It seems that we are referring to the Pleistocene if we consider that 32 years ago, in 1989, the idea of the Bluetooth technology emerged, a wireless networking system designed to connect devices of all kinds with each other, to somehow unify technology. The Swedes Nils Rydbeck and Johan Ullman of Ericsson Mobile were the pioneers of this technology, although they had to team up with Jim Kardach of Intel, Nokia, and Toshiba.
At the very least, the name should catch our attention: “bluetooth”. A bit fanciful, but there is an explanation. The creator of the name was Jim Kardach, who had read the novel The long ships, by Frans G. Bengtsson. It tells the story of a great Danish king who managed to unify under his reign the Viking tribes of Denmark and Norway in the tenth century. He also took the opportunity to spread Christianity in his kingdom. This king existed. His name was Harald “Blåtand” Gormsson.
Blåtand was his nickname. According to some, it referred to his un-Nordic features, as he was dark-skinned and dark-haired (that is what “Blå” would mean, and “tand” big man). This epithet was translated into English as “Bluetooth”. However, other authors believe that Harald may have had blue or blackened teeth, either because of his fondness for chewing blueberries or because he suffered from hemolytic disease of the newborn. The fact is that Kardach was inspired by the feat of this mighty king to name the technology that would revolutionize the industry. Just as Harald unified numerous tribes under his command, so would the Bluetooth technology do with various devices of different kinds.
THE FACT
The Viking references do not end here. The Bluetooth logo is, in fact, the sum of two runes: “hagall”, the equivalent of the letter H, and “berkana”, the equivalent of B, precisely the initials of Harald Blåtand.
