What is this mysterious ring in the Danish countryside and from whence did it come?

Archaeologists working in Denmark have discovered a distinctive ring-shaped Viking fortress, which is thought by some historians to have been used to launch an invasion of England.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The fortress was found on Zealand, a Danish island roughly 30 miles south of Copenhagen, and is the fifth circular fortress to be unearthed, and the frist to be found in over 60 years.

You can be a light in the darkness with "prayer and action."

"This is great news," said Lasse Sonne, a Viking historian from the Saxo Institute at the University of Copenhagen.

"Although there were Vikings in other countries, these circular fortresses are unique to Denmark. Many have given up hope that there were many of them left."

Like the other earlier discovered ring fortresses, the Vallo Borgring is thought to date back to the reign of Harald Bluetooth, the king who brought Christianity to Denmark and Norway in the late tenth century.

Other historians contend that the fortresses were in fact constructed by Harald's son, Sweyn Forkbeard, the first Danish King of England, used as military training camps or barracks' to launch the invasions of England.

In 1013 Sweyn sized London, and was declared King of England on Christmas Day that same year.

While only a small portion of this find has been uncovered, it appears to match Denmark's other ring forts, sticking to the standard geometric design.

The fortress has a diameter of 475 feet, and consists of a 35-foot wide circular rampart surrounded by a wooden palisade. It is the third largest ring fort of its type yet discovered.

Four gates face outward in different compass directions, and there is an interior courtyard symmetrically divided into four quarters, which would have had Viking longhouses.

Denmark's ring fortresses are aknown as Trelleborgs, named for the location where the first ring fort was discovered in western Zealand.

The other three are located in Aggersborg and Fyrkat in northern Jutland, and Nonnebakken near Odense.

---

'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'