Jelling Mounds and Moravian Church Settlements

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Jelling Mounds

   Denmark's most important field is Jelling, which has two large grass mounds, a medieval church standing between them, and two carved runestones that count among the most important monuments of the country. The stones were raised in the tenth century. The smaller one was made by King Gorm the Old in memory of his wife Thyra, and the larger, with a crucified Christ on one face, was made by his son Harald Bluetooth, who boasted that he had won all of Denmark and Norway and made the Danes Christian. That is why it is often called the birth certificate of the nation. Harald's nickname, incidentally, is where the Bluetooth wireless logo comes from, a bind-rune of his initials.

   Read the complete Jelling Mounds write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Jelling Mounds is where the day begins. Next is Nonnebakken.

2. 2. Nonnebakken

   Nonnebakken is a modest mound in the suburbs of Odense, easy to miss and worth finding. In the late tenth century, in the time of Harald Bluetooth, the Danish king ordered the building of a group of circular fortresses, each laid out with a ring rampart and gates facing the four directions, and the one at Nonnebakken is the Funen member of that family. Its name means the nuns' hill, which probably refers to a later medieval convent on the spot, and the earthwork lies in a residential area, so you will be walking among houses, gardens and quiet streets rather than open countryside.

   Read the complete Nonnebakken write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Nonnebakken comes up about 88 km into the recorded legs. Next is Moravian Church Settlements.

3. 3. Moravian Church Settlements

   Christiansfeld is a town designed on a drawing board, and it still looks like it. It was founded in 1773 by the Moravian Church, the Brethren, a Protestant community from Bohemia and Saxony that had its centre at Herrnhut, and it was laid out on a strict grid around a central square, with a church at its heart. The houses are built of yellow brick, with red tile roofs, and they stand in neat rows with a gentle uniformity that has survived two and a half centuries. In 2015 the town was added to the World Heritage list.

   Read the complete Moravian Church Settlements write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 179 km into the recorded legs you reach Moravian Church Settlements. Next is back through Nonnebakken.

4. 4. back through Nonnebakken

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Nonnebakken write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Nonnebakken, late in the day. Next is Jelling Mounds.

5. 5. Jelling Mounds

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Jelling Mounds write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Jelling Mounds. That is the ride.