Canute showed an interest in the welfare of the Church to the last months of his life. It was apparently in this period that he initiated the policy of advancing his own chapel priests to episcopal appointments: in 1032 Elfwine became Bishop of Winchester; the following year Duduc, another chapel priest, was promoted in the same manner.[443] The church of York was remembered with a large gift of lands to Archbishop Alfric.[444] Gifts to some of the larger monasteries are also recorded for these same years: to Sherburne, Winchester, Abingdon, and Croyland.[445] These usually took the form of land, though ornaments and articles intended for use in the church service were also given. Abingdon received lands and bells and a case of gold and silver for the relics of "the most glorious martyr Vincent of Spain" whose resting place was in this church.[446] It is worth noting that Abbot Siward who ruled at Abingdon during the last few years of the reign bore a Danish name.
Canute's last recorded gift was to the Old Minster at Winchester in 1035, the year of his death. This comprised a landed estate, a bier for the relics of Saint Brice, a large image, two bells, and a silver candlestick with six branches.[447] It may be that he had premonitions of coming death, for in this abbey he chose to be buried.
We do not know what efforts Canute may have made to improve the material conditions in his Anglo-Saxon kingdom, but it appears that such undertakings were not wholly wanting. The King showed great favour to the religious establishments in the Fenlands and was evidently impressed with the difficulty of travel from abbey to abbey. An attempt was made to remedy this:
and that same road through the marshes between Ramsey and the borough that is called King's Delf he caused to be improved that the danger of passing through the great swamps might be avoided.[448]
Matthew Paris, our authority for this statement, wrote nearly two centuries after Canute's day, but it is likely that he is reporting a correct tradition; if the work had been done at the instance of one of the later kings, it is not probable that it would have been associated with the name of the Danish ruler.
The Norwegian sources have little to say of Canute after the battle of Stiklestead; but they follow the troubles of the Norse regency in some detail. It was thought best, when Sweyn was sent to Norway, to give him the royal title; but as he was a mere youth, the actual power was in the hands of his mother, Elgiva, who was probably associated with Earl Harold of Jomburg, Harthacanute's minister and guardian in Denmark, who seems to have acted as Canute's personal representative in his eastern kingdoms.[449] Mention has already been made of the opposition that soon arose to the Danish régime. It was not long before the dissatisfied elements formed an alliance with the partisans of the old dynasty who were assiduously disseminating the belief that the fallen Olaf was a saint.
All through the winter that followed the King's martyrdom stories were current of miracles performed by the holy relics: wounds had been healed and blindness removed by accidental contact with the royal blood. At the same time much ill-feeling developed against Bishop Sigurd who had shown such a partisan spirit on the eve of the tragedy at Stiklestead. Sigurd was a Dane who had served as chaplain at the English court[450] and had therefore a double reason for preferring Canute. Under the regency he had continued as chief of the Norwegian Church, but soon the murmur became so loud that the zealous prelate had to withdraw to England.
Einar Thongshaker now came forward to lead the opposition to the regents. He was the first of the chiefs to express his belief in Olaf's sanctity and many were ready to follow his lead. Bishop Grimkell, who since Olaf's flight in 1029 had remained in comparative quiet in the Uplands, was asked to come and investigate the current rumours of miraculous phenomena. The Bishop responded very promptly. On the way he visited Einar, by whom he was gladly welcomed. Later the prelate appeared at Nidaros and began extended investigations into the matter of the reported wonders. Einar was next summoned to conduct the negotiations with the regency. The plans of the national faction seem to have been carefully laid; it was probably not accidental that the city suddenly was thronged by incoming Norsemen.
Having secured permission from King Sweyn to act in the matter, Einar and Grimkell, followed by the multitude, proceeded to the spot where Olaf's remains were said to have been buried. According to the legend that Snorre in part follows, the coffin was found to have risen toward the surface and looked new as if recently planed. No change was observed in the remains except that the hair and nails showed considerable growth; the cheeks were red as those of one who had just fallen asleep. But the Queen-mother was not easily convinced:
"Very slowly do bodies decay in sand; it would have been otherwise if he had lain in mould." Then the Bishop took a pair of shears and clipped off a part of the King's hair and beard,—he wore a long moustache, as custom was in those days. Then said the Bishop to the King and Alfiva: "Now is the King's hair and beard as long as when he died; but it has grown as much as you see I have cut off." Then replied Alfiva: "I believe hair to be sacred if it is not consumed in fire; often have we seen whole and uninjured the hair of men who have lain in the earth longer than this man." So the Bishop placed fire in a censer, blessed it, and added the incense. Then he laid Olaf's hair in the fire. But when the incense was consumed, the Bishop took the hair from the fire, and it was wholly unburnt. The Bishop showed it to the King and the other chiefs. Then Alfiva requested them to place the hair in unblessed fire; but Einar Tremblethong spoke up, bade her keep silence, and used many hard words. Then by the Bishop's decision, the King's consent, and the judgment of the entire assembly, it was decreed that King Olaf was in truth a holy man.[451]