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Kingdom of Denmark
c.AD 400 - Present Day
Rulers of the Scandinavian kingdoms emerge from legendary origins.
The Danes were part of a Scandinavian tribal collective which
suffered divisions in the fourth and fifth centuries. As a result, the Danes
migrated southwards from Scandinavia, entering Jutland and the Cimbric
Peninsula in the fifth century, a relatively peaceful southwards movement that
nevertheless put pressure on the Jutes and their Anglian overlords and
contributed to their migration to Britain. The Anglians were honourable
allies of the Danes, but may have seen the migration as an opportunity
not to be missed.
The Danish kingdom seems to have already been established by the early fifth
century, but the earliest records of its kings is fragmentary and sometimes
allusive. However, some data can be built up from those records, especially
from the Old English poems, Beowulf, and the fragment known as The
Fight at Finnesburg. These notes are taken from the Alan Bliss/JRR
Tolkein examination of the latter.
Dating the early rulers precisely contains some uncertainty. Dates vary from
listing to listing, as does the order of succession on occasion, so this is
an amalgamation of the available data. Dates which blatantly divert from the
main body are shown in red text.
(Modern data supplied by Andreas von Millwall.) |
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Dan mikilláti (Magnificent) |
Son of Danp , who was the brother-in-law of Domar. |
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Dan is the legendary founder of the Danish kingdom. He is mentioned in
several medieval Scandinavian texts, which establish that he is either the
son of Danp or one of the sons of King Ypper of Uppsala (the other two being
Nori, who later rules Norway,
and Østen, who later rules the
Swedes). |
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Fróði mikilláti |
Son. |
? - c.448 |
Hnæf |
Brother. b.c.420-5. |
c.448 |
Hnæf seems to be a sub-king or prince of the Danes. He winters with his sister, Hildeburh,
who is
married to Finn, king of the Frisians.
During fighting that appears to be sparked by a feud between the Jutish
allies on each side, Hnæf is killed at the 'Fight at Finnesburg'. Finn
is subsequently killed by Hengist, Hnæf's Anglian comrade in arms.
Soon afterwards, Hengist leads his people to
Britain where he begins the conquest of
Kent. |
|
? - c.495 |
Healfdene Scylding / Halfdan / Haldan |
Son of Fróði, and nephew of Hnæf b.c.430-5. |
|
c.495 - c.525 |
Hrothgar Scylding / Ro |
Second son. b.c.460. Visited by Beowulf c.520. |
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Wealhtheow / Wealthow |
Wife. A Wulfing, 'wolfling'. |
|
c.490s |
Wealhtheow is the queen of the Danes, wife of Hrothgar. He appears in Norse
Sagas and two Old English epic poems, Beowulf and Widsith,
while she is a Wulfing, ancestor (or mother) of the Wuffingas who, within
twenty years, are to be found creating their own kingdom of the
East
Angles in
Britain. |
|
6th century? |
Halga / Helge / Helghe |
Son of Healfdene. |
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Snær |
Son of Frosti. Oppressive & dishonest. Gained throne by trickery. |
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Snær's unwelcome rule over the Danes occurs while Adils is ruling the
Swedes, placing the former
in the mid to late sixth century. |
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Hrólf Kraki / Rolf Krage |
Son of Halga. |
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|
588? - 647 |
Ivar Vidfamne |
|
647? - 735 |
Harald I Hildetand |
Or d.c.750. |
735 - 750 |
Sigurd I Ring |
Or c.770-812. |
c.750 |
Randver |
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803 - 850 |
Canute I |
|
850 - 854 |
Eric / Horik I |
|
853 |
The Danes launch a campaign against the
Couronians. However, as part of the feared 'Eastern Vikings', the Couronians
fight the Danes in a sea battle, defeating them and enslaving half their
number. |
854 - 883? |
Eric / Horik II |
|
845 |
Ragnarr Lothbrok leads the Viking sack of
Frankish city of
Paris. |
c.860 - 865 |
Ragnarr Lothbrok |
Also king of
Sweden (860-865). |
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Ivarr the Boneless |
Son. Viking king of
Dublin (853-873). |
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Halfdan |
Brother. King of the Scandinavian kingdom of
York (875-877). |
865 - 873 |
Sigurd II Snogoje |
|
873 - 884 |
Hardeknut / Knut
/ Canute I |
|
879 |
A Danish army under Guthrum in England formalises its rule of eastern and
northern territories under the Peace of Wedmore. Guthrum gains the Danish
kingdom of
East Anglia,
founded to exist alongside the similarly-formed Scandinavian kingdom of
York. |
884 - 885 |
Frodo |
|
885 - 899 |
Harald II Parcus |
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Helgi |
|
911 |
To
keep the peace in the face of Viking attacks, Charles III of the
Franks grants territory in
the north to the Danish Viking chieftain, Rollo. The resulting duchy of Normandy
proves to be far more powerful than the king could have feared.
 |
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The Vikings who settled in Normandy would have seemed a rough
and ready lot to the relatively sophisticated French court
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|
918 |
The Danish kingdom of
East Anglia
in England falls to Edward the Elder of
Wessex, as
he begins to unify the country under one king. |
fl c.925 |
Olof the Brash /
Olav / Ole den Frøkne |
|
fl 934 |
Gyrd and Gnupa |
|
fl c.935 |
Sigtrygg
Gnupasson / Sigerich |
Deposed. |
c.935 |
Sigtrygg Gnupasson is mentioned in 935, although this conflicts with a date
of 917 in which he is deposed by Harthacnut. |
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Harthacnut |
|
? - 950 |
Gorm the Old |
|
950 - 991 |
Harald III Bluetooth |
First Christian king. |
991 - 1014 |
Sweyn I Forkbeard |
Occupied the
English
throne (1013-1014). Died unexpectedly. |
991 |
The Battle of Maldon on the Essex coast of
England is lost when the forces of Olaf Tryggvason (Sweyn's main rival
for the Danish throne and soon to be king of
Norway) defeat those of
the ealdorman of Essex. The Vikings begin to demand heavy tribute from the
Saxon lands. |
1002 |
In
England there is a
massacre of Danes not of the Danelaw, which apparently includes the sister
of Sweyn Forkbeard. This prompts an increasing number of Danish raids on
England by Danish forces.
|
1013 - 1014 |
Sweyn Forkbeard occupies
England as the English king seeks exile in
Normandy. The occupation ends with Sweyn's death on 2 February
1014, and King Ethelred fights to
expel Sweyn's son, Canute, who nevertheless gains the throne in 1017.
|
1014 - 1018 |
Harold IV |
Son. |
1018 - 1035 |
Knut / Canute II the Great |
Brother. Also king of
Norway (1028-1035) &
England
(1017-1035). |
1035 |
Canute's death sees his great Scandinavian empire begin to break up. By the
late 1020s he had been able to claim kingship over
England, Denmark,
Norway, and part of
Sweden.
Scotland
had also submitted to his overlordship, and Viking raids against the British
Isles had been ended. Now his brother Harold gains England, his son
Hardicanute gains Denmark, and another son, Sweyn, gains
Norway. |
1035 - 1042 |
Hardicanute /
Knut / Canute III |
Son. Also king of
England
(1040-1042). |
1042 |
Hardicanute dies unexpectedly at a wedding feast in
England,
and Edward, son of the
Anglo-Saxon king, Ethelred II, is perfectly positioned to ascend the
throne, ending the dynasty of Danish kings and replacing it with a restored
Anglo-Saxon dynasty. |
1042 - 1047 |
Magnus the Good |
King of
Norway. |
1047 - 1074 |
Sweyn II |
|
1074 - 1080 |
Harold V Hen |
|
1080 - 1086 |
Knut / Canute IV the Holy |
|
1085 - 1095 |
Olaf IV the Hungry |
|
1095 - 1103 |
Eric I the Evergood |
|
1103 - 1134 |
Niels the Elder |
|
1134 - 1137 |
Eric II |
|
1137 - 1146 |
Eric III |
|
1146 - 1157 |
Sweyn III |
|
1157 |
Knut / Canute V Magnussen |
|
1157 - 1182 |
Valdemar I the Great |
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|
1168 |
The island of Rügen and an area of the adjoining mainland off the coast of
Pomerania are taken as a Danish
possession, forcing the Slav rulers to become vassals. |
1170 |
Denmark is fast rising as a great military and merchant power, and it is in
its interest to end the occasional
Estonian and
Couronian pirate attacks that
threatened its Baltic trade. To that end, a Danish fleets now makes an attack against Estonia. |
1182 - 1202 |
Knut / Canute VI the Pious |
|
1185 |
An invasion of
Pomerania secures overlordship of the duchy
from the
Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick
Barbarossa. |
1194 - 1197 |
Danish fleets makes a second and third attack on Estonia
in 1194 and 1197, but the efforts probably fail to end the problem, leading
to more direct action in 1206. |
1202 - 1241 |
Valdemar II the Victorious |
|
1206 |
Valdemar II and archbishop Andreas Sunonis launch a raid on
Ösel (the
modern Estonian island of
Saaremaa). The islanders are forced to submit and the Danes build a fortress
there, but they can find no volunteers to man it. Relinquishing their brief
occupation of the island, they burned the fortress and leave the island.
However, they lay claim to Estonia as their possession, which claim the Pope
recognises. |
1219 - 1227 |
A Danish fleet is led by Valdemar
II to attack the trading town of
Reval in North Estonia on 15 June. The battle is a hard-fought one and the Danes are close
to retreating and admitting defeat when, according to tradition, a red cloth
with a white cross falls from the sky, inspiring them to fight on and
conquer the town. The Danes adopt the flag as their own, and it remains the
world's oldest national flag. They also establish a stone castle overlooking Tallinn, and Valdemar appoints Bishop Andreas Sunonis as the first regent of
Tallinn.
Over the course of the next eight years the Danes set about consolidating
their hold on the country. |
1227 - 1238 |
In the same year in which they lose the overlordship of
Pomerania to the
Holy Roman Empire,
and are defeated at the Second Battle of Bornhöved which loses them parts of
the principality of
Rügen, the Danes are temporarily eclipsed in North
Estonia by the
Livonian Order of Knights. In 1238,
North Estonia is returned to the Danes under the terms of the
Treaty of Stensby, which is mediated by the Pope. |
1241 - 1250 |
Eric IV |
|
1250 - 1252 |
Abel |
|
1252 - 1259 |
Christopher I |
|
1259 - 1286 |
Eric V |
|
1286 - 1319 |
Eric VI |
|
1320 - 1332 |
Christopher II |
|
1332 - 1340 |
The ruler of Denmark
is unknown. |
1340 - 1375 |
Valdemar III |
|
1343 |
The St George's Day Uprising in
Estonia sees
a revolt defeated by the Livonian Knights, using a mixture of treachery and battle. Three years later, the Danish king sells North
Estonia to the Knights. All of Estonia is now ruled by a
German nobility class. |
1376 - 1387 |
Olaf V |
Also king Olaf IV of
Norway. |
1380 |
The Union of Denmark
&
Norway. Denmark also gains Greenland & Iceland. |
1387 - 1412 |
Queen Margaret I |
|
1397 |
The Union of Kalmar.
Denmark &
Norway are united with
Sweden. |
1412 - 1439 |
Eric VII |
Also Eric III of
Norway, XIII of
Sweden. |
|
1438 |
The island of Rügen is lost by Denmark. |
1439 - 1448 |
Christopher III |
Son. Also Christopher of
Norway and
Sweden. |
1448 - 1481 |
Christian I of Oldenburg |
King of
Norway (1439-1448) and
Sweden (1448-1481). |
1481 - 1513 |
John / Hans |
Also John of
Norway and II
Sweden. |
1513 - 1523 |
Christian II |
King of
Norway and
Sweden. |
1523 |
Sweden splits from the Union.
Denmark still governs
Norway. |
1523 - 1533 |
Frederick I |
|
1534 - 1558 |
Christian III |
|
1558 - 1588 |
Frederick II |
|
1559 - 1562 |
During the Livonian Wars (1558-1583) the bishopric of
Courland falls into Danish
hands, and control of both it and the bishopric of
Ösel-Wiek are handed to
Prince Magnus of Denmark. In 1562, Courland is acquired by
Lithuania. |
1572 |
The former principality of
Ösel is transferred to
the direct administration of Denmark. |
1588 - 1648 |
Christian IV |
|
1645 |
The Swedish gain all of
North
Estonia
when the Danes hand over the island of
Ösel (Saaremaa) under the Treaty of Brömsebro. |
1648 - 1670 |
Frederick III |
|
1670 - 1699 |
Christian V |
|
1699 - 1730 |
Frederick IV |
|
1721 |
The
settlement in Greenland had since died out, so re-colonisation begins. |
1730 - 1746 |
Christian VI |
|
1746 - 1766 |
Frederick V |
|
1766 - 1808 |
Christian VII |
|
1807 |
Denmark is threatened with invasion by Napoleonic
France, with the
French army massed on its southern border. Napoleon
Bonaparte wants the Danish fleet after losing his own at Trafalgar in 1805,
so to prevent this,
Britain mounts a raid on Copenhagen and captures the fleet. |
1808 - 1839 |
Frederick VI |
|
1814 |
For
having supplied forces to
France's Napoleon
Bonaparte (despite not having any real choice), Denmark loses
Norway to
Sweden at
the end of the Napoleonic Wars.
However, it gains the minor duchy of
Saxe-Lauenburg. |
1839 - 1848 |
Christian VIII |
|
1848 - 1863 |
Frederick VII |
|
1863 - 1906 |
Christian IX |
|
1874 |
Iceland is granted autonomy. |
1906 - 1912 |
Frederick VIII |
Younger brother of King George I of
Greece. |
1912 - 1947 |
Christian X |
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Prince Carl |
Became King Haakon
VII of Norway in 1905. |
1918 |
Iceland
becomes administratively independent, but still recognises the Danish
crown as its head of state. |
1944 |
With
Denmark under Nazi
German occupation, Iceland declares its independence and recreates
its republic. |
1947 - 1972 |
Frederick IX |
|
1972 - Present |
Queen Margaret II |
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