Borgring

About

Borgring (older spelling Borrering) also known as Vallø Borgring, is a Danish Viking ring fortress located near Køge on the island of Zealand. Likely built around 970 or 980, the fortress may have been built to defend trade routes or as a military barracks. In 2023, along with four other Viking ring fortresses, Borgring was isncribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List for its unique architecture and testimony to the strategic and military power of the House of Knýtlinga (Jelling dynasty).

Borgring is circular in shape and spans 145 metres across and thus ranks third among the original, Danish Viking ring fortresses. It featured a 10–11-meter wide rampart and was shielded by a palisade, made by pointed wooden stakes. No fortification moat has been uncovered, but the Ellebækken stream running due west of the fortification might have offered a natural defence as might a small lake to the north/north-east. During the excavation in 2014 the northern and eastern gates were found just where they would be expected to be in a trelleborg-type fortification.

Borgring could join the group of trelleborgs which include Trelleborg at Slagelse, Nonnebakken at Odense, Fyrkat at Hobro and Aggersborg next to The Limfjord. These fortifications have all been dated to ca. 980 a.d., however, conclusive dating of Borgring remains to be done.

During the Viking Age the fortress would have enjoyed a strategic, geographical advantage overlooking the presumed old high road, perhaps from Roskilde or Ringsted, and near the two streams in Køge Ådal, offering easy access to the Bay of Køge, one of the best natural ports on Zealand.

Borrering is the older name of the area; 1682: Borre Ring; 1877 & 1992: Borrering. The written sources for this dates back to 1682. The name has been subject to some modification through the ages leading to a plethora of variations in different contexts. The name may have been used either to denote the present day location or the bank immediately east of Gl. Lellingegård:

«the place name with great certitude has moved geographically. Maps from the late 1800s will reveal Borgring or Boring to be the name of a small forest some 300 metres west of the ring fortress.» In 1682 the name Borrering is also synonymous with Borre Rings Aggere and Borre Rings Agre. An undated land register (pre-1850 ?) supplies the name Borrerings Mark, and a guide from 1860 offers Borgrings Marken. Military and topographical maps through the ages contain versions such as Boring (1897) and Borgring (1911, 1941 and 1983), and a forest map from 1925 uses Borgringen.

In 1875, the variant Borgerring was used.

In 1877 Anders Petersen uses the form Borrering in his book: Vallø og Omegn.

The 3rd and 4th editions of Trap Danmark (Statistisk-topografisk Beskrivelse af Kongeriget Danmark) from 1898 and 1921, respectively, use the name Borgering.

The version Borring appears in an old legend, and is used a few times between 1911 and 1946.

The name Borrering has been used several times in recent studies, e.g. in 1992 and in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

The primary name of Borrering has been recorded by The Department of Nordic Research (Nordisk Forskningsinstitut) at University of Copenhagen, although the department only records instances found on maps and in land registers while ignoring literature and other institutes. Therefore, the versions of the name used by Sophus Müller, Trap Danmark, during the excavations led by Thorkild Ramskou in 1971–72, in the National Museum registry and Harald Andersen are not mentioned. The department has not registered usage of the recent past. [ citation needed ] This means to suppose that the recordings of The Department of Nordic Research as for now is of limited usability as a source to naming convention and usage concerning Borrering over the years - including the recent years.

Even more recent names are Vallo ring-fortress,

also Borgringen ved Lellinge, Lellinge Ringborg,

The new name versions have appeared almost supplanting the original name. Especially in 2013–2014 there has been a trend towards new names for the fortress. Borgringen ved Lellinge has been used a few times in 2013–2014, and the shorter version Borgring on several occasions. The Chapter of Vallø stirred waters when, during publication of the preliminary excavation results in September 2014, they wanted to rename the fortress Vallø Borgring. In response to this and following vocal opposition, a Facebook group was created on 8 September 2014 to promote the name Lellinge Ringborg. This version has been used by the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde.

"Borre" as a name or word has several denotations in Danish, but for this discussion it seems most relevant to consider "fortified site" or just "fortress". So, in terms of naming, Borrering becomes part of a group of pre-historic fortifications that include Borremose fortified settlement in Himmerland, Borreknold on Falster and Borrehoved on Bornholm.

It is said about the largest church bell in Højelse Church that..., upon its inaugural knell, the ancient castle of »Borring« by Lellinge stream sank deep into the earth.

The place Borre Ring is first mentioned in a 1682 land register as part of Christian V's cadastral map.

The fortress is reportedly outlined on an 1805 land map of Lellingegård.

The fortress was first mentioned in an archaeological context by Sophus Müller in 1875: