Viking Ring Fortress Unearthed In Denmark, Dating Back More Than 1,000 Years

A Viking ring fortress has been found in Denmark, a centuries old structure that historians believe was a training ground for the invasion of England.

The fortress was found on the Danish island of Zealand, the first structure of its kind to be found in the last 60 years.

Archeologists believe the ring-shaped fortress may have been used as a training ground for the invasion of England.

“This is great news,” said Lasse Sonne, a Viking historian from the Saxo Institute at the University of Copenhagen.

“Although there were Vikings in other countries, these circular fortresses are unique to Denmark. Many have given up hope that there were many of them left.”

The Viking ring fortress had a diameter of 475 feet, with a 35-foot wide circular rampart surrounded by a palisade of wooden spikes.

There had been seven known Viking ring fortresses found, spread out between Denmark and the southern part of modern Sweden. Six of them date to the reign of Harold Bluetooth of Denmark, while the seventh fort was dated to roughly the same time period.

There is some disagreement on the exact age of the Viking ring fortress, the Telegraph noted:

Like previously discovered ring fortresses, the Vallø Borgring is thought to date back to the late tenth century and the reign of Harald Bluetooth, the king who Christianised Denmark and Norway.

However, some historians contend the fortresses were constructed by his son Sweyn Forkbeard, the first Danish King of England, as a military training camp or barracks from which to launch his invasions of England. Sweyn Forkbeard seized London in 1013 and was declared King of England on Christmas Day of that year.

Dating is being conducted on the latest Viking ring fortress to determine exactly when it was constructed.