Culture of Denmark

It’s difficult to draw a clear distinction between the periods of human history, but the year 1047, when Sven the Second Estridsen became the King of Denmark, signifies the transition from the Viking Age to the Middle Ages in Denmark. A characteristic feature of the Danish Middle Ages was that since that times the Danish rulers were paying less attention to the Vikings’ forays and robberies, trying to built an unified state under the command of the king and his vassals.

To the south of Vojens city on the place where a modern stable will be constructed, traces from two houses, dated by the Bronze Age has been found. This is an extremely rare find.

Kronborg is situated near the town of Helsingør (immortalised as Elsinore in Shakespeare's Hamlet) on the extreme tip of Zealand at the narrowest point of the Øresund, the sound between Denmark and Sweden. In this part, the sound is only 4 km wide, hence the strategic importance of maintaining a fortress at this location commanding one of the few outlets of the Baltic Sea. The castle has for centuries been one of the most important Renaissance castles in Northern Europe and was added to UNESCO's World Heritage Sites list on November 30, 2000.

Tycho Brahe (Danish Tyge Ottesen Brahe, 1546 — 1601) is probably the most famous observational astronomer of the sixteenth-century, although is not always clear whether he is better remembered for the fact that his data provided the basis for the work of Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), or because of the more colourful aspects of his life and death.

Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen (June 7, 1879 – December 21, 1933) was a Danish polar explorer and anthropologist. He has been called the "father of Eskimology" and was the first European to cross the Northwest Passage via dog sled. He remains well known in Greenland, Denmark and among Canadian Inuit.

Литература Дании имеет близкую связь с богатой древнесеверной (исландской) литературой, бессмертными памятниками которой являются "Старшая" и "Младшая Эды" и исландские саги. Собственно же датская литература начинается лишь со средних веков, причем родным языком пользуется по преимуществу литература народная, устная, письменная же литература пользуется почти исключительно латинским. 

The national flag of Denmark is red with a white Scandinavian cross. It’s the eldest state flag on the planet, that is documentally affirmed. It’s official name is Dannebrog, which means “Danish cloth” (old Danish).

In the New Age the borders of the Danish language area underwent lots of changes. In Norway the Danish literary language was brought. Further, according to the Roskilde Peace (1658) Denmark ceded Skone, Halland and Blekinge to Sweden. In these territories Danish as the official and church language was substituted to Swedish. It happened during a period of one generation.

The oldest monuments of the Danish language are runic writings, the very early of them date back to the time of about 800 A.D. On the period from 800 to 1100 A.D. there fall about 200 writings, that were found within the Danish language area, including Skone and Slesvig up to Danevirke. Half of them was created in the period (950-1025), and consequently this period can be considered as a time of flourishing of runes in Denmark.

На протяжении нескольких последних десятилетий были раскопаны культовые постройки и жертвенники Эпохи викингов, но только сейчас археологи могут рассказать об их историческом фоне и предназначении. Новые археологические данные проясняют несколько описаний дохристианской религии викингов и их ритуалов в древнескандинавских сагах и стихах Эдды, которые впервые были записаны в раннем Средневековье и до настоящего времени были не очень понятны.