Bluetooth Technology, a 10th Century King & a Female Warrior

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Author, Physician, Philosopher, Polyhistor

2 years ago

In community: History, Myths, Legends & Mysteries(be45)

Topics: History, Technology, Harald Bluettooth, Bluetooth, Gorm the Old, ...

The colour blue, a contemporary technology, the trouble of an 8th century king, and a female war leader... what do they have in common? Well, the common denominator of these seemingly disparate topics is a king with toothache.

King Harald Gormsson

Harald Gormsson became king in Denmark in 958, upon the death of his father, Gorm the Old. (The year of the death of Gorm the Old is not absolutely certain; 985 is likely, but it can have been later.) Harald was also king of Norway a couple of years in the 970s. His reign there, based on the assassination of the Norwegian king Harald II Greycloak, was not very stable though.

He also pursued some attempts to win power outside Denmark and Norway, but with poor result. In the end, it is possible that his kingship in Denmark ended by him being removed by his son, Sweyn Forkbeard. This, however, is not verifiable. Historical facts mingle with myth in a way where we cannot discern any undisputable truth, and old sources are sometimes contradictory.

King Harald is best remembered for two things:

He was the first Christian King in Denmark, although sources differ as to the details of his conversion.

He had a dead tooth assuming a blue-black colour, which gave him his nickname, “Blåtand“ (in English meaning “Bluetooth”). Posterity remembers him as King Harald Bluetooth.

Bluetooth

Bluetooth is a system wirelessly to transfer data between fixed and mobile devices. The development of the technology, started at Ericsson in Sweden in 1989, although it was not available to general public until ten years later. Then the project had five members; apart from Ericsson, it was also IBM, Intel, Nokia, and Toshiba.

The name, “Bluetooth” is taken from King Harald Bluetooth. The inspiration seems to be twofold. One source being the novel “The Long Ships” by Frans G. Bengtsson. It is a story about Vikings, and Harald Bluetooth is a part of it. (For those of you being interested in historical novels, I really recommend Frans G. Bengtsson's novel. Then you may also get acquainted with an author who would have been a part of the classics of world literature, had he just been born into a large language.)

The other source of inspiration was King Harald's rune stone, found in another book, “A History of the Vikings” by Gwyn Jones.

The Bluetooth symbol, or logo, is a rune, a so-called bind rune.

Bluetooth was a working name of the project, but the developers never intended it to become known to the public under that name. For that, they had two suggestions, “PAN” or “RadioWire”. However, the name “Bluetooth” quickly stuck and spread around the world; it became impossible to change. For that reason, all of us today use a technology, named after a dead tooth of 10th century viking age king.

Thyra Dannebod

Thyra Dannebod, was the mother of Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson. She was married to Denmark's king Gorm the Old and was a tough lady; it has been related that she led her own army against the Germans.

It is hard to find trustworthy sources to information about Thyra. We don't even know from where she came. There are sources claiming she came from Jutland or Holstein, while others say that her father was Ethelred, King of England. None of this is verifiable.

Thyra's husband and King Harald Bluetooth's father, Gorm the Old, is known as the first historically recognised king of Denmark.

According to Danmarks Riges Krønike by Arild Huitfeldt, a legend tells us this about Gorm's death (although the truth can be questioned, contradictory information exists).

The three sons were Vikings in the truest sense, departing Denmark each summer to raid and pillage. Harald came back to the royal enclosure at Jelling with the news that his brother Canute had been killed in an attempt to capture Dublin, Ireland. Canute was shot with a coward's arrow while watching some games at night. No one would tell the king in view of the oath the king had made. Queen Thyra ordered the royal hall hung with black cloth and that no one was to say a single word. When Gorm entered the hall, he was astonished and asked what the mourning colours meant. Queen Thyra spoke up: "Lord King, you had two falcons, one white and the other gray. The white one flew far afield and was set upon by other birds which tore off its beautiful feathers and is now useless to you. Meanwhile, the grey falcon continues to catch fowl for the king's table." Gorm understood immediately the Queen's metaphor and cried out, "My son is surely dead, since all of Denmark mourns!" "You have said it, your majesty," Thyra announced, "Not I, but what you have said is true." According to the story Gorm was so grieved by Canute's death that he died the following day.