Editing Hedeby (section)

===Origins===
Hedeby is first mentioned in the Frankish chronicles of [[Einhard]] (804), who was in the service of [[Charlemagne]], as a place Charlemagne stayed in the summer of 804, at the end of the [[Saxon Wars]]. In 808 the Danish king [[Gudfred|Godfred]] (Lat. Godofredus) destroyed a competing [[Early Slavs|Slav]] trade centre named [[Reric]], and it is recorded in the Frankish chronicles that he resettled the merchants from there to Hedeby. This may have provided the initial impetus for the town to further develop.<ref name="kalmring">{{ cite book |last=Kalmring |first=Sven | date=2010 |title=Der Hafen von Haithabu |trans-title=The Harbour of Haithabu |url=https://macau.uni-kiel.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/macau_derivate_00004519/Der_Hafen_von_Haithabu.pdf |language=German |location=Neumünster |publisher=Wachholtz Verlag |isbn=9783529014147 |pages=42–43}}</ref>

The same sources record that Godfred strengthened the [[Danevirke]], an earthen wall that stretched across the south of the Jutland peninsula. The Danevirke joined the defensive walls of Hedeby to form an east–west barrier across the peninsula, from the marshes in the west to the Schlei inlet leading into the Baltic in the east.

The town itself was surrounded on its three landward sides (north, west, and south) by earthworks. At the end of the 9th century the northern and southern parts of the town were abandoned for the central section. Later a 9-metre (29-ft) high semi-circular wall was erected to guard the western approaches to the town. On the eastern side, the town was bordered by the innermost part of the Schlei inlet and the bay of [[Haddebyer Noor]].