Gorm den Gamle & Thyra

[norwegianne]

Name: Gorm den Gamle

English Name: Gorm the Old

Birth: Probably some time between 908 and 918

Child of: Knud 1 Hardeknud Svensen (Harthacnut)

Reign: First mentioned as a king in 936

Marriage: To Thyra

Children: Harald Blåtand

Death: Dead ca. 958. Buried at Jelling.

Throne passed to: Harald Blåtand

Notes:


Http://www.kongehuset.dk

 

[norwegianne]

Name: Thyra

Marriage: To Gorm den Gamle

Children: Harald Blåtand

Death: Around year 935 AD. Buried at Jelling

 

[oldwest61]

Hi. I have a problem with dates for Gorm den Gamle and his father. Need correct dates of birth and death (to the point known), as most places have Knud 1 dying by 850, and Gorm born 908-918 (912, 914, 916, etc.), which means Knud 1 could not be the father of Gorm. Does anyone have correct dates?

 

[Muhler]

Not really. Because historians are not even sure what Knud it is.
There are several contestants to being Knud I - Gnupa and Hardegon/Hardeknud, being two. There is a reference to a Gorm Hardeknudsson and that is likely Gorm the Old.
To make matters even more confusing, a Knud who styled himself as Knud IV, may actually have meant that he was the fourth son, not the fourth Knud.
And even more confusing. In the period before Gorm the Old united Denmark there may have been up to several chieftains named Knud!

DK was only a lose kingdom before Gorm the Old.
Sometimes a chieftain or local king was strong enough to unite all or most of Denmark, but when such a king died or was defeated, the kingdom fragmented. And sometimes it was probably divided among several sons.
But there had been several strong kings in place before Gorm the Old, Because his wife, Queen Thyra, strengthened the border-wall, Dannevirke. Marking the border (militarily it was actually a trip-wire) between the Danes and the Saxons. So that fortified line had been build before Gorm the Old was king.

That confusion is basically the reason why Gorm the Old is considered the first official Danish king, and not least because his son, mention Denmark, on the stone commemorating his father. That mentioning of Denmark is the first in an official context.

 

[Blog Real]

An article from a Denmark history website about Gorm den Gamle:
https://danmarkshistorien.dk/leksikon-og-kilder/vis/materiale/gorm-den-gamle-958/

Gorm belonged to the Jelling dynasty, which, according to Adam of Bremen, came from "Nortmannia", i.e. from "Nortmannia". Norway or Normandy, and after 900 took power from the dynasty that came from Sweden shortly before the year 900. Gorm was first mentioned in 936, when he gave Archbishop Unni of Hamburg-Bremen a chilly reception. He probably died in 958; This year, a 40- to 50-year-old man was buried in the north mound of Jelling, and his legs were later reburied in the first wooden church in Jelling. This man was probably Gorm, who must have been born between 908 and 918. According to the inscription on the little Jellingsten, he was married to Thyra, and on the great he is remembered as Harald 1. Blue tooth's father. It is possible that Gorm's kingdom covered only Jutland, but not safely, as it is not known exactly what it means that Harald Blåtand "won the whole of Denmark", as it says on the great Jellingsten.