Er den danske konge, der gav navn til Bluetooth, begravet i Polen?

Mere end 1.000 år efter hans død i det nuværende Polen, er en europæisk konge, hvis kælenavn lever videre gennem trådløs teknologi, i centrum af en arkæologisk strid.

Kronikker fra middelalderen siger, at kong Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson af Danmark fik sit øgenavn takket være en tand, sandsynligvis død, der så blålig ud. En kronik fra dengang siger også, at vikingekongen blev begravet i Roskilde i slutningen af ​​det 10. århundrede.

Men en svensk arkæolog og en polsk forsker hævdede for nylig i separate publikationer, at de har udpeget hans mest sandsynlige gravsted i landsbyen Wiejkowo, i et område i det nordvestlige Polen, der havde bånd til vikingerne på Haralds tid.

Marek Kryda, forfatter til bogen "Viking Poland," fortalte The Associated Press, at en "hedensk høj", som han hævder, at han har lokaliseret under Wiejkowos romersk-katolske kirke fra det 19. århundrede sandsynligvis rummer kongens rester. Kryda sagde, at geologiske satellitbilleder, der var tilgængelige på en polsk regeringsportal, afslørede en rund form, der lignede en vikingegravhøj.

Men den svenske arkæolog Sven Rosborn siger, at Kryda tager fejl, fordi Harald, der konverterede fra hedenskab til kristendommen og grundlagde kirker i området, skal have fået en passende grav et sted på kirkegården. Wiejkowo's Church of The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary står på toppen af ​​en lille rund knold.

Historikere på Nationalmuseet i København siger, at de er bekendt med "antydningen" om, at Wiejkowo er Haralds gravsted.

Rosborn detaljerede sin forskning i bogen "Vikingekongens gyldne skat" fra 2021, og Kryda udfordrede nogle af svenskerens resultater i sin egen bog udgivet i år.

Harald, who died in 985, probably in Jomsborg—which is believed to be the Polish town of Wolin now—was one of the last Viking kings to rule over what is now Denmark, northern Germany, and parts of Sweden and Norway. He spread Christianity in his kingdom.

Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson named its Bluetooth wireless link technology after the king, reflecting how he united much of Scandinavia during his lifetime. The logo for the technology is designed from the Scandinavian runic letters for the king's initials, HB.

Rosborn, the former director of Sweden's Malmo City Museum, was spurred on his quest in 2014 when an 11-year-old girl sought his opinion about a small, soiled coin-like object with old-looking text that had been in her family's possession for decades.

Experts have determined that the cast gold disk that sparked Maja Sielski's curiosity dated from the 10th century. The Latin inscription on what is now known as the "Curmsun disk" says:"Harald Gormsson (Curmsun in Latin) king of Danes, Scania, Jomsborg, town Aldinburg."

Sielski's family, who moved to Sweden from Poland in 1986, said the disk came from a trove found in 1841 in a tomb underneath the Wiejkowo church, which replaced a medieval chapel.

The Sielski family came into the possession of the disk, along with the Wiejkowo parish archives that contained medieval parchment chronicles in Latin, in 1945 as the former German area was becoming part of Poland as a result of World War II.

A family member who knew Latin understood the value of the chronicles—which dated as far back as the 10th century—and translated some of them into Polish. They mention Harald, another fact linking the Wiejkowo church to him.

The nearby Baltic Sea island and town of Wolin cultivates the region's Viking history:it has a runic stone in honor of Harald Bluetooth and holds annual festivals of Slavs and Vikings.

Kryda says the Curmsun disk is "phenomenal" with its meaningful inscription and insists that it would be worth it to examine Wiejkowo as Harald's burial place, but there are no current plans for any excavations. + Udforsk yderligere

Archaeologists find silver treasure on German Baltic island

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