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Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ...
: ''Chronicle of
Lejre
Lejre is a railway town, with a population of 3,127 (1 January 2022),Danish medieval work from the 12th century, written in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
.
Themes
Unlike ''
Chronicon Roskildense
''Chronicon Roskildense'' (Danish: ''Roskildekrøniken'' English: ''Roskilde Chronicle'') is a small Danish historical work, written in Latin. It is one of the oldest known attempts to write a coherent account of Danish history by a Danish aut ...
'', which deals primarily with information presented as real historical facts after the introduction of
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...
in
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark
, establish ...
, ''Chronicon Lethrense'' is a recording of folklore about the old pre-Christian Danish kings and the adventure stories that were eventually associated with them. In that sense it is not much different from the first part of Sven Aggesøn's '' Brevis Historia Regum Dacie'' or
Saxo Grammaticus
Saxo Grammaticus (c. 1150 – c. 1220), also known as Saxo cognomine Longus, was a Danish historian, theologian and author. He is thought to have been a clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, the main advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark ...
' ''
Gesta Danorum
''Gesta Danorum'' ("Deeds of the Danes") is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th-century author Saxo Grammaticus ("Saxo the Literate", literally "the Grammarian"). It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark an ...
'', though considerably smaller and of much lesser quality. It is sometimes referred to as the "Chronicle of the Kings of Lejre."
One of the noted aspects of ''Chronicon Lethrense'' is the writer's deep hatred of all things German, which at times takes on epic proportions. This German hatred can also be traced, although to a lesser degree, in Aggesøn's '' Brevis Historia Regum Dacie'', and to a much lesser degree in Saxo's ''
Gesta Danorum
''Gesta Danorum'' ("Deeds of the Danes") is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th-century author Saxo Grammaticus ("Saxo the Literate", literally "the Grammarian"). It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark an ...
''. The second book of Saxo's ''Gesta Danorum'', starting at
Halfdan Scylding
Halfdan (, ang, Healfdene, Medieval : "half Dane") was a late 5th and early 6th century legendary Danish king of the Scylding (Skjöldung) lineage, the son of king named Fróði in many accounts, noted mainly as the father to the two kings who ...
, through the fourth book, the reign of Dan II, is based on the genealogy of the Chronicon, though substantial additional mythical material has been used.
The original version of ''Chronicon Lethrense'' is certainly a work of its own. Its stories are interesting and over time copies found its way to other places; there was a copy in the fourteenth-century Latin Annals of the
Cathedral
A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...
of
Lund
Lund (, , ) is a city in the southern Swedish province of Scania, across the Öresund strait from Copenhagen. The town had 91,940 inhabitants out of a municipal total of 121,510 . It is the seat of Lund Municipality, Scania County. The Öre ...
. Because of this, ''Chronicon Lethrense'' is often connected to ''
Annales Lundenses
The ''Annals of Lund'' (Latin: ''Annales Lundenses'', Danish: ''Lundeårbogen'') is a Latin set of annals written in Lund around 1250–1307. Several manuscript copies have survived to the modern day. The text is composed of two parts: the first ...
'', of which it is now a part, but it is unlikely the chronicle was originally included in this anthology.
History
The chronicle is believed to have been composed in the second half of the 12th century, probably around 1170, and preceded the writing of the far more famous and verbose ''Gesta Danorum'' by ''Saxo'', with which it shares many traditions not found in other sources. Either ''Chronicon Lethrense'' or a closely allied tradition appears to have been one of Saxo's many sources. The ''Gesta Danorum'' (not to be confused with Saxo's work of the same title) is a later text in East Norse (Old Danish) derived from the ''Chronicon Lethrense'' with corrections from other sources by, presumably, its translator according to ''Introduction to Old Norse'' (E. V. Gordon; A. R. Taylor, ed. Oxford University Press. 1957). The "Gesta" is the text translated by Peter Tunstall below; it is not technically the Chronicon Lethrense, which is in Latin.
Authorship
Although the author is unknown, there is some conjecture that he may have been a
clerk
A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...
tightly linked to the
Roskilde Cathedral
Roskilde Cathedral ( da, Roskilde Domkirke), in the city of Roskilde on the island of Zealand (Denmark), Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark, is a cathedral of the Lutheranism, Lutheran Church of Denmark.
The cathedral is the most importan ...
. This is based on the great interest the author has in the city of
Roskilde
Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 51,916 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...
, which he describes in vivid detail, chronicling how it got its name and promising immortality to the city through his writing.