Odense to Aarhus (Denmark)

Hans Christian Andersen would have to be one of the best known Danes in the world. We all know his fairy tales but did you know that he was also a novelist, a poet, a playwriting and an artist? He was born in Odense, in a little yellow house on the corner of a very poor part of town, the son of a shoemaker and a washerwoman. This part of town is as cute as a button today and where we spent our morning.
The H.C. Andersen museum takes the form of a winding passage that leads you through the life of the author and ends in a series of fairy tale exhibits which explore his 12 most loved stories. There was a great collection of first editions and a series of his drawings and "scissor art" but the best bits were about his fairy tales … the little mermaid, the tin soldier, thumbelina, the princess and the pea, the ice queen and the emperor's new clothes (to name a few) were my favourites. We visited the house where he was born then took a stroll through the city to see the house where he grew up (both were yellow). It's a pretty city and there is much to honour the great story teller here.
We took a long drive to a place called Jelling on the island of Jutland this afternoon to stand in the middle of Danish history. It was here that the name Denmark was first used (and recorded), being carved in runes on a Rune Stone by King Gorm in around 965 and it was also here that King Harald proclaimed to have Christianised the Danes. Jelling was the seat of Danish royalty in the day and King Gorm the Old (a bit rude…), with his son (later) King Harald Bluetooth (you'll recognise that name) will long be remembered for the Jelling Rune Stones which became the "baptism certificate of Denmark".
The collection of Jelling monuments include these stones and two huge burial mounds (believed to be for King Gorm and his Queen, Thyra). Between the mounds is a working church, representing the christianisation of the Danes, the outline of an enormous stone ship circle as well as the remains of a huge trelleborg (external, wooden fortress with gates at each compass point). A fascinating place!
About Harald Bluetooth … As it turns out, the engineer who was originally working on wireless technology connecting mobile phones and laptops, Jim Kardach, was a bit of a fan of Viking King Bluetooth. The logo that was chosen when the technology was established was a combination of the runic letters H (for Harald) and B (for Bluetooth). Such humble beginnings for such widespread technology.Read more