Lejre is a railway town in the northwestern part of the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark. It has a population of 3,165 (1 January 2024) inhabitants.[1]
Lejre municipality has an area of 240km2 and a total population of ca. 26,989 (2014),and the municipal seat is Kirke Hvalsø.
History
Interior of the reconstructed King's Hall at Lejre, Denmark, c. 7th century
Lejre's role in Danish history can be compared to that of Gamla Uppsala in Sweden. Moreover, it has long been thought to have been the real-world counterpart to Heorot, the hall of King Hrothgar at the centre of the action in the Old English epic poem Beowulf.
Lejre is sometimes assumed to have been the capital of a putative Iron Age kingdom sometimes referred to as the "Lejre Kingdom." According to early legends, it was ruled by kings of the Skjöldung dynasty, predecessors of the kings of medieval Denmark. Legends of the kings of Lejre are known from a number of medieval sources, including the twelfth-century Gesta Danorum written by Saxo Grammaticus and the anonymous twelfth-century Chronicon Lethrense, or Chronicle of Lejre. As the home of the Skjölding (Old English: Scylding) dynasty mentioned in Beowulf,[3][4] Lejre has long been thought to have been the real-world counterpart to Heorot, the fabulous royal hall where the first part of the action of that Anglo-Saxon poem takes place.[5] Among other works of the medieval imagination that tell of adventures at Lejre,[6] the best known is the fourteenth-century Icelandic Saga of King Hrolf Kraki.[7]
View west from the earliest hall site
Archeological excavations undertaken since the 1980s have produced dramatic confirmation that medieval legends of Lejre, though largely fabulous, have a basis in history. Research teams led by archaeologist Tom Christensen of Roskilde Museum have uncovered the remains of an extensive Iron Age and Viking Age settlement complex just outside the hamlet of Gammel Lejre ("Old Lejre").[8][9][10][11] Discovered here were the post-holes for a series of large rectangular buildings measuring fifty to sixty meters in length or more. These must have been the halls of powerful magnates or kings. Outbuildings and other structures whose remains were unearthed in this same area indicate that Lejre was also a center for crafts, commerce, and religious observances. The relative absence of weapon finds suggests that the site was more important as a social and economic center than as a military base. A noteworthy loose find that has recently turned up, thanks to metal detector work, is a tiny silver Viking Age figurine known as Odin from Lejre. This is thought to depict the god Odin enthroned in majesty between ravens.[12]
Øm jættestue: Neolithic passage grave near Gammel Lejre.
Other sites of archaeological interest in the vicinity, long admired by visitors even when their nature was not well understood, are a Viking-Age cemetery that includes several ship settings, a great Iron Age cremation mound ("Grydehøj"), a number of tumuli that are mostly of Bronze Age date, and several Neolithic chamber graves, including one that in modern times has been known as "Harald Hildetandshøy".[13] As for the Iron Age archaeological settlement complex unearthed since the 1980s, its two related parts span the period from about 550 to about 1000 AD, thus confirming the significance of this "land of legends" over a period of almost half a millennium, up to the time when Denmark was converted to Christianity and a new royal capital was established at what is now the cathedral city of Roskilde.
Beech grove in hilly ground west of Lejre
On account of its imposing monuments as well as its unusual surrounding terrain, Gammel Lejre has long been a focal point for antiquarian scholarship, a source of Danish national pride, and a source of fascination regarding Scandinavian prehistory. Speculations about the prehistory of the area have been fueled by Thietmar of Merseburg's account in his twelfth-century Chronicon (ch. 17) that pagan sacrifices were formerly held every ninth year at Lejre. A wooded path and lake a short distance west of Lejre, as well, was identified by some antiquarian scholars as "Herthadal," the sacred sacrificial precinct of the goddess Nerthus (also called Hertha), whose rites were described by the Roman historian Tacitus in chapter 40 of his Germania. While such speculations can be dismissed as contributing to a "myth of Lejre" that has little to do with the actual Iron Age settlement-complex that has now been excavated,[14] it could be argued that reality and fantasy have always been intertwined in stories pertaining to this region.
Attractions
Lejre Municipality is home to the Land of legends (Sagnlandet Lejre), a center for experimental archaeology and education, which includes reconstructions and recreations from different periods of Denmark's history— from pre-history to the Viking Age. The centerpiece of the facility is an Iron Age village reconstruction, complete with sacrificial bog. The center is open to the public.
↑ Niles, John D. (2007). "Beowulf and Lejre." In J.D. Niles, Beowulf and Lejre. Tempe AZ: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. pp.169–234. ISBN9780866983686.
↑ Osborn, Marijane. Legends of Lejre, Home of Kings. In Beowulf and Lejre. pp.235–54.
↑ Byock (trans,), Jesse L. (1998). Saga of King Hrolf Kraki. New York: Penguin.
↑ Christensen, Tom (2007). Lejre: Fact and Fable (1991). Trans. in Beowulf and Lejre. pp.21–102.
↑ Christensen, Tom (2007). "A New Round of Excavations at Lejre (to 2005)." In Beowulf and Lejre. pp.109–26.
↑ Christensen, Tom (2015). Lejre bag myten: De arkaeologiske udgravningar. Jysk Arkaeologisk Selskab. ISBN978-87-88415-96-4.
Hrólfr Kraki, Hroðulf, Rolfo, Roluo, Rolf Krage was a semi-legendary Danish king who appears in both Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian tradition.
Hrothgar was a semi-legendary Danish king living around the early sixth century AD. Many years later, Hrothgar paid money to the Wulfings to resolve a blood feud they had with Ecgtheow, Beowulf's father.
Heorot is a mead-hall and major point of focus in the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf. The hall serves as a seat of rule for King Hrothgar, a legendary Danish king. After the monster Grendel slaughters the inhabitants of the hall, the Geatish hero Beowulf defends the royal hall before subsequently defeating him. Later Grendel's mother attacks the inhabitants of the hall, and she too is subsequently defeated by Beowulf.
Bödvar Bjarki, meaning 'Warlike Little-Bear', is the hero appearing in tales of Hrólfr Kraki in the Hrólfs saga kraka, in the Latin epitome to the lost Skjöldunga saga, and as Biarco in Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum. He is often depicted with the ability to shapeshift into a bear.
Eadgils, Adils, Aðils, Adillus, Aðísl at Uppsölum, Athisl, Athislus or Adhel was a semi-legendary king of Sweden, who is estimated to have lived during the 6th century.
Yrsa, Yrse, Yrs or Urse was a tragic heroine of early Scandinavian legend. She is typically characterized as the wife of Swedish king Eadgils and mother of Danish king Hrólfr Kraki.
Halfdan was a late 5th and early 6th century legendary Danish king of the Scylding (Skjöldung) lineage, the son of king named Fróði in many accounts, noted mainly as the father to the two kings who succeeded him in the rule of Denmark, kings named Hroðgar and Halga in the Old English poem Beowulf and named Hróar and Helgi in Old Norse accounts.
Halga, Helgi, Helghe or Helgo was a legendary Danish king living in the early 6th century. His name would in his own language (Proto-Norse) have been *Hailaga.
Heoroweard is a character who appears in Beowulf and also in Norse legends, where he is named Hjörvarðr or Hiartuar. If he existed in real life, his name would have been Proto-Norse *Heruwarduz.
Skuld was a princess of Scandinavian legend who married Heoroweard and encouraged him to kill Hroðulf in Hrólfs saga kraka. The accounts of her vary greatly from source to source. Skuld is derived from the Old Norse verb skulla, "need/ought to be/shall be"; its meaning is "that which should become, or that needs to occur". Other similarly named characters appear in the Skjöldunga saga and the Gesta Danorum, as well as the Chronicon Lethrense.
The dog king is a Scandinavian tradition which appears in several Scandinavian sources: Chronicon Lethrense, Annals of Lund, Gesta Danorum, Heimskringla, Hversu Noregr byggðist and probably also in Skáldatal.
Ingeld or Ingjaldr was a legendary warrior who appears in early English and Norse legends. Ingeld was so well known that, in 797, Alcuin wrote a letter to Bishop Higbald of Lindisfarne questioning the monks' interest in heroic legends with: 'Quid enim Hinieldus cum Christo?' - What has Ingeld to do with Christ?
Vöggr, Vogg, Wigg or Wigge was a young 6th century man in Scandinavian legend notable for giving Hrólfr Kraki his cognomen kraki, and for avenging his death.
Wihtlæg, Whitlæg, Wighlek, Wiglecus, Wiglek, Witlac or Viglek is a legendary king of either Denmark or Angeln in Germanic legends. He is known in Saxo's kings of Denmark by the name of Vigletus.
Among the early Germanic peoples, a mead hall or feasting hall was a large building with a single room intended to receive guests and serve as a center of community social life. From the fifth century to the Early Middle Ages such a building was the residence of a lord or king and his retainers. These structures were also where lords could formally receive visitors and where the community would gather to socialize, allowing lords to oversee the social activity of their subjects.
The Gevninge helmet fragment is the dexter eyepiece of a helmet from the Viking Age or end of the Nordic Iron Age. It was found in 2000 during the excavation of a Viking farmstead in Gevninge, near Lejre, Denmark. The fragment is moulded from bronze and gilded, and consists of a stylised eyebrow with eyelashes above an oval opening. There are three holes at the top and bottom of the fragment to affix the eyepiece to a helmet. The fragment is significant as rare evidence of contemporaneous helmets, and also for its discovery in Gevninge, an outpost that is possibly connected to the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf. It has been in the collection of the Lejre Museum since its discovery, and has been exhibited internationally as part of a travelling exhibition on Vikings.
Gevninge is a small town, with a population of 1,646, in Lejre Municipality on the island of Zealand in Denmark. Its old section is located alongside a small river, Lejre Å, approximately 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) from its mouth at Roskilde Fjord.
Lejre railway station is a railway station serving the railway town of Lejre west of the city of Roskilde on the island of Zealand, Denmark. The station is located in the central part of the town and also serves the nearby village of Gammel Lejre, the Ledreborg manor house and the archaeological open-air museum Land of Legends.
Gesta Danorum, called Gesta Danorum på danskæ to distinguish it from the better known Gesta Danorum by Saxo Grammaticus, is a Danish historical chronicle written in Old Danish in Lund around the year 1300.
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