Funny how it turned out
It all started when the pre-historic king Dan declared Jutland his own. Back then the peninsula was one big forrest, but he must have found an area free from trees, because the ancient danish word "mark" means clearing/glade.
A few hundred years later the action starts, when the soils of Jutland fails to feed the growing population of Denmark. So they build ships, and the rest is history. Vikings emerge!
A geographic curiosity should also be set straight. Back then Scandinavia was like Britain, many local kings or Earls. Denmark was at that time 2/3 of Scandinavia, with only northern Sweden being non-danish.
1000 years after that, Denmark is reduced to an insignificant spot on top of Germany. Our most hyped brand is plastic toys called Lego, and our most famous character, Hamlet, was written by an englishman. The same englishmen that now dominate global communication with their language and invented the most popular game ever: Football (called soccer by suckers).
One thing though, that most people dont know! Many of the words you use in english, and consider to be pure english, are not! They are (ancient) danish!
What words? You might ask. The list is endless! But if your native language is english, it is partly danish also!