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Centuries Collide

Cody Crouch: Harald Bluetooth - The Viking And The Wireless Rev | Centuries Collide

January 30, 2025 | S1:E6

Cody Crouch: Harald Bluetooth - The Viking And The Wireless Rev | Centuries Collide
What does a Viking and wireless technology have in common? - Unity. In this episode we discover the man who inspired the name of Bluetooth technology and how he connected his nation and brought Christianity to Scandinavia.
#ChurchHistory #AmericanHistory #WorldHistory #War #History #Culture #Technology #Celebrity #inActive #CodyCrouch #Documentary

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Show Timecode
Centuries Collide | Cody Crouch: Harald Bluetooth - The Viking And The Wireless Rev | Centuries Collide | January 30, 2025
  • (music playing)
  • 00:01:29.989 --> 00:00:00.667
  • - i'm cody crouch.
  • 00:00:00.667 --> 00:00:01.868
  • I'm traveling the globe, uncovering the origins of the
  • 00:00:01.868 --> 00:00:04.504
  • Stuff that we use every day.
  • 00:00:04.504 --> 00:00:06.639
  • On centuries collide , we're recreating some of history's
  • 00:00:06.739 --> 00:00:08.775
  • Greatest moments exactly how they happened...
  • 00:00:08.775 --> 00:00:11.277
  • Well, almost exactly.
  • 00:00:11.277 --> 00:00:13.580
  • The gutenberg press.
  • 00:00:13.580 --> 00:00:18.251
  • - charge!
  • 00:00:18.585 --> 00:00:20.353
  • - this is history like you've never seen it before.
  • 00:00:20.353 --> 00:00:23.356
  • (music playing)
  • 00:00:23.356 --> 00:00:30.964
  • So, stop me if you've never done this before.
  • 00:00:30.964 --> 00:00:33.032
  • [camera sounds] let me just send that to you really quick.
  • 00:00:33.032 --> 00:00:35.869
  • Do you have your bluetooth on?
  • 00:00:35.869 --> 00:00:37.403
  • There you are.
  • 00:00:37.403 --> 00:00:38.438
  • There, you should have it.
  • 00:00:38.438 --> 00:00:39.873
  • That's pretty cool.
  • 00:00:39.873 --> 00:00:41.474
  • But we've all done that, like, a million times, right?
  • 00:00:41.474 --> 00:00:43.977
  • It's just one of the many simple ways that we can all utilize
  • 00:00:43.977 --> 00:00:47.147
  • Bluetooth technology.
  • 00:00:47.147 --> 00:00:50.083
  • Sometimes we can take it for granted,
  • 00:00:50.950 --> 00:00:52.352
  • But this tech is an absolute modern marvel.
  • 00:00:52.352 --> 00:00:54.888
  • It helps us wirelessly connect to the world around us in an
  • 00:00:54.888 --> 00:00:57.357
  • Instant.
  • 00:00:57.357 --> 00:00:58.525
  • And its future applications are seemingly endless.
  • 00:00:58.525 --> 00:01:00.994
  • But did you know that bluetooth technology isn't just connected
  • 00:01:02.328 --> 00:01:04.864
  • To our devices?
  • 00:01:04.864 --> 00:01:05.899
  • It's also connected to an ancient king,
  • 00:01:05.899 --> 00:01:09.802
  • A king who united a kingdom over
  • 00:01:09.903 --> 00:01:12.005
  • 1,000 years ago by connecting to the people around him.
  • 00:01:12.005 --> 00:01:15.675
  • Oh, he's also connected to a hollywood star.
  • 00:01:15.775 --> 00:01:19.078
  • Stick around,it's time for centuries collide.
  • 00:01:19.078 --> 00:01:22.482
  • (music playing)
  • 00:01:22.482 --> 00:01:26.653
  • The convenience of bluetooth technology is undeniable.
  • 00:01:26.653 --> 00:01:28.922
  • [phone chimes] sorry, a text from my mom.
  • 00:01:28.922 --> 00:01:32.358
  • Oh, "doing good.
  • 00:01:32.792 --> 00:01:33.726
  • Shooting my show." like i was saying,
  • 00:01:33.726 --> 00:01:35.995
  • Having our devices connected via bluetooth is super convenient.
  • 00:01:35.995 --> 00:01:39.899
  • I don't-- [phone chimes] sorry.
  • 00:01:39.899 --> 00:01:42.001
  • Text from my mom.
  • 00:01:42.001 --> 00:01:43.670
  • "i love you,too." i go--what was i saying?
  • 00:01:44.571 --> 00:01:47.307
  • Oh, yeah.
  • 00:01:47.307 --> 00:01:48.608
  • Bluetooth is great when you're not being bombarded by texts
  • 00:01:48.608 --> 00:01:50.476
  • From your mom.
  • 00:01:50.476 --> 00:01:51.978
  • It has allowed our world to go wireless,
  • 00:01:51.978 --> 00:01:54.214
  • And has found its way into virtually every device,
  • 00:01:54.214 --> 00:01:57.183
  • From smartphones, headphones, to speakers, stereos, printers,
  • 00:01:57.183 --> 00:02:01.688
  • Cameras, mobile devices.
  • 00:02:01.688 --> 00:02:03.223
  • If it doesn't have a wire, it most likely connects via
  • 00:02:03.223 --> 00:02:06.392
  • Bluetooth.
  • 00:02:06.392 --> 00:02:07.627
  • But what does this modern technology have anything to do
  • 00:02:07.627 --> 00:02:09.896
  • With an ancient king?
  • 00:02:09.896 --> 00:02:11.231
  • Obviously, bluetooth technology wasn't around 1,000 years ago.
  • 00:02:11.231 --> 00:02:13.733
  • But to start the story, i want to rewind the clock to 1937.
  • 00:02:13.733 --> 00:02:19.505
  • And like all good origin stories,
  • 00:02:19.505 --> 00:02:21.274
  • It starts with a beautiful actress, a secret technology,
  • 00:02:21.274 --> 00:02:24.777
  • And, of course, torpedoes.
  • 00:02:24.777 --> 00:02:27.046
  • [torpedo explodes] fade in hedy lamarr, 24,
  • 00:02:27.046 --> 00:02:30.083
  • An austrian-born actress, flees her marriage from a nazi arms
  • 00:02:30.083 --> 00:02:33.586
  • Dealer, and comes to hollywood in hopes of becoming a star.
  • 00:02:33.586 --> 00:02:36.923
  • It wouldn't take long for studio executives to notice the beauty
  • 00:02:37.023 --> 00:02:39.726
  • Of hedy lamarr.
  • 00:02:39.726 --> 00:02:40.927
  • She would help usher in the golden age of hollywood.
  • 00:02:40.927 --> 00:02:42.862
  • She would star alongside legends like jimmy stewart, clark gable,
  • 00:02:42.862 --> 00:02:46.065
  • And judy garland.
  • 00:02:46.065 --> 00:02:47.367
  • While hollywood directors wanted her pretty face to grace the
  • 00:02:47.367 --> 00:02:50.403
  • Silver screen, the american military wanted her exceptional
  • 00:02:50.403 --> 00:02:53.973
  • Mind to help improve their war machines.
  • 00:02:53.973 --> 00:02:56.776
  • This glamorous superstar didn't just have the beauty,
  • 00:02:57.877 --> 00:03:00.013
  • She also had the brains.
  • 00:03:00.013 --> 00:03:01.648
  • Her best-known role outside of the silver screen was a
  • 00:03:01.648 --> 00:03:04.751
  • Collaboration in which she assisted in creating a guiding
  • 00:03:04.751 --> 00:03:07.020
  • System for torpedoes.
  • 00:03:07.020 --> 00:03:09.188
  • That's right, this hollywood bombshell had a thing for bombs.
  • 00:03:09.188 --> 00:03:13.559
  • [torpedo explodes] lamarr and her lab partner used piano rolls
  • 00:03:13.559 --> 00:03:17.130
  • To generate jumping radio frequencies.
  • 00:03:17.130 --> 00:03:19.532
  • This was later coined as spread-spectrum technology.
  • 00:03:19.532 --> 00:03:23.002
  • This bombshell's invention prevented nazi forces from
  • 00:03:23.002 --> 00:03:26.472
  • Jamming the signal of the torpedo guidance systems,
  • 00:03:26.472 --> 00:03:29.208
  • Allowing ships to located enemy submarines and relay their
  • 00:03:29.208 --> 00:03:32.545
  • Position to allied aircraft above.
  • 00:03:32.545 --> 00:03:34.614
  • And guess what.
  • 00:03:34.614 --> 00:03:35.915
  • This technology was used to make one of the most important
  • 00:03:35.915 --> 00:03:38.251
  • Inventions of all time, wi-fi.
  • 00:03:38.251 --> 00:03:41.788
  • That's right, a form of spread-spectrum technology is
  • 00:03:41.788 --> 00:03:44.557
  • Used in virtually every wi-fi and bluetooth device to this
  • 00:03:44.557 --> 00:03:48.594
  • Very day.
  • 00:03:48.594 --> 00:03:49.829
  • So, now that we know how spread-spectrum technology came
  • 00:03:49.829 --> 00:03:52.565
  • To be, we can finally get it connected to our ancient king,
  • 00:03:52.565 --> 00:03:55.968
  • King harald gormsson, or as he's way better known,
  • 00:03:55.968 --> 00:03:59.739
  • King harald bluetooth.
  • 00:03:59.739 --> 00:04:02.241
  • During the development of another top-secret technology,
  • 00:04:02.342 --> 00:04:05.445
  • In toronto in the 1990s, software engineers at intel,
  • 00:04:05.445 --> 00:04:08.681
  • Ericsson, nokia, and ibm were struggling to find the perfect
  • 00:04:08.681 --> 00:04:12.218
  • Codename for their top secret project.
  • 00:04:12.218 --> 00:04:14.454
  • So, after one particularly unproductive day,
  • 00:04:14.454 --> 00:04:17.323
  • A couple of the engineers went out for a drink to decompress.
  • 00:04:17.323 --> 00:04:20.960
  • Their names were jim kardach, from intel, and sven mattison,
  • 00:04:20.960 --> 00:04:23.930
  • From ericsson.
  • 00:04:23.930 --> 00:04:25.198
  • - good to meet you.
  • 00:04:25.198 --> 00:04:25.932
  • - likewise.
  • 00:04:25.932 --> 00:04:26.899
  • So happy to be here.
  • 00:04:26.899 --> 00:04:28.167
  • - yeah, i'm happy, too.
  • 00:04:28.167 --> 00:04:29.135
  • I don't get to meet people very often.
  • 00:04:29.135 --> 00:04:30.570
  • - i can tell.
  • 00:04:30.570 --> 00:04:31.704
  • - sven had just finished reading a book about a
  • 00:04:31.704 --> 00:04:33.039
  • Particular scandinavian king, king harald bluetooth.
  • 00:04:33.039 --> 00:04:36.409
  • - so, do you do any reading?
  • 00:04:36.409 --> 00:04:38.144
  • - mainly some graphic novels occasionally,
  • 00:04:38.144 --> 00:04:41.848
  • The latest manga hit, but mostly comic books.
  • 00:04:41.848 --> 00:04:45.418
  • - i've been doing this reading about this ancient king,
  • 00:04:45.418 --> 00:04:48.921
  • A scandinavian king, who united a nation,
  • 00:04:48.921 --> 00:04:52.125
  • Just like our technology unites devices.
  • 00:04:52.125 --> 00:04:54.761
  • His name was king harald.
  • 00:04:54.761 --> 00:04:56.929
  • Now, what do you say we use his name to name our tech?
  • 00:04:56.929 --> 00:05:00.833
  • - so, we name our technology harald?
  • 00:05:00.833 --> 00:05:03.569
  • - well, his full name was harald gormsson,
  • 00:05:03.569 --> 00:05:06.906
  • But his nickname was bluetooth.
  • 00:05:06.906 --> 00:05:10.576
  • - bluetooth!
  • 00:05:10.576 --> 00:05:12.211
  • We could name our tech bluetooth!
  • 00:05:12.211 --> 00:05:14.514
  • We got to tell the guys back at the office.
  • 00:05:14.514 --> 00:05:16.149
  • - ok, i'll use my phone that hasn't been invented yet,
  • 00:05:16.149 --> 00:05:19.218
  • But that has our technology on it.
  • 00:05:19.218 --> 00:05:20.753
  • - after all, the ancient king's story of uniting his diverse
  • 00:05:20.753 --> 00:05:23.823
  • Country with christianity was a perfect analogy for what they
  • 00:05:23.823 --> 00:05:27.427
  • Were trying to do, unite diverse technology.
  • 00:05:27.427 --> 00:05:30.229
  • But it wasn't that simple.
  • 00:05:30.229 --> 00:05:31.831
  • The software engineers had come up with another name.
  • 00:05:31.831 --> 00:05:33.766
  • Are you ready?
  • 00:05:33.766 --> 00:05:34.767
  • This is good.
  • 00:05:34.767 --> 00:05:35.601
  • They wanted to call it pan.
  • 00:05:35.601 --> 00:05:44.343
  • - it's not cool.
  • 00:05:44.777 --> 00:05:45.878
  • And i know cool.
  • 00:05:45.878 --> 00:05:47.280
  • - yeah, i mean, pan?
  • 00:05:47.280 --> 00:05:49.115
  • Like, peter pan, the peanut butter? or...
  • 00:05:49.115 --> 00:05:51.651
  • - i think it's like the frying pan.
  • 00:05:51.651 --> 00:05:53.352
  • - oh, ok.
  • 00:05:53.352 --> 00:05:54.554
  • - you know, like you're cooking up some technology.
  • 00:05:54.554 --> 00:05:56.122
  • - not like the frying kind or the lying kind or even the
  • 00:05:56.222 --> 00:05:59.926
  • Flying kind, but the lame name king.
  • 00:05:59.926 --> 00:06:03.496
  • Pan was an acronym for personal area network.
  • 00:06:03.496 --> 00:06:07.366
  • Yeah, boring.
  • 00:06:07.800 --> 00:06:09.402
  • (music playing)
  • 00:06:09.402 --> 00:06:16.175
  • Fortunately, this is where the internet actually did a good
  • 00:06:16.175 --> 00:06:18.578
  • Thing and totally ruined it for them.
  • 00:06:18.578 --> 00:06:20.480
  • You see, the name pan didn't work well with search engines
  • 00:06:20.480 --> 00:06:23.816
  • Because it's way too ambiguous.
  • 00:06:23.816 --> 00:06:25.117
  • I mean, google it.
  • 00:06:25.117 --> 00:06:26.853
  • Actually, we'll do that for you.
  • 00:06:26.853 --> 00:06:29.188
  • ( music playing)
  • 00:06:29.188 --> 00:06:33.125
  • See?
  • 00:06:33.125 --> 00:06:33.993
  • Lame.
  • 00:06:33.993 --> 00:06:37.096
  • Engineers, along with the marketing teams,
  • 00:06:38.064 --> 00:06:39.966
  • Realized that jim's codename was both memorable and unique,
  • 00:06:39.966 --> 00:06:43.402
  • And that it was way better than pan.
  • 00:06:43.402 --> 00:06:45.705
  • So, the name stuck, and it became officially known as
  • 00:06:45.705 --> 00:06:49.408
  • Bluetooth.
  • 00:06:49.408 --> 00:06:49.909
  • (music playing)
  • 00:06:49.909 --> 00:06:56.849
  • But why was king bluetooth's name still so perfect 1,000
  • 00:06:56.849 --> 00:06:59.785
  • Years later for a technology that unites a bunch of random
  • 00:06:59.785 --> 00:07:03.122
  • Devices?
  • 00:07:03.122 --> 00:07:04.056
  • Well, in order to understand that,
  • 00:07:04.056 --> 00:07:06.259
  • We need to head to the place where the king first made his
  • 00:07:06.259 --> 00:07:08.227
  • Mark, his den-mark.
  • 00:07:08.227 --> 00:07:11.030
  • Get it?
  • 00:07:11.030 --> 00:07:12.298
  • Denmark.
  • 00:07:12.298 --> 00:07:13.833
  • - denmark!
  • 00:07:14.200 --> 00:07:15.401
  • [laughter] that's even better than what i was thinking.
  • 00:07:15.401 --> 00:07:18.371
  • - we're going to denmark. let's go.
  • 00:07:19.205 --> 00:07:20.106
  • (music playing)
  • 00:07:20.106 --> 00:07:28.648
  • Welcome to copenhagen, the current capital of denmark. i
  • 00:07:28.648 --> 00:07:31.651
  • Say "current" because the star of our show, king harald,
  • 00:07:31.651 --> 00:07:34.754
  • Originally had the capital somewhere else.
  • 00:07:34.754 --> 00:07:37.623
  • But we'll get to that a little bit later.
  • 00:07:37.623 --> 00:07:39.225
  • King harald ruled here in denmark over 1,000 years ago,
  • 00:07:39.225 --> 00:07:43.596
  • From around the years 940 to 986.
  • 00:07:43.596 --> 00:07:46.532
  • His full name was harald gormsson.
  • 00:07:46.532 --> 00:07:49.302
  • And he got that name from his father,
  • 00:07:49.302 --> 00:07:51.671
  • The previous king whose name was gorm the old.
  • 00:07:51.671 --> 00:07:54.874
  • That made harald gorm's son, as in gormsson.
  • 00:07:54.874 --> 00:07:59.712
  • Get it?
  • 00:07:59.712 --> 00:08:00.680
  • Oh, and while on the subject of names,
  • 00:08:00.680 --> 00:08:02.315
  • Nobody really knows how he got the nickname bluetooth.
  • 00:08:02.315 --> 00:08:05.484
  • Some sources say that he actually had a rotten tooth in
  • 00:08:05.484 --> 00:08:08.721
  • His head that appeared to be a bluish color.
  • 00:08:08.721 --> 00:08:11.324
  • But we'll never be certain.
  • 00:08:11.324 --> 00:08:14.260
  • Now, it's hard to imagine today anyone taking seriously a leader
  • 00:08:14.360 --> 00:08:18.664
  • Named gorm the old, but as far as ancient, viking leaders go,
  • 00:08:18.664 --> 00:08:23.035
  • He was actually a pretty good guy.
  • 00:08:23.035 --> 00:08:25.571
  • Back in the day, the lands of scandinavia were divided into
  • 00:08:25.571 --> 00:08:29.742
  • Tribes, and those tribes were divided by whatever gods that
  • 00:08:29.742 --> 00:08:33.579
  • They worshiped.
  • 00:08:33.579 --> 00:08:34.747
  • King gorm and his wife thyra wanted to change that.
  • 00:08:34.747 --> 00:08:38.050
  • Prior to christianity, the lands of denmark, norway,
  • 00:08:39.185 --> 00:08:42.321
  • And sweden worshiped a mixture of deities.
  • 00:08:42.321 --> 00:08:45.224
  • The aesir gods were amongst the most popular, odin, loki, thor.
  • 00:08:45.224 --> 00:08:52.131
  • Yeah, even back then, there were, like,
  • 00:08:52.131 --> 00:08:54.300
  • A ton of marvel fans.
  • 00:08:54.300 --> 00:08:57.103
  • - all bow before the hammer of thor.
  • 00:08:57.203 --> 00:09:00.406
  • - get it?
  • 00:09:00.740 --> 00:09:01.774
  • Like, marvel, like, the comics and stuff.
  • 00:09:01.774 --> 00:09:05.011
  • Gorm the old was pretty seriously devoted to all the
  • 00:09:06.145 --> 00:09:08.681
  • Norse gods of the time.
  • 00:09:08.681 --> 00:09:10.049
  • But his wife, thyra, was more into this new,
  • 00:09:10.049 --> 00:09:12.918
  • Up-and-coming movement known as christianity.
  • 00:09:12.918 --> 00:09:17.456
  • - what are you doing?
  • 00:09:18.024 --> 00:09:19.458
  • - it's the coolest new story about god.
  • 00:09:19.458 --> 00:09:23.896
  • - oh, thor, loki, ironman?
  • 00:09:24.530 --> 00:09:27.967
  • - jesus.
  • 00:09:28.267 --> 00:09:29.301
  • He's the new god everyone's talking about.
  • 00:09:29.301 --> 00:09:30.903
  • - all the kids were into it, and gorm was just too old to
  • 00:09:30.903 --> 00:09:34.306
  • Understand.
  • 00:09:34.306 --> 00:09:35.675
  • - don't ignore me.
  • 00:09:36.175 --> 00:09:36.976
  • I'm speaking to you, young man.
  • 00:09:36.976 --> 00:09:38.444
  • - will you just read my--
  • 00:09:38.444 --> 00:09:39.178
  • - no!
  • 00:09:39.178 --> 00:09:39.879
  • - mom!
  • 00:09:39.879 --> 00:09:40.913
  • - you just wait until your father gets home.
  • 00:09:40.913 --> 00:09:43.315
  • We're going to have a discussion about these new friends of
  • 00:09:43.315 --> 00:09:46.552
  • Yours.
  • 00:09:46.552 --> 00:09:47.687
  • Honestly.
  • 00:09:47.687 --> 00:09:49.055
  • - although the couple didn't exactly see eye to eye on
  • 00:09:49.055 --> 00:09:51.924
  • Matters of faith, they were still a power couple as rulers.
  • 00:09:51.924 --> 00:09:55.628
  • They worked together to improve the infrastructure and the
  • 00:09:55.628 --> 00:09:58.864
  • Security of their territories.
  • 00:09:58.864 --> 00:10:00.700
  • And after they both passed away, their son, king harald,
  • 00:10:00.700 --> 00:10:04.570
  • Our king, took over the throne.
  • 00:10:04.570 --> 00:10:06.772
  • And that's when things really started to come together for
  • 00:10:06.772 --> 00:10:11.077
  • Denmark.
  • 00:10:11.077 --> 00:10:12.478
  • When bluetooth became king, he set out to unify denmark under
  • 00:10:12.578 --> 00:10:15.748
  • One rule.
  • 00:10:15.748 --> 00:10:16.749
  • And he succeeded.
  • 00:10:16.749 --> 00:10:17.783
  • He became known as the great uniter.
  • 00:10:17.783 --> 00:10:24.323
  • To defend his kingdom, he began strengthening existing
  • 00:10:25.491 --> 00:10:28.394
  • Fortifications, as well as building new ones,
  • 00:10:28.394 --> 00:10:31.163
  • Ones just like this, the trelleborg ring fort,
  • 00:10:31.163 --> 00:10:35.534
  • Which is considered the most important remains of the viking
  • 00:10:35.534 --> 00:10:38.904
  • Age.
  • 00:10:38.904 --> 00:10:42.141
  • Now, this may not look like much, but 1,000 years ago,
  • 00:10:43.309 --> 00:10:47.113
  • These fortresses were massive construction projects.
  • 00:10:47.113 --> 00:10:50.516
  • They required an enormous amount of resources and manpower to
  • 00:10:50.516 --> 00:10:54.487
  • Pull off.
  • 00:10:54.487 --> 00:10:55.821
  • Luckily for denmark, bluetooth was just the type of ruler who
  • 00:10:55.821 --> 00:10:59.592
  • Could unite people to pull it off.
  • 00:10:59.592 --> 00:11:01.827
  • Archaeologists have discovered four other fortresses just like
  • 00:11:01.827 --> 00:11:05.297
  • This one.
  • 00:11:05.297 --> 00:11:06.432
  • And all five connect directly to king bluetooth.
  • 00:11:06.432 --> 00:11:10.202
  • Viking fortresses like this were built for military purposes,
  • 00:11:11.437 --> 00:11:14.306
  • But not only did these structures show the king's
  • 00:11:14.306 --> 00:11:17.276
  • Military might, they also helped unite denmark into one kingdom.
  • 00:11:17.276 --> 00:11:22.414
  • But king harald's reign wasn't just about forts.
  • 00:11:23.449 --> 00:11:26.519
  • He began to do something so unprecedented in viking culture
  • 00:11:26.519 --> 00:11:30.890
  • That it still affected scandinavia to this day.
  • 00:11:30.890 --> 00:11:34.527
  • He began allowing the practice of a foreign religion,
  • 00:11:34.527 --> 00:11:39.331
  • Christianity.
  • 00:11:39.765 --> 00:11:41.567
  • You see, most christians in scandinavia at the time were
  • 00:11:41.667 --> 00:11:44.837
  • Slaves.
  • 00:11:44.837 --> 00:11:46.038
  • For vikings, foreign religions were seen as a weakness.
  • 00:11:46.038 --> 00:11:49.175
  • The nordic invaders would pillage and plunder other
  • 00:11:49.175 --> 00:11:52.344
  • Christian lands in europe.
  • 00:11:52.344 --> 00:11:53.779
  • And when they returned to scandinavia,
  • 00:11:53.779 --> 00:11:55.381
  • Their newly-captured slaves would be punished,
  • 00:11:55.381 --> 00:11:58.117
  • If not killed, if they would not convert to their masters'
  • 00:11:58.117 --> 00:12:02.021
  • Religion.
  • 00:12:02.021 --> 00:12:02.955
  • But king bluetooth began changing that.
  • 00:12:02.955 --> 00:12:06.058
  • He did this first by allowing benedictine monks to preach the
  • 00:12:06.058 --> 00:12:09.361
  • Gospel in jutland.
  • 00:12:09.361 --> 00:12:11.430
  • Harald and the head bishop developed a cordial working
  • 00:12:11.530 --> 00:12:14.133
  • Relationship.
  • 00:12:14.133 --> 00:12:15.334
  • - christianity is a message of peace, hope, and love.
  • 00:12:15.334 --> 00:12:19.271
  • It would do well for a king to have his subjects live with
  • 00:12:19.271 --> 00:12:23.375
  • Peace.
  • 00:12:23.375 --> 00:12:29.281
  • - my mother was a big fan of jesus.
  • 00:12:30.115 --> 00:12:32.651
  • She had the coffee mug and the poster and trading cards.
  • 00:12:32.651 --> 00:12:37.656
  • - mm-hmm.
  • 00:12:37.656 --> 00:12:38.591
  • - i never really got into it myself,
  • 00:12:38.591 --> 00:12:40.759
  • But you can share your message with my people.
  • 00:12:40.759 --> 00:12:43.662
  • - yes.
  • 00:12:43.662 --> 00:12:45.231
  • Would you like to be baptized, your highness?
  • 00:12:46.232 --> 00:12:48.234
  • - [laughs] no.
  • 00:12:48.234 --> 00:12:52.171
  • Vikings bathe one a year, one time all year.
  • 00:12:52.171 --> 00:12:58.510
  • - but baptism is for a lifetime.
  • 00:12:58.510 --> 00:13:02.514
  • - on--only one bath forever?
  • 00:13:03.182 --> 00:13:10.122
  • I will consider.
  • 00:13:10.556 --> 00:13:12.258
  • - although at first bluetooth did not agree to get baptized
  • 00:13:12.358 --> 00:13:15.060
  • Himself, the king began to support the spread of
  • 00:13:15.060 --> 00:13:17.863
  • Christianity among the danes, a first for any viking king.
  • 00:13:17.863 --> 00:13:23.102
  • King harald also began uniting scandinavia by sending out his
  • 00:13:23.102 --> 00:13:27.439
  • Nephews to make treaties and alliances throughout the region.
  • 00:13:27.439 --> 00:13:31.944
  • King bluetooth's nephew, harald greycloak,
  • 00:13:32.845 --> 00:13:35.281
  • Embarked on a campaign to unify norway under one rule.
  • 00:13:35.281 --> 00:13:39.118
  • Unfortunately, he and his brothers were a little
  • 00:13:39.118 --> 00:13:42.154
  • Viking-esque in spreading their adopted faith.
  • 00:13:42.154 --> 00:13:44.690
  • They broke up pagan practices and desecrated pagan places of
  • 00:13:44.690 --> 00:13:48.761
  • Worship in only ways vikings could.
  • 00:13:48.761 --> 00:13:51.897
  • - one!
  • 00:13:51.897 --> 00:13:54.533
  • Two!
  • 00:13:54.800 --> 00:13:55.868
  • - wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
  • 00:13:55.868 --> 00:13:58.570
  • What would jesus do?
  • 00:13:58.570 --> 00:14:01.473
  • - hm, you're right.
  • 00:14:01.473 --> 00:14:04.843
  • Jesus would turn the other cheek!
  • 00:14:05.577 --> 00:14:09.214
  • - the unrest that resulted make unification unlikely.
  • 00:14:09.315 --> 00:14:12.384
  • So, greycloak began forging alliances with former enemies.
  • 00:14:12.384 --> 00:14:16.555
  • This did not sit well with king bluetooth.
  • 00:14:16.555 --> 00:14:19.325
  • After all, they owed him quite a bit for helping them obtain
  • 00:14:19.325 --> 00:14:22.828
  • Their land.
  • 00:14:22.828 --> 00:14:24.663
  • - yeah, i'm just glad we're not enemies anymore.
  • 00:14:24.763 --> 00:14:28.067
  • Cheers to that.
  • 00:14:28.534 --> 00:14:30.803
  • [chugging] [gasps]
  • 00:14:31.303 --> 00:14:33.205
  • - so, it didn't come as a surprise when
  • 00:14:33.205 --> 00:14:35.674
  • Greycloak was assassinated by his new alliances.
  • 00:14:35.674 --> 00:14:38.310
  • It was then king harald took the opportunity to assert his own
  • 00:14:38.310 --> 00:14:42.314
  • Rights over his now dead nephew's land.
  • 00:14:42.314 --> 00:14:45.184
  • In just a few years, harald was able to take control of the
  • 00:14:45.184 --> 00:14:49.188
  • Whole of norway, making it the first time in scandinavia's
  • 00:14:49.188 --> 00:14:52.825
  • History that it was united under one ruler.
  • 00:14:52.825 --> 00:14:55.728
  • In the meantime, christianity had been making headway in
  • 00:14:55.728 --> 00:14:59.598
  • Denmark.
  • 00:14:59.598 --> 00:15:00.699
  • As king harald continued to advance his kingdom,
  • 00:15:00.699 --> 00:15:02.735
  • A monk named poppo asked for an audience with the king.
  • 00:15:02.735 --> 00:15:06.905
  • Legend has it, poppo was on a missionary journey throughout
  • 00:15:06.905 --> 00:15:10.476
  • Scandinavia.
  • 00:15:10.476 --> 00:15:11.710
  • When he arrived here in denmark, he wanted to share with
  • 00:15:11.710 --> 00:15:14.847
  • Bluetooth the true message of christianity.
  • 00:15:14.847 --> 00:15:18.017
  • You see, the vikings viewed christianity as a weak religion.
  • 00:15:18.017 --> 00:15:22.087
  • They were used to serving pagan gods who supposedly spoke
  • 00:15:22.087 --> 00:15:25.924
  • Through powerful forces of nature,
  • 00:15:25.924 --> 00:15:27.659
  • Like lightning and thunder.
  • 00:15:27.659 --> 00:15:28.994
  • And on the outside, all they saw in christianity was a god who
  • 00:15:28.994 --> 00:15:33.332
  • Could be killed by man, in this case, crucified on a cross.
  • 00:15:33.332 --> 00:15:36.902
  • And the vikings saw that as a weakness.
  • 00:15:36.902 --> 00:15:40.506
  • Poppo was there to show them otherwise.
  • 00:15:40.506 --> 00:15:43.042
  • After some religious debate, king harald finally asked poppo
  • 00:15:43.042 --> 00:15:47.379
  • To prove that his god was not weak.
  • 00:15:47.379 --> 00:15:52.084
  • - i will not convert unless you prove the power of your god.
  • 00:15:53.318 --> 00:15:56.121
  • I cannot serve a god who can be killed by a man.
  • 00:15:57.156 --> 00:16:03.562
  • [laughing] - you're supposed to put a marshmallow on it first.
  • 00:16:04.863 --> 00:16:08.267
  • [laughing] - your blade is red hot.
  • 00:16:08.267 --> 00:16:18.744
  • Let me see your hand.
  • 00:16:19.311 --> 00:16:25.317
  • His hand is not burnt.
  • 00:16:25.884 --> 00:16:31.323
  • Jesus must be god.
  • 00:16:31.824 --> 00:16:34.126
  • - other versions of this legend say that he walked over a hot
  • 00:16:34.226 --> 00:16:37.362
  • Grill and had no burns to his feet.
  • 00:16:37.362 --> 00:16:39.598
  • Another one says that he lit himself on fire just to have his
  • 00:16:39.598 --> 00:16:43.669
  • Clothes burn away.
  • 00:16:43.669 --> 00:16:44.603
  • Hopefully, he was wearing his fireproof undies.
  • 00:16:45.637 --> 00:16:47.873
  • Whatever really happened, the miracle was enough to convert
  • 00:16:47.873 --> 00:16:51.110
  • Even the most bad-to-the-bone viking, king harald bluetooth,
  • 00:16:51.110 --> 00:16:54.613
  • As the first ever christian king of scandinavia.
  • 00:16:54.613 --> 00:16:58.350
  • - how about them dogs?
  • 00:16:58.350 --> 00:16:59.685
  • They look done.
  • 00:16:59.685 --> 00:17:00.452
  • - almost there.
  • 00:17:00.452 --> 00:17:01.687
  • - now, we can't go any further without saying how much
  • 00:17:01.687 --> 00:17:05.591
  • Bluetooth's conversion affected his rule.
  • 00:17:05.591 --> 00:17:08.660
  • It was a big deal and one that would cement his legacy as a
  • 00:17:08.660 --> 00:17:13.065
  • Great uniter.
  • 00:17:13.065 --> 00:17:14.266
  • One of the first things bluetooth did was build the
  • 00:17:14.266 --> 00:17:16.869
  • Church.
  • 00:17:16.869 --> 00:17:18.170
  • He then exhumed his parents' bodies and gave them a proper,
  • 00:17:18.170 --> 00:17:21.406
  • Christian burial.
  • 00:17:21.406 --> 00:17:22.608
  • You see, his conversion left him a different man.
  • 00:17:23.675 --> 00:17:27.746
  • Like all vikings at the time, you can only imagine how
  • 00:17:27.746 --> 00:17:31.250
  • Ruthless and violent you would have to be in order to rule over
  • 00:17:31.250 --> 00:17:35.020
  • Two different countries at the same time.
  • 00:17:35.020 --> 00:17:39.925
  • In order to understand the reach of bluetooth's kingdom,
  • 00:17:41.126 --> 00:17:43.662
  • We need to speak to a real viking historian,
  • 00:17:43.662 --> 00:17:47.933
  • Jacob andreassen.
  • 00:17:47.933 --> 00:17:49.701
  • King bluetooth was just a different type of viking king.
  • 00:17:49.801 --> 00:17:52.871
  • - at his time, the country needed a figure that could unify
  • 00:17:52.871 --> 00:17:57.776
  • And consolidate what has to be a very fragile kingdom at this
  • 00:17:57.776 --> 00:18:02.881
  • Time.
  • 00:18:02.881 --> 00:18:03.982
  • He was just a guy needed at that point in time.
  • 00:18:03.982 --> 00:18:07.219
  • - the king that denmark needed at the time, that's good.
  • 00:18:07.219 --> 00:18:10.722
  • Why was it important for him to be known as the great uniter?
  • 00:18:10.722 --> 00:18:16.295
  • - i think it was important to him personally.
  • 00:18:16.395 --> 00:18:19.331
  • Viking age culture is very much a question of your legacy.
  • 00:18:19.331 --> 00:18:26.438
  • The vikings, they want to die in battle because the ideal of the
  • 00:18:26.438 --> 00:18:29.708
  • Warrior is very important, and the legacy of a man is very
  • 00:18:29.708 --> 00:18:33.445
  • Important.
  • 00:18:33.445 --> 00:18:34.513
  • And his legacy is that he christened the danes.
  • 00:18:34.513 --> 00:18:37.349
  • And there were these fortresses consolidating denmark.
  • 00:18:37.349 --> 00:18:40.852
  • He sows the ground, and it's only his child and
  • 00:18:40.852 --> 00:18:46.792
  • Grandchildren-- - he plants the seed-- - he plants the seed that
  • 00:18:46.792 --> 00:18:50.028
  • The next generation are able to sow,
  • 00:18:50.028 --> 00:18:52.931
  • Going to england and stuff like that.
  • 00:18:52.931 --> 00:18:54.866
  • - at its largest, how big would bluetooth's kingdom have been?
  • 00:18:54.866 --> 00:19:00.739
  • - if you would have asked me the same about gorm,
  • 00:19:00.839 --> 00:19:02.741
  • I would probably not have been able to answer you because we do
  • 00:19:02.741 --> 00:19:05.244
  • Not know the reach of the kingdom of gorm.
  • 00:19:05.244 --> 00:19:07.579
  • But harald, he has left this mark on the landscape of
  • 00:19:07.579 --> 00:19:11.984
  • Denmark.
  • 00:19:11.984 --> 00:19:13.318
  • And if we follow that, we can see exactly how far-reaching his
  • 00:19:13.318 --> 00:19:16.288
  • Kingdom was, and that is the ring fortresses.
  • 00:19:16.288 --> 00:19:19.391
  • If you follow the ring fortresses,
  • 00:19:19.491 --> 00:19:20.993
  • You can follow the extent of harald's kingdom.
  • 00:19:20.993 --> 00:19:22.961
  • And we have ring fortresses in all the paths of denmark,
  • 00:19:22.961 --> 00:19:26.531
  • That is now denmark.
  • 00:19:26.531 --> 00:19:27.866
  • We have to imagine that, in the middle of the 10th century,
  • 00:19:27.866 --> 00:19:30.235
  • Denmark had at least the reach that it has now,
  • 00:19:30.235 --> 00:19:34.039
  • Only going further south.
  • 00:19:34.039 --> 00:19:36.174
  • His kingdom would also have reached to the southern part of
  • 00:19:36.174 --> 00:19:41.013
  • What is now sweden, called scania.
  • 00:19:41.013 --> 00:19:43.382
  • We have at least one ring fortress over there.
  • 00:19:43.382 --> 00:19:46.084
  • And then he had dominion over at least part of norway.
  • 00:19:46.084 --> 00:19:49.021
  • He wasn't the king of northern norway.
  • 00:19:49.021 --> 00:19:50.756
  • - right.
  • 00:19:50.756 --> 00:19:52.124
  • - but he would have had dominion over a part of southern norway.
  • 00:19:52.124 --> 00:19:53.925
  • - was it the biggest viking kingdom of the time?
  • 00:19:53.925 --> 00:19:56.895
  • - it was in his day, yeah.
  • 00:19:56.895 --> 00:19:59.398
  • But harald does something else.
  • 00:19:59.398 --> 00:20:01.500
  • He's not just the conqueror.
  • 00:20:01.500 --> 00:20:03.101
  • He's probably the guy laying the foundations for the later kings,
  • 00:20:03.101 --> 00:20:07.072
  • Like his son and his grandson, sweyn and cnut.
  • 00:20:07.072 --> 00:20:10.175
  • He lays the foundation and enables them to travel to
  • 00:20:10.175 --> 00:20:15.213
  • England and create the north sea empire,
  • 00:20:15.213 --> 00:20:17.316
  • Which is the biggest viking empire in the whole viking age.
  • 00:20:17.316 --> 00:20:20.719
  • It probably wouldn't have been possible if harald had not done
  • 00:20:20.719 --> 00:20:25.457
  • The ground work.
  • 00:20:25.457 --> 00:20:26.692
  • - how long did bluetooth's legacy last?
  • 00:20:26.692 --> 00:20:29.261
  • - well, his legacy very much lasts up until today.
  • 00:20:29.261 --> 00:20:35.500
  • Because our region, our monarch in power today, margrethe ii,
  • 00:20:35.600 --> 00:20:41.907
  • Our queen, is actually related by blood to harald and gorm
  • 00:20:41.907 --> 00:20:47.412
  • 1,000 years ago.
  • 00:20:47.412 --> 00:20:48.580
  • - wow, 1,000 years.
  • 00:20:48.580 --> 00:20:49.815
  • - 40 to 50 generations.
  • 00:20:49.815 --> 00:20:51.583
  • - why should king bluetooth's name be remembered?
  • 00:20:51.583 --> 00:20:55.220
  • - he was not just a warrior.
  • 00:20:55.887 --> 00:20:57.089
  • He was a builder.
  • 00:20:57.089 --> 00:20:59.858
  • He had a vision for the kingdom that he inherits that probably
  • 00:20:59.858 --> 00:21:06.631
  • Goes beyond just raiding and pillaging.
  • 00:21:06.631 --> 00:21:10.602
  • I think he wants to put things into system.
  • 00:21:10.602 --> 00:21:13.205
  • He wants to make sure that his family has the dominion over
  • 00:21:13.205 --> 00:21:18.710
  • This kingdom, not just when he dies,
  • 00:21:18.710 --> 00:21:21.313
  • But when his grandchildren die.
  • 00:21:21.313 --> 00:21:23.281
  • He wants to put things in order, i think,
  • 00:21:23.281 --> 00:21:26.385
  • Perhaps another level than his contemporary kings.
  • 00:21:26.385 --> 00:21:29.421
  • - i think he did a really good job.
  • 00:21:29.421 --> 00:21:31.022
  • - the fact that we are speaking of him today, 1,000 years after,
  • 00:21:31.022 --> 00:21:36.528
  • There's a reason that he was chosen to the bluetooth
  • 00:21:36.528 --> 00:21:39.598
  • Technology.
  • 00:21:39.598 --> 00:21:41.066
  • - how do you say his name in danish?
  • 00:21:41.066 --> 00:21:43.802
  • - if i were a viking, i would probably call him
  • 00:21:43.802 --> 00:21:48.874
  • [strong danish accent] harald, something like that.
  • 00:21:48.874 --> 00:21:49.941
  • - [tries to imitate]
  • 00:21:49.941 --> 00:21:52.310
  • - but today, in modern danish, we called him harald.
  • 00:21:52.310 --> 00:21:54.946
  • [modern danish accent] - [tries to imitate]
  • 00:21:54.946 --> 00:21:56.848
  • - harald blåtand.
  • 00:21:56.848 --> 00:21:58.483
  • - [tries to imitate] - i was going to say,
  • 00:21:58.483 --> 00:22:00.018
  • "that's pretty good." but that was actually pretty bad.
  • 00:22:00.018 --> 00:22:01.586
  • [laughing] - harald.
  • 00:22:01.586 --> 00:22:03.288
  • Harald?
  • 00:22:03.288 --> 00:22:04.089
  • - yeah. - blåtand.
  • 00:22:04.089 --> 00:22:05.490
  • - yeah, that was good.
  • 00:22:05.490 --> 00:22:06.892
  • - blåtand.- blåtand, yeah, yeah.
  • 00:22:06.892 --> 00:22:08.493
  • - that's how i do it.
  • 00:22:08.493 --> 00:22:09.261
  • Jacob, thank you, man.
  • 00:22:09.261 --> 00:22:10.562
  • It was awesome.
  • 00:22:10.562 --> 00:22:11.062
  • - pleasure.
  • 00:22:11.062 --> 00:22:12.664
  • - after bluetooth's conversion, he did everything in his power
  • 00:22:13.965 --> 00:22:17.536
  • To spread his adopted faith throughout his kingdom
  • 00:22:17.536 --> 00:22:20.672
  • Peacefully, a dramatic contrast to the predominantly violent
  • 00:22:20.672 --> 00:22:25.844
  • Nature of the viking culture.
  • 00:22:25.844 --> 00:22:27.446
  • Today, there might not be much remaining of bluetooth,
  • 00:22:28.613 --> 00:22:31.650
  • Other than the tech that bears his name.
  • 00:22:31.650 --> 00:22:33.819
  • But in jelling, denmark's ancient capital,
  • 00:22:33.819 --> 00:22:37.589
  • Bluetooth left behind something incredibly significant.
  • 00:22:37.589 --> 00:22:44.296
  • - behind me are what seem to be just two big rocks,
  • 00:22:45.397 --> 00:22:48.266
  • But they are so much more than that.
  • 00:22:48.266 --> 00:22:51.403
  • They're actually some of the oldest surviving historical
  • 00:22:51.403 --> 00:22:54.806
  • Records in all of europe.
  • 00:22:54.806 --> 00:22:56.408
  • This one, the smaller of the two,
  • 00:22:56.408 --> 00:22:58.477
  • Was first commissioned by harald's father, gorm the old,
  • 00:22:58.477 --> 00:23:01.713
  • In the early 10th century.
  • 00:23:01.713 --> 00:23:04.382
  • You see, gorm really loved his wife,
  • 00:23:05.217 --> 00:23:07.719
  • So much so that when she passed away, he really hit rock bottom.
  • 00:23:07.719 --> 00:23:14.292
  • As a gesture of his great love for her,
  • 00:23:15.193 --> 00:23:17.596
  • He cut out this boulder and engraved their love story on
  • 00:23:17.596 --> 00:23:20.966
  • This rock.
  • 00:23:20.966 --> 00:23:21.967
  • You got to admit, that's pretty romantic.
  • 00:23:21.967 --> 00:23:24.803
  • [vikings crying]
  • 00:23:24.803 --> 00:23:26.571
  • So, when gorm the old becomes gorm the dead,
  • 00:23:26.571 --> 00:23:29.708
  • Harald raised his own stone, a much bigger stone.
  • 00:23:29.708 --> 00:23:33.512
  • And this one, this one's different because it's
  • 00:23:33.512 --> 00:23:37.682
  • Undeniably christian.
  • 00:23:37.682 --> 00:23:40.552
  • Bluetooth really wanted the world to remember his legacy is
  • 00:23:40.552 --> 00:23:44.689
  • Uniting denmark and norway, and making them christian,
  • 00:23:44.689 --> 00:23:49.294
  • So much so that he literally had it inscribed in stone.
  • 00:23:49.294 --> 00:23:54.900
  • On one side, it says, and i quote,
  • 00:23:55.734 --> 00:23:58.370
  • "king harald ordered these stones in memory of gorm,
  • 00:23:58.370 --> 00:24:01.273
  • His father, and in memory of thyrvé, his mother; that harald,
  • 00:24:01.273 --> 00:24:04.376
  • Who won for himself all of denmark and norway and made the
  • 00:24:04.376 --> 00:24:08.613
  • Danes christian." on the other side is an image of the
  • 00:24:08.613 --> 00:24:13.118
  • Victorious christ, one of the first christian images in
  • 00:24:13.118 --> 00:24:16.221
  • Scandinavian history.
  • 00:24:16.221 --> 00:24:17.889
  • This stone is so important to the story of this country that
  • 00:24:17.889 --> 00:24:21.326
  • It's considered the birth certificate of denmark.
  • 00:24:21.326 --> 00:24:24.663
  • While this rock is a symbol of christianity in europe,
  • 00:24:24.663 --> 00:24:28.266
  • It's not the only symbol that has survived 1,000 years.
  • 00:24:28.266 --> 00:24:31.469
  • We're all pretty familiar with another one that comes from this
  • 00:24:31.469 --> 00:24:34.906
  • Time in history.
  • 00:24:34.906 --> 00:24:36.441
  • Now that i think of it, i can almost guarantee that you've
  • 00:24:36.441 --> 00:24:39.644
  • Seen the symbol before.
  • 00:24:39.644 --> 00:24:40.879
  • See, when they set out to design the logo for bluetooth
  • 00:24:40.879 --> 00:24:43.949
  • Technology, they took the ancient rune characters for
  • 00:24:43.949 --> 00:24:47.118
  • Bluetooth's initials, h and b, and then combined them.
  • 00:24:47.118 --> 00:24:51.089
  • Now, that's pretty neat.
  • 00:24:51.089 --> 00:24:52.591
  • - brian, have you heard of nickelback?
  • 00:24:52.591 --> 00:24:56.294
  • It's too terrible.
  • 00:24:56.294 --> 00:24:58.163
  • - not only did bluetooth make a lasting mark on history,
  • 00:24:58.163 --> 00:25:02.133
  • His name is literally inscribed on virtually every device on the
  • 00:25:02.133 --> 00:25:07.572
  • Planet.
  • 00:25:07.572 --> 00:25:08.707
  • There's no way he saw that coming.
  • 00:25:08.707 --> 00:25:11.509
  • Unifying all of scandinavia under christianity allowed his
  • 00:25:11.610 --> 00:25:15.246
  • Name to go down as one of the greatest connectors of all time.
  • 00:25:15.246 --> 00:25:20.318
  • And now his name and symbol are synonymously paired with the
  • 00:25:20.418 --> 00:25:25.357
  • Concept of uniting.
  • 00:25:25.357 --> 00:25:28.793
  • After king harald raised the stones in jelling, he came here,
  • 00:25:30.028 --> 00:25:33.865
  • To roskilde.
  • 00:25:33.865 --> 00:25:35.233
  • He was looking for a new place to keep an eye on his expanding
  • 00:25:35.233 --> 00:25:38.069
  • Kingdom.
  • 00:25:38.069 --> 00:25:39.037
  • Like in jelling, after his conversion,
  • 00:25:39.037 --> 00:25:41.106
  • The first thing he did was build a church.
  • 00:25:41.106 --> 00:25:44.242
  • Actually, he built a farm first because you can't do much with
  • 00:25:44.342 --> 00:25:48.013
  • Your expanding kingdom if you die of starvation.
  • 00:25:48.013 --> 00:25:51.049
  • - what are you planting?
  • 00:25:51.616 --> 00:25:52.717
  • - cows.
  • 00:25:52.717 --> 00:25:53.885
  • [cow moos] - you can't grow cows.
  • 00:25:53.885 --> 00:25:56.154
  • - [laughs] how are you supposed to get ground beef?
  • 00:25:57.222 --> 00:26:01.993
  • Dummy.
  • 00:26:02.293 --> 00:26:04.095
  • - but after that, you build a church.
  • 00:26:04.195 --> 00:26:07.432
  • Presiding over his massive empire wasn't all kicks and
  • 00:26:08.600 --> 00:26:11.770
  • Giggles.
  • 00:26:11.770 --> 00:26:12.370
  • - one, two--
  • 00:26:12.370 --> 00:26:14.739
  • - wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
  • 00:26:14.739 --> 00:26:17.275
  • Boys, ask yourselves, "what would jesus do?"
  • 00:26:17.275 --> 00:26:24.082
  • - turn the other cheek?
  • 00:26:24.683 --> 00:26:26.785
  • - turn the other cheek means peace and love, unity.
  • 00:26:27.886 --> 00:26:32.390
  • Let's all be unified, right?
  • 00:26:32.390 --> 00:26:34.959
  • We're all christian here.
  • 00:26:34.959 --> 00:26:36.661
  • - he would be betrayed, backstabbed, and challenged.
  • 00:26:36.661 --> 00:26:40.398
  • But every time, he prevailed and forgave.
  • 00:26:40.398 --> 00:26:44.836
  • That's right, even after the rumors of his own son turning
  • 00:26:46.071 --> 00:26:49.941
  • Against him, he forgave because that's the christian
  • 00:26:49.941 --> 00:26:53.912
  • Thing to do.
  • 00:26:53.912 --> 00:26:56.581
  • When bluetooth finally died, that same son sent an army to
  • 00:26:56.681 --> 00:27:00.185
  • Collect bluetooth's body so that it could be buried right here,
  • 00:27:00.185 --> 00:27:03.488
  • In the church he built in roskilde.
  • 00:27:03.488 --> 00:27:07.025
  • What we have to remember is that the vikings were defined by
  • 00:27:08.259 --> 00:27:11.196
  • Power, what you could conquer or what you could take by force.
  • 00:27:11.196 --> 00:27:15.133
  • In contrast, bluetooth was defined by who he could unite.
  • 00:27:16.334 --> 00:27:20.472
  • His policies of tolerance and peace that happened after his
  • 00:27:20.472 --> 00:27:23.975
  • Conversion helped him unify his kingdom with the diplomacy that
  • 00:27:23.975 --> 00:27:28.480
  • Had never been seen before in viking culture.
  • 00:27:28.480 --> 00:27:31.916
  • It's pretty crazy how we never know what type of influence our
  • 00:27:33.218 --> 00:27:36.721
  • Lives might have on the future.
  • 00:27:36.721 --> 00:27:38.389
  • King harald literally had no idea,
  • 00:27:38.389 --> 00:27:41.793
  • No frame of reference at all, for what type of technology
  • 00:27:41.793 --> 00:27:45.463
  • Would bear his name a millennium into the future.
  • 00:27:45.463 --> 00:27:49.033
  • But because of the way this christian king conducted his
  • 00:27:49.033 --> 00:27:52.170
  • Life, he made it into our history books and, eventually,
  • 00:27:52.170 --> 00:27:55.740
  • Into our ears.
  • 00:27:55.740 --> 00:28:00.378
  • But history's kind of funny like that, isn't it?
  • 00:28:01.446 --> 00:28:03.281
  • Random lives, separated by time and distance, an ancient king,
  • 00:28:03.281 --> 00:28:07.619
  • A hollywood bombshell and two software engineers,
  • 00:28:07.619 --> 00:28:11.222
  • And somehow their stories all ended up connected.
  • 00:28:11.222 --> 00:28:15.426
  • It kind of makes me think about what other stories our lives
  • 00:28:16.694 --> 00:28:19.330
  • Might be a part of, who we're affecting not just now but in
  • 00:28:19.330 --> 00:28:23.401
  • The future.
  • 00:28:23.401 --> 00:28:24.869
  • We should all strive toward a legacy like king harald's,
  • 00:28:24.869 --> 00:28:28.473
  • Bringing unity in a divided world, being paired together,
  • 00:28:28.473 --> 00:28:33.077
  • Staying connected, perhaps even via bluetooth.
  • 00:28:33.077 --> 00:28:37.849
  • We'll see you next time.
  • 00:28:38.449 --> 00:28:38.449