Abstract

Trelleborg fortresses – the dream architecture of the Viking Age. In 1935, few decades after 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 fortress. This was followed by the search for more fortresses all over Scandinavia, a search that is still ongoing. Their ramparts and settlements have been published, debated, reconstructed and marked in the landscape. Interpretations and dating have varied over time between different scholars and with several alternative proposals. Since 2023, five Danish Trelleborg sites have been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. However, only four live up to the requested definition, which leaves out Trelleborgen in Scania, whereas Borgeby also in Scania might be acceptable, however it is not yet investigated sufficiently. The Trelleborg fortresses were icons of the Christian king and has now become national icons for the Viking Age. The Trelleborg fortresses are a questionable dream architecture both then and now, attracting wide interest and being a historical-archaeological problem, as the written sources and the archaeological evidence don’t meet.