The TRAVELER'S JOURNAL: June fifth, enjoying a jaunt through Jutland.

The only part of Denmark actually attached to Europe, Jutland is a long, peninsula that sticks up two hundred miles from Germany's northern border. A swath of golden grain fields and cow-dappled moors, Jutland is dotted with villages of thatched cottages and moated manor homes. With the North Sea on the west and the Baltic on the east, the slow roads that lace through Jutland's low lands all seem to end on a dune-draped beach.

But Jutland also has well-populated pockets. Ribe, Denmark's oldest town, was once a Viking market. Its quaint maze of cobbled streets and half-timbered houses wrap around a massive medieval cathedral. There's Arhus, Denmark's second largest city, with its re-created Old Town, where prim, lace-trimmed hats fill shop windows and parlor tables seem perpetually set for tea.

Just as Jutland narrows to its northern tip, farms and fields give way to a lean spit of sandy dunelands known as Skagen. Europeans regard this as a northern Riviera, a Danish Cape Cod. Many buildings painted pale yellow and topped with orange-tiled roofs give Skagen the look of a field of sunflowers. An artful, sumptuous blend of seafood and soft- spoken Danish charm helps to make Skagen visits a pleasure.

Yet in summer, many of Jutland's genteel Danes shed their civilized ways and take to the woods to stage Viking clan gatherings. Camping around open fires, they quaff sweet mead and plan mock battles. That's a rare sight. How often can you watch horn-helmeted, sword-brandishing Norsemen go at it for fun?

FMI For Jutland information, contact the Danish Tourist Board at 212-885-9700 or www.visitdenmark.com

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