barrow was erected and the stone engraved while Thyre was still living, which is by no means without example, or authority, we must, of necessity, conceive that authors have left us very imperfect details of these events, and that Thyre actually died before Gorm.
The large stone at Jellinge was erected to the memory both of Gorm and of Thyre, by their son King Harald Blaatand. It is eleven feet high, and has, on its three sides, an inscription which runs thus: "King Harald caused this barrow to be made to his father Gorm, and his mother Thyre; the same Harald who acquired all Denmark, and Norway, and Christianity as well," (that is, caused his people to be baptized.) On the third side of the stone is inscribed a figure of Christ, which is recognisable by the circumstance that in the nimbus round the head the points of a cross are to be seen. By this emblem our Saviour was always distinguished from the Saints in the early representations. The Runic stone consequently affords, by means of the inscription and the figure of Christ, a valid contemporaneous proof of the introduction of Christianity into Denmark. It is not only a memorial of Gorm and Thyre, but is equally a monument of the triumph of Christianity over paganism; and hence it may justly be styled the most remarkable monument in Denmark, if not, in the whole North.
The Runic stone at Söndevissing, in Tyrstingherred, in the district of Scanderborg, which was only discovered a few years ago, appears to have been erected about the same time as the great stone at Jellinge. The inscription is "Tuva lot görva kubl, Mistivis dotir uft muður sina, kuna Haralds kins guða Gurmssunar." That is, with the addition and explanation of certain words, "Tuva caused this barrow to be constructed; she was a daughter of Mistivi; she made it to her mother, and was the wife of Harald the Good, son of Gorm." By Harald, the son of Gorm, we cannot but suppose that Harald Blaatand is intended; and, if it were confirmed that mention is here actually made of him, this inscrip-
