The Viking Age Queen Thyra Danebod was the wife of the legendary Gorm the Old and mother of King Harald Blauzahn. Both ruled Denmark in the 10th century. We know the name Thyra from a rune stone at the royal seat in Jelling at that time. Gorm had it set for his queen after she died around 950. The Danish historians Saxo and Sven Aggesen report at the end of the 12th century that Queen Thyra had the Danevirke built as a bulwark against enemies from the south. According to Aggesen, her aim was to fend off the East Frankish Emperor Otto, who wanted the infinitely beautiful and clever Danish queen for himself. And according to Saxo, Waldemar the Great completed Thyra's work by building the Waldemar Wall at the Danewerk in the 12th century. Over the centuries, this tale of Thyra developed into one of Denmark's central national myths. For the people of Denmark, the former southern border Danewerk - embodied in the Thyra legend - remained a symbol of Denmark's historical claim to the region until the 20th century.

Locally, the queen is present today above all with the field name Thyraburg (Castle of Thyra). This complex existed long before Thyra's lifetime. But archaeological finds prove that it was actually also reworked in the 10th century. However, we cannot say whether Thyra was really once here.

Although Erik is one of the few people around Haithabu whose name has been handed down, we know little about him. The Erik stone named after him - a rune stone taller than a man, which was found at the end of the 18th century between Busdorf and Selk near Wedelspang - only provides brief information about what must have been a dramatic fate. With the runic inscription, a man named Thorulf remembered his comrade Erik, a follower of King Sven, who fell during a siege of Haithabu. Sven could be the Danish King Sven Gabelbart (born around 960, died 1014), the son of the famous King Harald Blauzahn.

It is possible that the siege mentioned on the Erik Stone took place during the reconquest of Haithabu by King Harald and his son Sven from the Roman-German Empire in 983. The runic inscription does not tell us where Erik came from. But he is referred to by three significant terms. Firstly, he is Thorulf's félagi, his comrade and probably also his business partner: the Old Norse word félagi means the pooling of possessions (fé) for a trading voyage. Secondly, Erik is called helmsman, which, unlike in modern understanding, also means ship owner, perhaps together with his comrade Thorulf. In addition, the inscription calls him a respected warrior. All this suggests that Erik was the son of a wealthy and respected family who, together with his comrade Thorulf, had joined the war campaign of the Danish King Sven as a shipmaster.