A team of scientists from the National Museum of Denmark and the Swedish National Heritage Board examined the inscriptions on rune stones that the Vikings erected in honor of their heroes. Researchers concluded that the most famous leader of the Norse in the 10th century was Queen Tyra. The article was published in the scientific journal magazine Ancient ages.
Until recently, Thyra and her husband Gorm the Elder were known as the parents of Harold Bluetooth, the ruler who united the Danish people during his reign from 958 to 985 AD. The rest of the queen’s story remained a mystery. It was unclear where the family members came from or how Tyra governed her lands. Due to the lack of information, historians believed that the role of Harold Bluetooth’s mother in history was unimportant.
But new analysis of the runestones has shown that Queen Tyra was a great figure for her time. Although Vikings generally did not place more than one stone in someone’s honor, and men were usually given this type of honor, at least four monuments mentioned it.
Thyra is called “the salvation of Denmark” on the stones in Jelling, where the residence of the Viking kings was located. Runic inscriptions elsewhere emphasize his status as a ruler.
“The mention of Thyra in four runestones is unique in Viking Age Denmark. “The combination of analysis and the geographical distribution of the stones suggests that Thyra was a major, even the most important, figure in the formation of the Danish kingdom and that she herself may have played an active role,” the researchers noted.
Scientists believe they need to re-examine the empty burial site next to the rune stones at Jelling. It was previously believed that Thyra Gorm’s husband once lay in this tomb, but now archaeologists believe that the tomb belongs directly to the first queen of Denmark.
Earlier archaeologists suspicious Pythagoras copied his famous theorem.