Stone Ship on Hjarnø

From Snaptun on Horsens Fjord you can take a small ferry to the island of Hjarnø in just five minutes. This island in the mouth of the fjord is only 3.2km2 in size, and its highest point is just 7m above sea level. According to Saxo, Hjarnø is named after King Hjarne, who received the crown and title in return for a beautiful memorial poem he wrote about the much-loved deceased King Frode. However, some people felt he had been a little too richly rewarded for this service, and a conflict arose which resulted in the death of King Hjarne. He and his army are said to be buried on the island, in the collection of Viking-era stone ships that you can still see along its southeast coast.  These are not the monumental kind that you see in Lejre and Bække, but small burials, approximately 8m long. In 1650 more than 20 stone ships could be observed here, but today only ten remain – the rest have either disappeared over time or been covered with sand.