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the 'Road Of Bones'
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or undermined. In Denmark we have the around 26,000 tumulus and they are scattered throughout the country. On this route you visit King Harald Bluetooth and Harald's mother, Queen Thyra, who are buried in two great mounds in Jelling. And in fact, The Danish Monarchy can be traced back to these vikings. And in Aalborg, you find Lindholm Hoje, which is a major viking burial site. In between you pass a lot of tumulus. 201 km.
Maybe you have heard or even seen the video Long Way Round? It is a video about Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman, English actors, who drive round the world on their motorbikes. The 'Road Of Bones' they drove, is a road through the Russian Far East, which connects Magadan and Yakutsk. The route 'Road Of Bones' in Denmark, brings you from Jelling in Central Jutland to North Jutland. It all begins in the small village called Jelling. Here is King Harald Bluetooth buried with his mother Queen Thyra in their own tumulus at Jelling church. Harald Bluetooth was the son of King Gorm the Old and of Thyra Dannebod. He died around 985 having ruled as King of Denmark from c. 958.
There are also two runestones at Jelling church. The stones tells the story about Harald's conversion to Christianity, it says: 'King Harald bade these memorials to be made after Gorm, his father, and Thyra, his mother. The Harald who won the whole of Denmark and Norway and turned the Danes to Christianity.' The runic inscriptions are the most well known in Denmark.
When you hit the road, there are around 20 kilometers of fine small roads closeup to nature. After that, 5 kilometers of the best gravel road even closer to nature. But be aware of pedestrians, they seam two glue to this part of the route. After this, the route mainly follow 'the Army Road', which is an ancient trackway in Jutland. The route is also called 'the Cattle Road' and mainly follow the Central Jutland ridge.
Comming in with the tide, you will eventually show up at Lindholm Hoje in Aalborg. Lindholm Hoje is a massive viking burial site and former settlement. Over 700 graves with marked by stones. The oldest dates from around the year 500 and the latest around 1100. The majority of the burials discovered were cremations, and it appeared that the tendency towards cremation or burial depended upon the period, cremation supplanting inhumation in the Viking Age. There has also been found remains of villages. This settlement was at an important crossing over the Limfjord, a stretch of water which divides Central Jutland with North Jutland.
A museum has opened in 1992. In 2008 the museum was enlarged, and a new exhibition of pre-history in the area of the Limfjord opened.