Posted: October 30, 1999 at 01:14:35: by Michael Martinez
: : They were nonetheless a sea-bound people, living by and
: : making use of the sea. One of the most famous Anglo-Saxon
: : anecdotes has a king attempting to command the sea to make a
: : point with his counselllors. The most famous Anglo-Saxon
: : burial mound was excavated at Sutton Hoo -- and it contained
: : a ship. No one put any ships or boats in Theoden's burial
: : mound.: Knud d. Store (Canuthe the Great) was NOT an Anglo-Saxon king,
: he was a Danish prince whose father Sven Tveskæg (Forkbeard)
: died on the eve of having taken England (I think it was in AD
: 1014). The 16yearold Knud then sailed home to Denmark in the
: face of rebellion, gathered an even larger navy/army and
: reconquered England. Knud became an emperor reigning over
: Denmark, England, Norway (by proxy) and Sweden. He resided in
: England as the court there was the most wealthy and comfortable
: and England was, because of its wealth, his most important
: subrealm. In spite of the English haven taken him to hearth, he
: was a conquering Viking King. I didn't say he wasn't. Although I couldn't remember his name, I said it was an Anglo-Saxon anecdote (referring to the story of the king commanding the sea). I'm not aware that the tradition was passed down outside of England, but if it was, I suppose it's not really an Anglo-Saxon tradition but rather an Anglo-Danish one.
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