Knudeklint and Jelling Mounds

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Knudeklint

   Fur is a small island in the Limfjord in northern Jutland, reached by a short ferry crossing, and on its northern coast, the cliffs of Knudeklint show one of the most remarkable geological sections in Denmark. The cliffs are made of moler, a light, porous clay formed from the skeletons of countless tiny algae, diatoms, that settled on the bottom of a sea some fifty-five million years ago. Through the pale moler run dark bands of volcanic ash, around a hundred and eighty of them, from eruptions in the North Atlantic as the ocean opened between Greenland and Europe. The layers have been folded and tilted by the glaciers of the ice age, creating dramatic patterns in the cliff face.

   Read the complete Knudeklint write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Knudeklint is where the day begins. Next is Fyrkat.

2. 2. Fyrkat

   Around the year 980, Harald Bluetooth, king of the Danes, built a ring of fortresses across his kingdom, and Fyrkat is the best-preserved of them. It is a perfect circle of earth and timber rampart about 120 metres across, with four gates at the compass points and streets crossing in the middle, and inside the ring, sixteen longhouses arranged in groups of four around a square. Tree-ring dating of the timbers points to the early 980s, and the neat plan and the way it echoes the other ring forts at Trelleborg and Aggersborg suggest a single royal design. Why the forts were built is still argued over, though they probably combined military, administrative and royal power at a time when Harald was uniting Denmark and bringing in Christianity.

   Read the complete Fyrkat write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Fyrkat comes up about 74 km into the recorded legs. Next is Jelling Mounds.

3. 3. 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

   about 212 km into the recorded legs you reach Jelling Mounds. Next is back through Fyrkat.

4. 4. back through Fyrkat

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Fyrkat write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Fyrkat, late in the day. Next is Knudeklint.

5. 5. Knudeklint

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Knudeklint write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Knudeklint. That is the ride.