Harald Bluetooth, The Namesake Of The Modern Communication Technology
Wikimedia CommonsHarald Bluetooth likely had a rotten tooth that appeared blue or black.
Most people have heard of this next famous Viking even if they know nothing about him. His name is Harald “Bluetooth” Gormsson, and he was a king who bridged the pagan Viking world and Christian Europe.
The son of King Gorm the Old and Thyra Danebod, Bluetooth ruled as king of Denmark from around 958 to 986, introduced Christianity to the country, and consolidated his rule over most of Jutland and Zealand. He was also king of Norway for a few years following the assassination of King Harald Greycloak in the 970s.
His name “Bluetooth” likely originated from a rotten tooth that appeared blue or black, as his Danish name, Blåtand, suggests — “blå” meaning blue and “tand” meaning tooth.
According to the National Museum of Denmark, Bluetooth’s conversion to Christianity was probably political. Facing a threat from the Christian rulers of the Holy Roman Empire, he may have decided to convert to avoid war. Bluetooth also may have seen a political advantage in aligning himself with the Church.
In any case, Bluetooth ensured a smooth transition from paganism to Christianity by not forcing his people to give up their old beliefs and traditions.
Wikimedia CommonsThe Jelling Stone in Denmark.
One of Bluetooth’s most impressive legacies is the Jelling Stone, often called the “birth certificate of Denmark,” which he commissioned to proclaim his achievements: subduing all of Denmark and Norway and converting the Danes to Christianity. Harald also built the Trelleborgen — circular Viking fortresses constructed in the 970s and 980s according to uniform geometric plans to control and defend his realm.
Some sources say his son Sweyn Forkbeard forcibly deposed him from his Danish throne before his death around 985 or 986. According to Adam of Bremen’s History of the Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen, Harald Bluetooth died in Jomsborg from wounds sustained fighting his son’s rebellion, and his body was brought back to Trinity Church in Roskilde where he was buried.
Fast forwarding about a thousand years, a new technology emerged on the scene in 1997. This technology was given the codename “Bluetooth” by Intel engineer Jim Kardach. According to the Bluetooth website, Kardach said in the meeting, “King Harald Bluetooth… was famous for uniting Scandinavia just as we intended to unite the PC and cellular industries with a short-range wireless link.”
Wikimedia CommonsThe Bluetooth logo.
Evidently, the name stuck. The Bluetooth logo even combines two Nordic runes for the initials of King Harald Bluetooth: H (ᚼ) and B (ᛒ).
