THE 1,000 YEAR-OLD STORY BEHIND BLUETOOTH

A pair of ancient runestones in Jelling tell the story of the Viking king who shaped Denmark – and inspired the name Bluetooth.

If you've ever wirelessly connected your phone to your headphones or laptop, you're probably already familiar with the name Bluetooth. But while the technology is modern, the story behind the name stretches back more than 1,000 years to a Viking king whose legacy can still be seen in Jelling, a small Danish town about 250km (155 miles) west of Copenhagen.

Here, two ancient runestones tell the story of his reign – and offer the first clue to how his unusual nickname became attached to one of the world's most widely used technologies.

The Viking king called Bluetooth 

The king was Harald Gormsson, who ruled Denmark in the 10th Century. His nickname was Bluetooth – Blátǫnn in Old Norse – first documented 150 years after his death and believed to be a nod to a "blue" or rotted tooth.

One of Harald's most consequential achievements was Denmark's conversion to Christianity, thought to have taken place around 965. The larger of Jelling's two runestones, commissioned by Harald, declares that he "won himself all of Denmark and Norway and made the Danes Christian" and bears one of the earliest depictions of Christ in Scandinavia.

Until then, much of northern Europe was divided into smaller territories ruled by chieftains. Christianity gave Harald a way to consolidate power, strengthen Denmark's ties with Christian Europe and help unify the emerging state.

Harald's story is written into the landscape at Jelling. His father, Gorm, commissioned the smaller and older of the town's two runestones in memory of his wife, Thyra. It is believed to contain the first written use of the name "Denmark" within the country.

"We call it Denmark's birth certificate," said Anne Havgaard Mikkelsen, a resident of nearby Vejle. Jelling, then, is its birthplace.

From Viking king to Bluetooth

More than 1,000 years later, Harald's reputation as a unifier would give his name an unexpected second life.

In the late 1990s, engineers from companies including Toshiba, IBM, Nokia, Intel, and Ericsson were developing a new technology that could connect devices across different brands. They needed a codename.

Jim Kardach, an American Intel engineer, was collaborating with Swedish engineers when the conversation turned to Vikings. Intrigued, he immersed himself in a book about the history (which is on display at Kongernes Jelling) and became fascinated with the king who united Denmark and Norway, just like this new technology might unite different devices.

The code name leaked before the official press release was written, and the rest is tech history.

"The PR guys hated the name because they associated 'Bluetooth' with bad tooth hygiene," said Bak. "They were very concerned about it and had all kinds of different names that were better at explaining what the product was, but were way more boring. Bluetooth blew up because it was so distinct a name."

- Author: Lindsey Galloway, BBC

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