Your Phone Carries a Viking King

The little blue symbol on your phone is over a thousand years old: two interlocking runes – the initials of the Viking king Harald Bluetooth, who once united Denmark. The story behind it is genuinely documented, and lovelier than you'd think.

Who Was Harald Bluetooth?

Harald Gormsson (Old Norse Haraldr Blátǫnn), son of King Gorm the Old and Queen Thyra, ruled Denmark from about 958 to 985/86. He completed the unification of the realm, at times ruled parts of Norway too, and introduced Christianity as the royal religion. In the end he was overthrown by his own son, Sweyn Forkbeard, and died soon after.

Where Does the “Bluetooth” Come From?

The Jelling Stones – Denmark's “Baptismal Certificate”

Around the year 965 Harald had a huge runestone raised at Jelling in memory of his parents. It bears the oldest depiction of Christ in Scandinavia and names the country “Denmark” – which is why it is often called Denmark's “birth or baptismal certificate”. Since 1994 the stones, mounds and church of Jelling have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

“King Harald ordered this monument made in memory of Gorm, his father, and in memory of Thyra, his mother; that Harald who won for himself all of Denmark and Norway and made the Danes Christian.”Inscription of the large Jelling stone, translation after the National Museum of Denmark

A King Who Connected – with Rampart and Bridge

Harald was a master of the power statement. Under him arose the geometrically precise Trelleborg ring fortresses (Trelleborg, Fyrkat, Aggersborg, Nonnebakken; a fifth, Borgring, was confirmed in 2014) – dated by dendrochronology to c. 975–980, some built in a single winter season. Add to that the nearly 760-metre Ravning bridge (c. 985) and the extension of the border rampart Danevirke. Anyone who builds like that can coordinate a whole realm.

From King to Wireless Technology

Now the punchline. In 1996/97 Intel, Ericsson and Nokia were looking for a common standard so that devices from different makers could “talk” to each other wirelessly. The Intel engineer Jim Kardach had heard Scandinavian history from a colleague on a trip – from the historical novel “The Long Ships” by Frans G. Bengtsson, in which Harald Bluetooth appears. Back home, Kardach found in the reference work “A History of the Vikings” the image of the Jelling stone and the line that Harald had “united all of Denmark”.

The Logo Is a Bind Rune

And the blue sign itself? It is a bind rune – two runes of the Younger Futhark laid over each other: Hagall (ᚼ, sound value “H”) and Bjarkan (ᛒ, sound value “B”) – the initials of Harald Bluetooth.

Runes Preserve Names

That is exactly what fascinates us about runes: they hold a name fast – durably, clearly, across centuries, as with Harald. Try it yourself: with our Rune Name Generator you can write your own name in real runes and save it as an image. More on the signs themselves is in our runes post.

And if the image is to become a lasting piece – engraved in slate, wood or glass – you've come to the right place.

Write a name in runes More posts