18 April 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Using 3D scanners, archaeologists have identified the person who carved Jelling Stone Runes

Researchers at the National Museum of Denmark using 3D scans have identified who carved the Jelling Stone Runes, located in the town of Jelling, Denmark. The discovery shows that Queen Thyra was far more important than was previously assumed.

Today, the details of our individual writings, from the way we compose our letters to the pressure we apply to pen and paper, can be used to define us. The same, it seems, is true for ancient runesmiths, which has allowed archaeologists to finally identify the person who carved the amazing Jelling stones in Denmark.

The Jelling stones are located in the town of Jelling, near the eastern coast of Denmark. They consist of two massive stone monuments that date back to the 10th century AD. The oldest was erected by King Gorm the Old to honor his wife Thyra, while the second stone was raised by his son, Harald Bluetooth to commemorate his parent’s memory. This second stone also contains intricate carvings that describe Harald’s achievements. It celebrates his conquest of Denmark and Norway and how he converted the Danes to Christianity.

Harald Bluetooth on the second stone describes himself as “that Haraldr who won for himself all of Denmark and Norway and made the Danes Christian.”

Featuring in every Danish passport, the Jelling Stone is known as the ‘birth certificate’ of Denmark.

3D scans of runestones enable researchers to gain a close-up view of traces of the carving process. This means they can tell the carving technique of the different rune stones apart. Every experienced stonemason holds his chisel at a certain angle and strikes the hammer with a specific force: this is visible in the angle of the traces of the carving and the distance between them. The motor function developed in such work is individual. The name is Ravnunge-Tue. A runicist from the Viking Age, whose name is hardly well-known among the general public, but who, on the other hand, is quite well-known among professionals.

Jelling Stone Runes. Photo: National Museum

By analyzing these unique features and the distance between them, the team were able to compare the runes on the Jelling stones with others, such as the Laeborg Runestone, which is located about 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) away. 

This comparison has been invaluable. It turns out the Jelling stones display the same carving techniques as those on the Laeborg Runestone.

For this project, seven Jutland runestones were 3D scanned: the two Jelling stones, the two Baekke stones, the Lborg stone, the Home stone, and the Randbl stone. The runes on the smaller Jelling Stone were too worn to see the signature chiseling techniques. It’s possible Ravnunge-Tue carved that one too.

Queen Thyra’s Power

The discovery is in itself interesting because it can link another person to the Jelling dynasty, but it is especially interesting because the realization brings with it another startling revelation, explains Lisbeth Imer, runologist and senior researcher at the National Museum in Copenhagen.

“The fact that we now know the name of the rune carver of the Jelling Stone is incredible; but what makes the discovery even more amazing is the fact that we know who Ravnunge-Tue’s boss was. She was Queen Thyra of Jelling – mother of Harald Bluetooth, wife of Gorm the Old,” says Lisbeth Imer.

The two Jelling stones mention Queen Thyra as the mother of Harald Bluetooth, wife of Gorm the Old and ‘Denmark’s salvation’. However, the name Thyra also appears on two other rune stones: the Læborg Stone, which Ravnunge-Tue carved in memory of Thyra; and Bække 1, which bears the inscription, ‘Ravnunge-Tue and Fundin and Gnyple, these three made Thyra’s mound.’

Lisbeth Imer, a runologist and senior researcher at the National Museum of Denmark. Photo: Denmark National Museum
Lisbeth Imer, a runologist and senior researcher at the National Museum of Denmark. Photo: Denmark National Museum

For many years, researchers have been debating whether the Queen Thyra of the Læborg Stone is the same as the Jelling Thyra. However, based on the new research, the likelihood of two different Thyras is significantly less, because, according to the researchers who conducted the analyses, Ravnunge-Tue carved both the Læborg Stone and the Jelling Stone.

That means Queen Thyra was on at least four rune stones, more runic mentions than anyone else in Viking-era Denmark, twice the number of mentions her husband and son got. Lisbeth Imer believes that this also highlights just how important Queen Thyra was.

“This means that Queen Thyra was far more important than we previously assumed. She probably came from a nobler, older family than Gorm the Old, whom we usually refer to as the first King of Denmark. This is extremely interesting when it comes to understanding the power structure and the genesis of Denmark as a nation,” says Lisbeth Imer.

All four rune stones that mention Thyra are located in Southern Jutland, implying that her power was based in this area, while Gorm the Old may have come from elsewhere.

The Denmark National Museum

Cover Photo: Megalithic Portal

Related Articles

Scientists have developed a new tool that enables them to identify prehistoric and historic individuals’ relatives up to the sixth-degree

24 December 2023

24 December 2023

A new method of genetic analysis makes it possible to determine family relationships of prehistoric and historical individuals up to...

Refurbishment at the Uffizi Gallery Revealed a Pair of Priceless Lost Renaissance Frescoes

24 April 2021

24 April 2021

A couple of construction workers discovered two Renaissance-era treasures while working on an extensive renovation project at Florence’s world-famous Uffizi...

Staging of religion on rock paintings that are thousands of years old in southern Egypt desert

10 May 2023

10 May 2023

Egyptologists at the University of Bonn and the University of Aswan want to systematically record hundreds of petroglyphs and inscriptions...

New finds in ancient Rome’s Pompeii show ‘conditions of precarity and poor hygiene, in which people of lower status lived during that time

20 August 2023

20 August 2023

Archaeologists have discovered a small bedroom in Civita Giuliana villa near Pompeii that was almost certainly used by slaves, throwing...

A rare 6,000-year-old elephant ivory vessel was unearthed near Beersheba

9 April 2024

9 April 2024

A recent excavation near Beersheba in southern Israel uncovered an ivory vessel crafted of elephant tusks dating to the Chalcolithic...

Archaeologists discovered medieval Bury St Edmunds Abbey ‘Bishop Boy’ token in Norfolk

19 December 2023

19 December 2023

Archaeologists have discovered token in Norfolk in the East of England, dating from between 1470 and 1560, given to the...

2,600-year-old Terracotta Pipeline found in India

11 August 2024

11 August 2024

During the 10th phase of archaeological excavations at the Keeladi archaeological site in Tamil Nadu, India, archaeologists uncovered a terracotta...

Saudi Arabia’s “Gates of Hell” and Mysterious Structures

30 March 2024

30 March 2024

The region of Saudi Arabia, where the mysterious neolithic structures called the “Gates of Hell” are located, has around 400...

A rare 2,500-year-old shipwreck found off the Greek island of Kythera

5 November 2021

5 November 2021

A rare shipwreck from the ancient era was discovered during the maritime survey for the Crete-Peloponnese subsea link. The Independent...

This Month in the “You Will See What You Don’t See” Project

11 February 2021

11 February 2021

Izmir Archeology Museum started to exhibit the unseen artifacts in its warehouses last month in the project that started under...

3600-year-old lead weights were unearthed in the Kumluca Bronze Age Shipwreck, one of the oldest shipwrecks in the world

27 November 2022

27 November 2022

Underwater archaeological work continues in the Bronze Age shipwreck off Antalya Kumluca, one of the oldest shipwrecks in the world....

Beer remains that are 9,000 years old have been discovered in China’s unique Hu pots

3 September 2021

3 September 2021

Archaeologists in southeast China have discovered evidence of beer consumption in ceramic vessels at the burial site called Qiaotou. The...

Discovery of immense 4,000-year-old fortifications surrounding the Khaybar Oasis, one of the longest-known Oasis

10 January 2024

10 January 2024

Archaeologists have recently made a groundbreaking discovery in northwestern Arabia, unearthing immense fortifications that date back an astonishing 4,000 years....

Gate sanctuary discovered during the excavation of Archanes palace in Crete, belonging to the oldest civilisation in Europe

24 October 2024

24 October 2024

Recent excavations at the Archanes Minoan palace in Crete, belonging to the oldest civilisation in Europe, have revealed an important...

A shipboard 14th-century cannon found off the Swedish coast may be the oldest in Europe

14 September 2023

14 September 2023

An international research team led by maritime archaeologist Staffan von Arbin of the University of Gothenburg has confirmed that a...