Jelling stones

The stones are strongly identified with the creation of Denmark as a kingdom. Both inscriptions 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 Christianisation, alongside a depiction of the crucified Christ; it is therefore popularly dubbed "Denmark's 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 wireless technology. ==Recent history==

After having been exposed to the elements for a thousand years, cracks were beginning to show. On 15 November 2008 experts from UNESCO examined the stones to determine their condition. Experts requested that the stones be moved to an indoor exhibition hall, or in some other way protected in situ, to prevent further damage from the weather. In February 2011 the site was vandalized using green spray paint, with the word "GELWANE" written on both sides of the larger stone, and with identical graffiti sprayed on a nearby gravestone and on the church door. After much speculation about the possible meaning of the enigmatic word "gelwane", the vandal was eventually discovered to be a 15-year-old boy with Asperger's syndrome and the word itself was meaningless. As the paint had not fully hardened, The Heritage Agency of Denmark decided to keep the stones in their current location and selected a protective casing design from 157 projects submitted through a competition. The winner of the competition was Nobel Architects. The glass casing creates a climate system that keeps the stones at a fixed temperature and humidity and protects them from weathering. The design features rectangular glass casings strengthened by two solid bronze sides mounted on a supporting steel skeleton. The glass is coated with an anti-reflective material that gives the exhibit a greenish hue. Additionally, the bronze patina gives off a rusty, greenish colour, highlighting the runestones' grey and reddish tones and emphasising their monumental character and significance. == Runestone of Harald Bluetooth ==

The inscription on the larger of the two Jelling stones (Jelling II, Rundata DR 42) reads: • runes • rune transliteration • Old West Norse normalization • Old East Norse normalization {{fs interlinear |lang=non |spacing=0.5 |number=(side A)|indent=5 {{fs interlinear |lang=non |spacing=0.5 |number=(side B)|indent=5 The stone has a figure of the crucified Christ on one side and on another side a serpent wrapped around a lion. Christ is depicted as standing in the shape of a cross and entangled in what appear to be branches. This depiction of Christ has often been taken as indicating the parallels with the "hanging" of the Norse pagan god Odin, who in Rúnatal gives an account of being hanged from a tree and pierced by a spear. A copy exists in Rouen, Normandy, France, near Saint-Ouen Abbey Church, offered by Denmark to the city of Rouen, on the occasion of the millennium of Normandy in 1911. A facsimile of the image of Christ on Harald's runestone appears on the inside front cover of Danish passports. == Runestone of Gorm ==

The inscription on the older and smaller of the Jelling stones (Jelling I, Rundata DR 41) reads: • runes • rune transliteration • Old West Norse normalisation • Old East Norse normalisation == See also ==