Trelleborg fortresses – the national dream architecture of the Viking Age

In 1934, just as the idea of the existence of Jomsborg had been critically rejected, a geometric Viking fortress was surprisingly discovered on Zealand, named after the site, a so called trelleborg. This was followed by the search for more trelleborgs in Scandinavia, a search that is still ongoing. There has been a sharp debate between Denmark and Scania/Sweden about what characterizes a trelleborg, i.e. whether the Scanian fortresses belong to the group or not. Their interpretation has varied over time between different scholars and with several radical interpretation proposals formulated by others. Their buildings and ramparts have been debated, reconstructed or marked in the landscape. Since 2023, four Danish Trelleborg sites have been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Trelleborgs is thus the dream architecture of the Viking Age, icons of a period but also of the nation of Denmark, fascinating and attracting attention across disciplines, countries and from experts and the public alike.