A Dream of England (or The Chronicles of Britannia)

A dream of England, beauteous fair, of all those who lived and died there

Part the Tenth:

The reign of Canute, the last Danish kings and the coming of the Normans

Under the deal that the two kings agreed,

Canute, now the one king of England would be

uniting the whole of the country as one,
which did not know Edmund, himself, had two sons
for Canute banished them to Hungary
insuring never on the throne would they be.
It was in some cruelty his reign began
but he would soon grow into a wise man.
The English, they loved him as one of their own
though he did not just sit on England’s throne:
for Denmark and Sweden and also Norway,
kingship of these lands, too, Canute held sway.
The nobles they praised and they flattered their king
so much and so often it made his head spin;
“All England obeys you”, they cried, “and look see:
not only the land but the waves of the sea!”
This was absurd talk, so wise Canute then
thought a lesson he’d teach these foolish men:
To his servants he called, “Bring me a chair
and set it in front of the tide over there.”
The nobles all proudly stood round this royal seat
as Canute sat down and proceeded to speak:
“Go back!” he said to the waves, “I, your lord
and master say to you to come in no more,
remove your selves away from my royal seat
and do not even dare to come wet my feet!”
The sea, of course, could not hear nor could obey
and soon everyone’s feet had got wet that day.
Canute then arose and to his nobles said,
“Foolish men, have you no brains in your head?
I have no power the sea to control,
it is God alone who has say over all;
he rules the earth and the sky and the sea
and we, his obedient subjects, must be.”
The nobles they learned their lesson that day
and Canute, too, had a change in his way
for, from that day forth he no more wore his crown
but on Winchester’s statue of Christ was it found.
Their king was a Christian and all the Danes who
were still pagans soon became Christians too.
The differences between the English and Danes
soon faded away and they all became
one united kingdom, though not overnight;
it took some time for them to forget their fights.
Though the other lands the king ruled were near
he needed someone to help him to rule here;
into four he divided the whole thing:
an earl in each earldom ruled it for the king.
In Wessex he placed a man there named Godwin
who was to have great sway with a future king,
but, like his forebears king Canute soon died
and was buried in Winchester, 1035.
Harefoot and Hardicanute, his two sons,
were then to rule where their father had done;
but neither were wise or good like their dad
and these were the last Danish kings England had
for earl Godwin (whom we mention again)
said Edward, son of Ethelred, should now reign.
Now Edward, brother to King Canute who died
and also to the brave Edmund Ironside,
had stayed in Normandy, as was his wish,
and was much more Norman than he was English.
But Godwin, earl of Wessex, had a plan
to get him in good standing with this man,
he’d give him his daughter, Edith, to wife
to make him much more love the English life;
a more mis-matched couple there never had been,
yet Edward became king and Edith his queen.

TO BE CONTINUED…

NEXT ON “A DREAM OF ENGLAND”:

Edward to Confessor to William the Conqueror