Watched Places

Ancient Indonesia

The History of the Indonesian Archipelago

Indonesia

Comprising over seventeen thousand islands, Indonesia has been a strategic center of trade since ancient times, and is home to the ancient cultures of Bali, Java and Sumatra

Ancient India

The Ancient Civilizations of India

India

Home of the ancient Indus Valley civilizations, the Indian subcontinent could possibly be where the earliest civilizations originated

Ancient Arabia

The Ancient Arab World

Arabia

The Arabian peninsula has been at the crossroads of Asia, Europe and Africa since mankind's earliest migrations, becoming the center of religious awakening that spread out in four directions

Ancient Tunisia

The Ancient Punic and Carthaginian Empires

Tunisia

Tunisia is home to the ruins of the Carthaginian Empire that was defeated in the Punic Wars by Rome, before it could have become the cradle of the western world

Ancient Greece

The Ancient Aegean World

Greece

Anyone living in the western world can trace the influence the ancient Greek world had on their modern day society, from democracy to philosophy and the classical arts

Ancient Israel

The Ancient Jewish World

Israel

The lands of Judea and Israel were the ancient worlds first Jewish kingdoms, the land where David and Solomon were kings, and the Romans battled for control in the Jewish revolts

Ancient France

The Ancient World of the Gauls and Franks

France

From Clovis, the legendary first King of France, to the brutal Gallic Wars fought against Caesar's Rome, the world of ancient France is a fascinating chapter in the history of early Europe

Ancient Finland

The Ancient World of the Finnish People

Finland

The Finno-Ugric tribes that spread into the hinterlands of Northern Europe are some of the first people to migrate into Europe.



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Latest Comments

Under founding of denmark the picture of a statue is not gorm the old, but holger danske/ ogier the dane.
Holger Danske is normally regarded as a Danish national symbol. He is first mentioned in literature as one of the French king Charlemagne’s warriors in La Chanson de Roland from around 1060. In this Chanson he is called Oger le Danois, his name being the only link to Denmark. In the later epos La Chevalerie d’Ogier de Danemarche (1200-1215) he is portrayed as the main character and is described as a son of the Danish king Gudfred (d. 810), an enemy of Charlemagne.

His first appearance in Nordic literature is in the saga Karlemagnússaga from the latter part of the 1200s, which in the main consists of passages translated from French texts. His name here is given as Oddgeir danski. This saga was translated into Danish during the 1400s and thereafter Holger Danske became part of Danish folklore with several accounts in the Danish Chronicle first published around 1509.

The Danish national writer Hans Christian Andersen in 1845 wrote the fairytale Holger Danske, where he is described as sitting fast asleep in the casemates of the Castle of Kronborg, with his beard having grown into the table in front of him and his sword in his lap, prepared to wake up to action in case of Denmark being threatened from outside forces. Today his statue can be seen in the casemates of Kronborg as described by Hans Christian Andersen.

During the German occupation of Denmark in 1940-45 one of the principal partisan organizations was named after Holger Danske.

in Ancient Denmark