Archaeologists find Viking monarch Harald Bluetooth's palace

Aarhus - Danish archaeologists have discovered the royal residence of the Danish Viking-era king known as Harald Bluetooth, said to have united Denmark into one kingdom, introducing Christianity and whose name inspired the technology of the same name.

After centuries of speculation, archaeologists from Århus in southern Denmark have found the royal residence, close to Jelling, considered the cradle of the Danish kingdom, in what they describe as a “sensational” discovery, the Copenhagen Post reports. The royal palace finds so far show four wooden buildings and are characteristic of the period of Harald’s rule. Mads Dengsø Jessen of Århus University, who led the dig, said:

‘This tells us that we have uncovered a large complex, and the strict geometrical construction is a typical example of Harald’s work.’

The remains of the complex were found in the north-eastern corner of the Jelling complex, which is famous for its ancient rune stones and royal burial mounds. Harald Bluetooth ruled Denmark from 940 to 985 A.D. and converted to Christianity, thus starting the process of the Christianisation of Denmark. His famous rune stone is described as the “baptismal certificate of the Danish nation.” King Harald invaded and conquered part of Norway but lost territory to Emperor Otto II of the Holy Roman Empire to the south. The Bluetooth interface mechanism for wireless connection was named by Swedish company Ericcson after the Viking monarch. The idea is that as he united Denmark so the Bluetooth technology would unite communications protocols into one standard. Bluetooth’s logo is a combination of the old runic forms of the letters H and B.