The Jelling stones () are massive carved runestones from the 10th century, found at the town of Jelling in Denmark. The older of the two Jelling stones was raised by King Gorm the Old in memory of his wife Thyra. The larger of the two stones was raised by King Gorm's son, Harald Bluetooth, in memory of his parents, celebrating his conquest of Denmark and Norway, and his conversion of the Danes to Christianity.
The runic inscriptions on these stones are considered the best known in Denmark. In 1994, the stones, in addition to the burial mounds and small church nearby, were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as an unparalleled example of both pagan and Christian Nordic culture.
Significance
thumb|left|The heritage site in 2004: Runestones are in the foreground; in the background is one of two mounds.
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.
thumb|right|Jelling Church
thumb|right|Interior of Jelling Church, showing frescos dating from 1125
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.) reads:
- runes
- rune transliteration
- Old West Norse normalization
- Old East Norse normalization