Editing Harald Bluetooth (section)

=== Harald's Rebellion ===
{{Main articles|German–Danish war of 974}}
[[File:Harald bluetooth.PNG|thumb|right|Harald's kingdom (in red) and his vassals and allies (in yellow){{efn|As set forth in ''Heimskringla'', ''Knytlinga Saga'', and other medieval Scandinavian sources.}}]]
In the wake of [[Otto I]]'s death, Harald attacked Saxony in 973. [[Otto II]] counter-attacked Harald in 974, conquering Haithabu, Dannevirke and possibly large parts of Jutland.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Bagge|first=Sverre|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt3fgk28|title=Early state formation in Scandinavia|date=2009|publisher=Austrian Academy of Sciences Press|isbn=978-3-7001-6604-7|volume=16|pages=148|jstor=j.ctt3fgk28|access-date=22 June 2021|archive-date=25 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210625003912/https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt3fgk28|url-status=live}}</ref> Harald regained some of the seized territory in 983 when Otto II was defeated by the Saracens.<ref name=":0" />

As a consequence of Harald's army having lost to the Germans at the [[Danevirke]] in 974, he no longer had control of Norway, and Germans settled back into the border area between Scandinavia and Germany. They were driven out of Denmark in 983 by an alliance of [[Obodrite]] soldiers and troops loyal to Harald, but soon after, Harald was killed fighting off a rebellion led by his son Sweyn. He is believed to have died in 986, although several accounts claim 985 as his year of death. According to [[Adam of Bremen]] he died in Jumne/[[Jomsborg]] from his wounds.<ref name="academia.edu">[https://www.academia.edu/9647410/A_unique_object_from_Harald_Bluetooth_s_time._2015_ Rosborn, Sven (2015) ''A unique object from Harald Bluetooth´s time?'' Malmö: Pilemedia, pp. 4–5] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170201085538/http://www.academia.edu/9647410/A_unique_object_from_Harald_Bluetooth_s_time._2015_ |date=1 February 2017 }} www.academia.edu</ref> His body was brought back to the Trinity Church in Roskilde where he was buried.<ref>{{Citation|last=Skovgaard-Petersen|first=Inge|title=The making of the Danish kingdom|date=2003|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-history-of-scandinavia/making-of-the-danish-kingdom/BABD7AE993BEE083EC9483C8DBE4352E|work=The Cambridge History of Scandinavia: Volume 1: Prehistory to 1520|pages=176|editor-last=Helle|editor-first=Knut|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-47299-9|access-date=8 January 2022|archive-date=8 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220108222656/https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-history-of-scandinavia/making-of-the-danish-kingdom/BABD7AE993BEE083EC9483C8DBE4352E|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Curmsun Disc, found in Groß-Weckow, [[Pomerania]], (after 1945 [[Wiejkowo]]) is inscribed with "ARALD CVRMSVN" (Harald Gormson), calling him, in abbreviated Latin, "king of Danes, Scania, [[Jomsborg]], town of [[Oldenburg in Holstein|Aldinburg]]". Based on this, Swedish archaeologist Sven Rosborn has proposed that Harald is buried at the church there, close to Jomsborg, in what is now Poland.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Monika Scislowska |title=Is Danish king who gave name to Bluetooth buried in Poland? |url=https://www.startribune.com/is-danish-king-who-gave-name-to-bluetooth-buried-in-poland/600194497/ |work=[[StarTribune]] |agency=AP |date=31 July 2022 |access-date=10 August 2022 |archive-date=10 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220810093648/https://www.startribune.com/is-danish-king-who-gave-name-to-bluetooth-buried-in-poland/600194497/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="academia.edu"/><ref>{{Cite web |date=19 August 2022 |title=Har svensk arkæolog bevist, at Harald Blåtand blev begravet med kæmpeskat i Polen? |url=https://videnskab.dk/kultur-samfund/har-svensk-arkaeolog-bevist-at-harald-blaatand-blev-begravet-med-kaempeskat-i-polen |access-date=25 August 2022 |website=videnskab.dk |language=da |archive-date=25 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220825115359/https://videnskab.dk/kultur-samfund/har-svensk-arkaeolog-bevist-at-harald-blaatand-blev-begravet-med-kaempeskat-i-polen |url-status=live }}</ref>

From 1835 to 1977, it was wrongly believed that Harald ordered the death of the [[Haraldskær Woman]], a [[bog body]] previously thought to be [[Gunnhild, Mother of Kings]] until [[radiocarbon dating]] proved otherwise.<ref>" [http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/bog/gunhild.html Haraldskaer Woman: Bodies of the Bogs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070821184603/http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/bog/gunhild.html |date=21 August 2007 }}", ''[[Archaeology (magazine)|Archaeology]]'', [[Archaeological Institute of America]], 10 December 1997</ref>

The [[Hiddensee treasure]], a large trove of gold objects, was found in 1873 on the German island of [[Hiddensee]] in the Baltic Sea. It is believed that these objects belonged to Harald's family.<ref>Pontus Weman Tell (2016), [https://www.academia.edu/29233334/The_Curmsun_Disc_-_Harald_Bluetooth_s_Golden_Seal ''The Curmsun Disc – Harald Bluetooth´s Golden Seal?''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120115645/https://www.academia.edu/29233334/The_Curmsun_Disc_-_Harald_Bluetooth_s_Golden_Seal |date=20 November 2018 }} www.academia.edu</ref>

Harald introduced the first nationwide coinage in Denmark.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Moesgaard|first=Jens Christian|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nWnIsgEACAAJ|title=King Harold's Cross Coinage: Christian Coins for the Merchants of Haithabu and the King's Soldiers|date=2015|publisher=University Press of Southern Denmark|isbn=978-87-7602-323-2|language=en|access-date=26 November 2021|archive-date=14 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230414022818/https://books.google.com/books?id=nWnIsgEACAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>