Harald 'Bluetooth' Gormsson, king of Denmark (and later Norway) in the late 900s AD was the grandfather of King Canute (Viking King of England 1016-1035). Harald was born in Jelling where WE are today. He was responsible for bringing Christianity to the pagans and erected the Jelling stones in honour of his parents. The inscriptions on the stones are runic and are regarded as the symbol of baptism for Denmark.
Bluetooth technology was named after Harald because he unified Denmark and Norway, much like the technology was to unify computers and cellular phones. The bluetooth logo is made up from the Nordic runes of his initials H and B, but you probably already knew that.
I apologise for the poor quality of the photos.
I'm certain you already know the connection with Cumbria but I'll remind you that Eric Bloodaxe (my middle name LOL) died and was buried on Stainmoor. His monument is just to the side of the A66 and I bet most of us have driven past many times... I think Eric was Harald's grandfather, perhaps?
ReplyDeleteWell Nige, no we didn't know that! We've done some digging and Bloodaxe was actually Bluetooth's cousin as their grandfather was Gorm The Old. Some great names when you get into it :-)
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