Moreover, it has long been thought to have been the real-world counterpart to Heorot, the hall of King Hrothgar at the centre of the action in the Old English epic poem Beowulf.

As the home of the Skjölding (Old English: Scylding) dynasty mentioned in Beowulf,[3][4] Lejre has long been thought to have been the real-world counterpart to Heorot, the fabulous royal hall where the first part of the action of that Anglo-Saxon poem takes place.

[7] Archeological excavations undertaken since the 1980s have produced dramatic confirmation that medieval legends of Lejre, though largely fabulous, have a basis in history.

A noteworthy loose find that has recently turned up, thanks to metal detector work, is a tiny silver Viking Age figurine known as Odin from Lejre.

[12] Other sites of archaeological interest in the vicinity, long admired by visitors even when their nature was not well understood, are a Viking-Age cemetery that includes several ship settings, a great Iron Age cremation mound ("Grydehøj"), a number of tumuli that are mostly of Bronze Age date, and several Neolithic chamber graves, including one that in modern times has been known as "Harald Hildetandshøy".

A wooded path and lake a short distance west of Lejre, as well, was identified by some antiquarian scholars as "Herthadal," the sacred sacrificial precinct of the goddess Nerthus (also called Hertha), whose rites were described by the Roman historian Tacitus in chapter 40 of his Germania.

While such speculations can be dismissed as contributing to a "myth of Lejre" that has little to do with the actual Iron Age settlement-complex that has now been excavated,[14] it could be argued that reality and fantasy have always been intertwined in stories pertaining to this region.