Editing Denmark (section)

== Etymology ==
{{Main|Etymology of Denmark}}

The etymology of the name "Denmark", the relationship between "Danes" and "Denmark", and the emergence of Denmark as a unified kingdom are topics of continuous scholarly debate.<ref>Kristian Andersen Nyrup, Middelalderstudier [http://www.nyrups.dk/Historie/MiddelalderIndex.htm Bog IX. Kong Gorms Saga] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100109141345/http://www.nyrups.dk/Historie/MiddelalderIndex.htm |date=9 January 2010 }}</ref><ref>''Indvandrerne i Danmarks historie'', Bent Østergaard, Syddansk Universitetsforlag 2007, {{ISBN|978-87-7674-204-1}}, pp. 19–24</ref> This is centred primarily on the morpheme ''"Dan"'' and whether it refers to the [[Danes (tribe)|Dani]] or a historical person [[Dan (king)|Dan]] and the exact meaning of the -''"mark"'' ending.

Most etymological dictionaries and handbooks derive "Dan" from a word meaning "flat land",<ref name="et1" /> related to German {{lang|de|Tenne}} "threshing floor", English ''den'' "cave".<ref name="et1">[[Jan de Vries (philologist)|J. de Vries]], ''Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch'', 1962, 73; [[:da:Niels Åge Nielsen|N. Å. Nielsen]], ''Dansk etymologisk ordbog'', 1989, 85–96.</ref> The element ''mark'' is believed to mean [[woodland]] or [[border]]land (see [[March (territory)|marches]]), with probable references to the border forests in south [[Duchy of Schleswig|Schleswig]].<ref>Navneforskning, Københavns Universitet{{cite web|url=http://navneforskning.ku.dk/stednavne.doc/betydninger.doc |title=Udvalgte stednavnes betydning |access-date=27 January 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060716144406/http://navneforskning.ku.dk/stednavne.doc/betydninger.doc |archive-date=16 July 2006 }}</ref>

The first recorded use of the word ''Danmark'' within Denmark itself is found on the two [[Jelling stones]], which are [[runestone]]s believed to have been erected by [[Gorm the Old]], considered to be Demark's first king, ({{circa|955}}) and [[Harald Bluetooth]] ({{circa|965}}). The larger of the two stones is popularly cited as the "baptismal certificate" ({{lang|da|dåbsattest}}) of Denmark,<ref>{{cite book |last=O'Donoghue |first=Heather |title=Old Norse-Icelandic Literature: A Short Introduction |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lY-g2MTFh9gC&pg=PT27 |year=2008 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0-470-77683-4 |page=27 |access-date=21 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412172508/https://books.google.com/books?id=lY-g2MTFh9gC&pg=PT27 |archive-date=12 April 2016 |url-status=live  }}</ref> though both use the word "Denmark", in the [[accusative case|accusative]] {{runic|ᛏᛅᚾᛘᛅᚢᚱᚴ}} {{lang|non|tanmaurk}} ({{IPA|[danmɒrk]}}) on the large stone, and the [[Genitive case|genitive]] {{runic|ᛏᛅᚾᛘᛅᚱᚴᛅᚱ}} "tanmarkar" (pronounced {{IPA|[danmarkaɽ]}}) on the small stone, while the [[Dative case|dative]] form ''tąnmarku'' (pronounced {{IPA|[danmarkʊ]}}) is found on the contemporaneous Skivum stone. The inhabitants of Denmark are there called {{lang|da|tani}} ({{IPA|[danɪ]}}), or "Danes", in the accusative.