General Notes

REFN: 4076AN
REFN: P4077
Gorm the Old (Gorm den Gamle) was King of Denmark in the mid-900s.
The son of Danish king Harthacnut, Gorm is one of the most misinterpret
ed figures in Danish history. Often maligned as a cruel old dotard and a s
taunch heathen, Gorm was born in the late 800s, and died in 958 accordi
ng to dendrochronological studies of the wood in his burial chamber.
His ancestry may lie with the Danish rulers in East Anglia, one of which w
as named Guthrum, a form of the name Gorm. His father came to Denmark arou
nd 916 or 917 and deposed the young king Sigtrygg Gnupasson, and when Hart
haknut died, Gorm ascended to the throne. Claims that he took it by forc
e, or that he only ruled part of the peninsula of Jutland are almost certa
inly erroneous…[citation needed] Gorm's great-great-grandson king Sweyn Es
tridsson referred to both Gorm and his father as kings of (all of) Denmar
k, not just parts of the country.
Gorm was neither old nor unwise; when correctly interpreted, early sourc
es point to him as being open-minded and pragmatic [citation needed] as f
ar as Denmark's relationship with the Christian neighbors to the south w
as concerned, but earlier historians often confused him with his father w
ho supposedly withstood the coming of Christianity for as long as he lived
.
His skeleton is believed to have been found at the site of the first Chris
tian church of Jelling. During the reign of Gorm, most Danes still worship
ped the Norse gods, but during the reign of Gorm's son Harold Bluetooth, D
enmark officially converted to Christianity. Harold supposedly moved the s
keleton of his father from its original resting place into the church, b
ut left the hill where Gorm had originally been interred as a memorial.