Vindicated: King Who Ordered Tides to Stop

Teresa Neumann : Dec 31, 2012
Staff - The Daily Mail

King Canute, whose remains in Winchester Cathedral are currently being identified, famously commanded the waves to not touch his kingdom, saying, "Let all the world know that a the power of kings is empty and worthless and there is no king worthy of the name save Him by whose will Heaven and earth and sea obey eternal laws."

(The U.K.) - King Canute was a legendary 11th century English king best known for commanding the tide not to break upon his land. Since his reign, historians have often ridiculed the king's "arrogance" and "presumption," some going so far as to label him a madman deluded into thinking he could control nature. (Photo courtesy: mailonline)

Indeed, as recently as this decade of the 21st century, Canute's misconstrued legend is still referred to, as when one British official lambasted David Cameron to "stop being King Canute" in relation to an incoming tide of local authority cuts.

However, current historians say such malignant of the king is bunk.

According to a report in the BBC entitled "Is King Canute Misunderstood?" reporter Kathryn Westcott writes that after King Canute had courtiers carry him to the shore in his throne and commanded the tide to stop, he pronounced, "Let all the world know that the power of kings is empty and worthless and there is no King worthy of the name save Him by whose will Heaven and earth and sea obey eternal laws."

In other words, notes Westcott, "The account shows Canute setting out to demonstrate that the tide would come in regardless."

Professor Simon Keynes of the department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic at the University of Cambridge agrees.?"Everyone always gets it wrong," he says. "The latest debate is a nice example of how a legend becomes distorted when it is told and retold... The story is intended to illustrate [Canute's] piety - a prominent feature in his kingship. He knows his power is nothing besides that of God."

Fast forward to 2012, and news from Bristol University is that a team of archaeologists are set to examine the skeletal remains of King Canute in order to solve a mystery surrounding his bones.

As reported in The Daily Mail, the king's remains, along with those of Queen Emma and their son Harthacanute and other kings, such as Egbert and Ethelwulf, were gathered up and placed in six caskets in Winchester Cathedral. Evidently, Canute's remains had been scattered when Roundheads ransacked the cathedral during the English Civil War. Researchers want to positively identify the remains.

Bristol University professor Mark Horton claims the preliminary findings are "very exciting."