DK Eyewitness Books - Viking

22

A Viking fort

TȩȦȷȪȬȪȯȨȴȣȶȪȭȵȧȰȶȳ great circular forts in Denmark.

Two of them, at Aggersborg and Fyrkat, are on the Jutland

peninsula. The other two are at Trelleborg, on the island of

Sjælland, and Nonnebakken, on the island of Fyn. It used to

be thought that King Svein Forkbeard built them as military

camps for launching his invasion of England in 1013. But

dendrochronology (tree-ring dating) has proved that the

forts were built earlier, around 980. It is now thought that

King Harald Bluetooth had them constructed to unify his

kingdom and strengthen his rule. Bones dug up in

cemeteries outside the ramparts prove that women and

children lived there as well as men. Some of the fort

buildings were workshops, where smiths forged

weapons and jewelry from gold, silver, and iron.

Two roads criss-

crossing t he fort

THE WALLS GO UP

The first step in building a fort was clearing the

land and preparing the timber. This detail from

a 15th-century Byzantine manuscript shows

Swedish Vikings making the walls of Novgorod,

Russia, in the 10th century.

Aerial photograph of the site of the Trelleborg fortress

TRELLEBORG

The forts had a strict geometrical layout. Each one lay within a

high circular rampart—a mound of earth and turf held up by a

wooden framework. This was divided into four quadrants by

two roads, one running north-south, the other east-west. Four

long houses sat in a square in each of the quadrants. The roads

were paved with timber. Covered gateways, which may have

been topped with towers, guarded the spots where the roads

met the rampart. The largest fort, Aggersborg, was 790 ft (240 m)

in diameter. Trelleborg was much smaller, 445 ft (136 m) across.

Trelleborg is unusual because 15 extra houses were built outside

the main fort. These were protected by their own rampart. All

four forts were built on important land routes, possibly so that

King Harald could keep an eye on the area in case of rebellion.

River

Cemetery

Houses

Circular ramparts built

wit h eart h and turf, and

faced wit h wood

Extra outer rampart

Four houses around

a square yard

Ditch

Layout of the Trelleborg fortress

TRELLEBORG HOUSE, SIDE VIEW

The buildings at the forts were made

of wood, which rotted away a long time ago.

All that is left are ghostly outlines and black

holes where the posts once stood. This replica of a

house was built in 1948. It is 96 ft 5 in (29.4 m)

long. The elegant, curving roof is said to be

hog-backed in shape. House-shaped gravestones

and caskets from England give an idea of how it

once looked. Experts now believe that there was

only one roof, which reached all the way down

to the short outer posts.