide does not seem to be available online yet. We also asked about the large number of youth marching bands that we had passed on the bus. It turned out that Aalborg is hosting a Sport & Cultural Festival this weekend. The festival is held every four years and travels all around Denmark – this time it is Aalborg’s turn. All around Aalborg we saw outside stands being constructed for public performances.

We followed one of the walks that took us from the castle (built 1539 to 1555 by Christian III) through modern parts of the town and past historic buildings, most of which were timber-framed and dated from the 16^th to the 18^th centuries.

We selected a place for lunch ad sat on an outside table, only to be told that they were not serving food to the public as they had a group of 800 people inside – the youth walking bands. We chose another lovely café with tables set in a pretty square and sat to eat our first Danish meal. We had no idea what we were ordering but everything that we saw on the tables looked very good. It worked out well – Jane’s was an omelette served with crispy bacon and tomato and mine was an open hamburger served with lots of capers, pickles, salad, cheese and a little bowl of raw egg yoke which, we were told by a friendly Dane (living in Spain and back on a visit), was to be poured over the hamburger. It was all very good and the cold Danish beers also went down very well in the heat of the day.

Duly refreshed, we set off on the second of the walks which included the cathedral, more timber-framed buildings and some very impressive, stone buildings from the 18^th century in the centre of the town. One interesting bit of Aalborg history is represented by one of these houses, the Jens Bang’s House (see photos). Jens Bang was a very wealthy merchant who, as well as being a talented businessman, was also arrogant and cantankerous. He didn’t make many friends and the town council would not have him in their number. He therefore built his ostentatious house opposite the Town Hall and decorated the building with grotesque faces, supposedly caricatures of his enemies. On the wall looking onto the Town Hall is his face poking a tongue out at the councillors.

When we were in the Ribe Museum there was a parade outside and we asked the receptionist what was going on. She was somewhat overzealous and gave us a long, detailed description which meant that we had missed the parade by the time that we could get out. All of the young people in the parade were 18 year olds from the local high school wearing white, flat sailor-type hats and they had just graduated. This is the excuse for “feasting that goes on for weeks”. We suspected that ‘feasting’ involved lots of drinking and this was to be proven correct. From then to now we have seen many groups of graduates, always wearing their hats, often in vintage, ex-military lorries festooned with Danish flags and banners. The Danish public are very supportive of the graduates and we often saw them waving to the graduates as they passed in the lorries.

Photos: This modern bear and cub sculpture on one of the shopping streets was fun although the bears look a little grumpy; Aalborg Castle exterior and the courtyard; A typical graduate outing although with many less Danish flags that usual – the banner says something about drinking, which may explain the mooning; The Jens Bang House; Jens Bang poking out his tongue – at least he is not mooning, much more subtle!

Sunday 25th June 2017 – Aalborg, Denmark

Our target today was Lindholm Hoje, a Viking burial ground and it was dead good. We timed our visit for the Lindholm Viking Festival when a Viking market is held. We travelled by bus with one change in the centre of the town and then walked the short distance to the site. We knew that the burial ground was to our left as we walked up but couldn’t see it, instead we spotted the Viking market and the museum first. It wasn’t raining, but could later, so we went into the market. We paid an admittance fee and were told that it also covered entrance to the museum, which was interesting as the fee was less than the standard museum entrance fee!

The market was really fun – everything Viking was on sale and there were Viking warriors fighting. Two warriors came off the battleground with one saying to the other “it doesn’t hurt for too long” – the other warrior didn’t look convinced! Lots of artisans were demonstrating their trade – weaving, tool-making, glass bead manufacture and fur skins. How, you are asking, can you demonstrate fur skin production? Well, you kill a fox, hang it up to drain the blood and then you skin it. And this happened, all in front of the public, including children. I must explain that the Danish are much less squeamish about this sort of thing than the British. Public dissections are quite popular with children and families and the Danish do not anthropomorphise animals, they are simply animals. For lunch we opted for the lamb on flat bread with a great selection of fresh herbs – we thought that this was a safe bet as we didn’t know the Danish word for ‘fox’.

We then moved on to the small, but good, museum before we headed for the site itself, on the hill behind the museum. The graveyard holds more than 600 graves from the 5^th to the 10^th century, from the Iron Age to the Viking Age. Many of the graves are simple mounds but others are more elaborate from mounds surrounded by stones, to circular and oval (female graves) and triangular and ship-shaped graves (male graves). Some of the stone settings have a central menhir (standing stone). The graves paint an impressive picture of stone patterns laid out on the slope of a hill with the older graves at the top and the more recent at the bottom. They would certainly have been much less impressive had the site not been covered in deep sand about 1000 AD and then abandoned. When they excavated the site, they discovered a field complete with plough marks and the wheel tracks of a cart and the hoof marks of the horse that pulled it.

Photos: Viking musicians entertain the visitors at the market; The dead fox waiting to be skinned; The Vikings had slaves and this young one is working for a glass bead maker – his mother, I suspect; A triangular grave with central menhir for a Viking man, the significance of the shape didn’t occur to me until I was writing this blog; A ship burial with the tallest stone at the prow; I didn’t realise that Vikings had bicycles ……. or bags from designer stores.