Cnut the Great (Old Norse: Knútr inn ríki;c. 995– 12 November 1035), more commonly known as Canute, was a king of Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Sweden, together often referred to as the Anglo-Scandinavian or North Sea Empire. After his death, the deaths of his heirs within a decade, and the Norman conquest of England in 1066, his legacy was largely lost to history. The medieval historian Norman Cantor has made the statement that he was "the most effective king in Anglo-Saxon history", although Cnut himself was Danish not British or Anglo-Saxon.
Cnut's name is popularly invoked in the context of the legendary story of King Canute and the waves, but usually misrepresenting Cnut (Canute) as a deluded monarch believing he had supernatural powers, when the original story in fact relates the opposite and portrays a wise king.
Cnut's father was Sweyn Forkbeard, King of Denmark (which gave Cnut the patronym Sweynsson, Old Norse Sveinsson). The identity of his mother is uncertain, although medieval tradition makes her a daughter of Mieszko I. As a Danish prince, Cnut won the throne of England in 1016 in the wake of centuries of Viking activity in northwestern Europe. His accession to the Danish throne in 1018 brought the crowns of England and Denmark together. Cnut maintained his power by uniting Danes and English under cultural bonds of wealth and custom, rather than by sheer brutality. After a decade of conflict with opponents in Scandinavia, Cnut claimed the crown of Norway in Trondheim in 1028. The Swedish city Sigtuna was held by Cnut. He had coins struck there that called him king, but there is no narrative record of his occupation.
King Canute couldn't stop the tide
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I'm sure you know that the tide is unstoppable
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We all think our minds are unstoppable
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Thor and his hammer couldn't stop my storm
Right on to his fancy cuz no one was born
I couldn't be the god of thunder
But I'm sure I could have a baby blunder
And I can't stop the storm
No one was born
I can't stop the storm
No one was able to show that this could be probable
We all think our minds are unstoppable
We all need, we need a little help