Gorm the Old (Danish: Gorm den Gamle) (died 958/959) was a Jutland chieftain. He became king of the Danes and as king he resided in Jelling, where he set up a monument for his wife Thyra. According to the Icelandic sagas, he was the grandson or perhaps great-grandson of Sigurd Snake-Eye, the son of Ragnar Lodbrok. His father is believed to have been a man named Harthaknut (Danish: Hardeknud), a Dane or descendant of Danish settlers who came to Denmark from Normandy in the early 900s and claimed kingship in (parts of?) Jutland.
With king Gorm (or 'Kurm' as is the spelling on the Jelling stone, king Harold's memorial over his father and mother), the Danish line of kings officially begins. We know of earlier regents, at least some of whom probably ruled all of what is now Denmark and part of Sweden, but there are huge gaps in the sources of the time, and only with Gorm and his son Harold are we on completely safe ground, historically speaking.
It is believed that it is his skeleton that has been found at the site of the first Christian church of Jelling. At the time of the reign of Gorm, the Danes believed in the Norse mythology, and it was not until the reign of Gorm's son, Harold Bluetooth, that the Danes converted to Christianity.
It is believed that Harold moved the skeleton of his father from the original grave into the church. Why he simply didn't build the church on top of his father's grave remains a mystery. Some historians have considered this a result of a dispute between Gorm and Harold.
Denmark was helplessly caught in the conflict between Napoleon and the rest of Europe.
Despite its unclear position, Denmark had by the end of the war achieved de facto recognition as an allied power, due to the activities of the resistance movement and it was therefore invited to become a founding member of the United Nations in 1945.
Denmarkâs current shape and extent is the result of successive cedings of territory due to its exposed location by the access routes to the Baltic.
Gorm the Old (Gorm den Gamle) was King of Denmark in the mid-900s.
Often maligned as a cruel old dotard and a staunch heathen, Gorm was probably born around 910-915, and died in late 958 according to dendrochronological studies of the wood in his burial chamber.
Gorm was neither old nor unwise; when correctly interpreted, early sources point to him as being open-minded and pragmatic as far as Denmark's relationship with the Christian neighbors to the south was concerned, but earlier historians often confused him with his father who supposedly withstood the coming of Christianity for as long as he lived.
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