Editing Cnut (section)

== The story of Cnut and the waves ==
{{Main|King Canute and the tide}}
[[File:Canute Reproving His Courtiers.png|thumb|''Canute Reproving His Courtiers'' (1848)]]

This story of Cnut resisting the incoming tide was first recorded by [[Henry of Huntingdon]] in his ''Historia Anglorum'' in the early twelfth century:
{{blockquote|When he was at the height of his ascendancy, he ordered his chair to be placed on the sea-shore as the tide was coming in. Then he said to the rising tide, "You are subject to me, as the land on which I am sitting is mine, and no one has resisted my overlordship with impunity. I command you, therefore, not to rise on to my land, nor to presume to wet the clothing or limbs of your master." But the sea came up as usual, and disrespectfully drenched the king's feet and shins. So jumping back, the king cried, "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, earth and the sea obey eternal laws."}}

This has become by far the best known story about Cnut, although in modern readings he is usually a wise man who knows from the start that he cannot control the waves.{{sfnm|1a1=Greenway|1y=1996|1pp=367-69|2a1=Bolton|2y=2017|2pp=214-16}}