Page:Primevalantiquit00wors.djvu/143

Rh numerous small kingdoms of Denmark into one connected whole, married Thyre the daughter of a petty king of Jutland or Holstein, This queen, who is celebrated in legend and in song, distinguished herself even in early youth by a love for her country, and an ability and integrity, which secured her a lasting memorial in the hearts of the Danes. It is narrated that Gorm while he was wooing her had dreams, which Thyre interpreted, and by this means averted a dreadful famine from Denmark. Out of gratitude the Danes named her Danebod, or the "Ornament of Denmark," a name which she well deserved, since she subsequently erected in Sleswig the celebrated wall or Danewall, (Danevirke,) which served to protect Denmark against hostile incursions.

On her decease, Thyre Danebod was interred after the old northern custom in a vast barrow, which is still to be seen at Jellinge, in Jütland, close to the north side of the church. On the barrow a reservoir was gradually formed, to which miraculous powers were attributed, and in the course of years the sick and the lame made pilgrimages to the spot. On the water becoming dry, it was desirable to cleanse out the funnel-shaped cavity which formed the reservoir, and thus an opportunity was given for examining the tumulus. The searchers first came to a number of small stones, and next to a remarkable burial chamber formed of wood. It was about twenty-two feet long, four and a half high, and covered with beams of oak. The walls, which had been covered with woollen cloth, were formed of oak planks, behind which was a bed of clay firmly trodden down, on which the beams of the ceiling rested. The flooring consisted of oak boards, which were very carefully placed close to each other without being actually joined together. The ceiling had also been provided with oak planks. In this, which was doubtless at that time regarded as a very splendid mausoleum, no remains of bones were discovered, but a chest was found in the form of a round coffer, which was almost consumed by decay. Near it lay the figure of a bird, formed of thin plates of gold, and the silver