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qualities. This is at its base
a tribal and egalitarian society,
which was never penetrated by
the Roman civilisation or early
mediaeval feudalism, while it
immediately and thoroughly re-
formed Christianity, assuming
a humanistic Lutheran form.
As far back as the time of
Queen Margaret I, who ruled
a hundred years before Luther
and the Reformation, the Great
Norse Lands were renewed,
though afterwards all Scandina-
vian countries developed into
separate kingdoms, which nev-
ertheless maintained dynastic
connections. The Norwegians,
for example, only formally left
the Danish-Norwegian Common-
wealth in the early 20
th
century,
but even then they selected a
Danish prince as their ruler. The
final resting place of Margaret
I is also at Roskilde Cathedral
– her sarcophagus is located
behind the church altar, in a
place symbolising her immense
significance, comparable with
that of Elizabeth I in the history
of the United Kingdom. A special
bell has tolled twice every day for
the last 603 years, marking the
importance of her soul...
Denmark’s current reigning
monarch, Queen Margrethe II,
has also chosen a burial site
for herself and her husband at
Roskilde Cathedral, where her
parents have already been laid
to rest in a modest resting place.
The country’s Crown Prince
Frederik, a very active sports-
man, military diver, sailor and
marathon runner, is too young
and positive to discuss such
morbid northerly rituals. He
found a girl in Tasmania, an
accountant of Scottish origin,
when he travelled to the Sydney
Olympics as an official of the
national Olympic Committee
and went for a fateful drink at
the Slip Inn Café, an inn that
serves beer accompanied by
Mexican food. But such combi-
nations are a normal thing in
the Danish dynasty – his father,
Prince Consort Henrik, is actu-
ally a Frenchman who grew up
in Hanoi. He met the current
Danish queen in Paris. The
Danish Parliament changed the
law and inheritance by patrilin-
eal primogeniture, replacing it
with a new one which guaran-
tees the throne directly to a
female heir. The amendment
was later adopted by popular
referendum.
The small town of Roskilde,
orderly and perfect as though
constructed from wooden Lego
bricks, is the unknown centre of
Danish Nordic ecumenism and
simultaneously a living muse-
um of their particular culture. It
comprises a shipyard for build-
ing Viking ships in the fjord and
a grand cathedral built over the
remains of an earlier basilica,
as well as houses harmoniously
agglomerated, having slowly
acquired new, equally simple
architectural form in every
century, always stylishly linked
with the past. This constancy
promises an equally peaceful
future, devoid of sudden, reck-
less, revolutionary steps.
Admittedly, the most
important new cultural and
construction project in Roskilde
is construction of the mag-
nificent edifice of the Danish
Rock Museum, which will open
this summer. Each year the
city hosts a rock festival that is
the second largest in Europe
and is attended by hundreds
of thousands of visitors, who
come to see the biggest stars
– from Bob Dylan to Black Sab-
bath. Amongst others, the most
famous Danish rock musician
is Lars Ulrich, drummer and
founding member of the band
Metallica. Heavy Metal is ex-
tremely popular in Scandinavia.
This monumentally barbaric
sound contains something
decidedly Viking...
Svakog leta u Roskildeu se održi
drugi po veličini evropski rok
festival. a ovog leta biće otvoren
rok-muzej
e
Every summer Roskilde hosts
Europe’s second largest rock
festival and this summer the Danish
Rock Museum will also open here
