Prehistory
The modern geographical outlines of Jutland and the Scandinavian Peninsula were formed relatively recently. During the last ice age, Denmark was completely covered by a glacier. The retreat of the glacier, which began about 12 thousand years BC, led to a significant change in the relief, which continues today. About 8 thousand years BC the glacier left the modern territory of Denmark to the north, and people began to settle in Denmark. At this time, the modern Baltic and North Seas did not exist. Jutland was connected by land with both the south of the Scandinavian Peninsula and Great Britain: the sea existed only in the modern Gulf of Bothnia and north of the line.
Early History
Like Sweden and Norway, Denmark owes its appearance to the so-called Gothic tribes, who settled in Scania, Zealand, Fionia with the neighboring islands, and later part of Jutland and Schleswig. Only part of Jutland was originally not occupied by them, since the Germanic tribe of the Angles lived here. The eviction of the latter to England opened up the possibility for the Gothic tribe of the Utes to settle this part of the country, and the Eider River became quite early in the southern border of the Scandinavian Danish tribe. Behind it began purely Germanic, mainly Saxon settlements, which later turned into Holstein, etc. Here, to the south of the mouth and the current of the Eider, as the legend goes, Dannevirke was arranged – a wall that was supposed to protect Denmark from the invasion of neighboring tribes.
The tribe that inhabited Denmark, which had built up a reputation for pirates and Vikings early on, and who, especially in the 8th and 9th centuries, made a series of raids on both neighboring and more remote areas of the West European coast, became sedentary and agricultural.
As far as it can be judged on the basis of legends and sagas, until the X century, the Danes represented a group of almost independent from each other tribes, whose life was regulated by the beginnings of tribal life. The whole of Denmark represented a number of small “kingdoms”. The union of several tribes formed a district, divided into hundreds. All members of the genus were free people. They all owned plots of land, used tribal, communal land, participated in meetings where the court was held, elected leaders, resolved issues of war and peace, etc. Their duty was to take up arms at the call of the king and contain him as a guest during his tour of the kingdom. As free people, they opposed only to slaves; those who were under the king as elders, that is, leaders, dukes, rulers, or members of the hird, that is, warriors, were not granted any exclusive rights.
Only the king was very early granted some rights that gave him the opportunity to expand the sphere of influence. He owned fines for crimes; he controlled the income from the temples; he was also given special domains as domains, ruled by special individuals upon his election.
By the mid-10th century, merging of separate tribal groups into one territorial state took place. The legend ascribes this to Gorm the Old , who managed to subjugate the small princes to his power, albeit in a purely external way. Laws, management in each group remained the same; the king was elected in the old way, but was obliged to go to all the local manifestations for recognition.
In the XI or XII century , a general meeting of free people (Danish courtyard, Dannehof) was formed, which gathered in Zeeland, Isere, then Jutland, in Viborg, where the election of the king took place, later confirmed during his travels at local meetings, landings.
Sources:
O. Klindt-Jensen. Denmark before the Vikings
History of Denmark from ancient times to the beginning of the XX century