Roskilde, now a sleepy city just outside of Copenhagen, a place for festivals,

museums and commuters, part of the urban sprawl. Home to some 50,000 people, a metropolis

in the ancient world, though nothing special today, and tiny

compared to its economic powerhouse of a neighbour. The natural harbour here, the reason for

the city's initial success, has long been rendered redundant in the modern age. Being far too shallow to receive modern ocean-going shipping vessels,

like its neighbour, Copenhagen.

Yet, during the early Middle Ages,

when even the largest ships didn't sit particularly low in the water.

Roskilde's shallow fjords didn't matter.

In fact, they were a blessing, offering protection from the elements and from enemies.

Back then, Copenhagen didn't exist.

Not as we know it today anyway.

Instead, the capital and most important city for the fledgling Danish crown was none other than Roskilde.

For this settlement, nestled between boggy lowlands and wooded hills has a long history.

Stretching far back, even before the Viking era, into the pre-Christian age of old.

Let's turn the clock back some 1,000 years to the middle of the 11th century, to a time when the Scandinavia we know today was first beginning to take shape.

Back then, Roskilde had a population of some 5,000 people. It doesn't sound like much, but during the Viking Age,

this was one of the largest and most important settlements

in all of the kingdoms of the North Sea.

Still predominantly a rural society with scattered farming communities

throughout the Danish islands and the Jutland Peninsula.

Roskilde was one of just a handful of towns to exist during this time.

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