On his own contemporaries Canute made a profound impression which succeeding generations have shared. In Britain he was called the Great; in Scandinavia the Rich, the Mighty or the Powerful. The extent of his possessions, the splendour of his court, the size of his navy, his intimate relations with Pope and Emperor—all these things gave him a position and a prestige that was unheard of in the Northlands. And it was indeed a marvellous achievement for a pirate chief from a nation just emerging from heathendom to gather into his power the realms and territories that made up the Knytling empire.
To analyse a character such as that of Canute is a difficult task, as character analysis always must be. There was so much that was derived from a heathen time and ancestry, and also so much that had been acquired by contact with Christian culture and influences, that the result could be only a strange composite out of which traits and characteristics, often contradictory and hostile, would come to the surface as occasion would suggest. Canute was a Christian, probably baptised in his youth by some German ecclesiastic, as the Christian name Lambert, which in harmony with custom was added to the one that he already possessed, seems distinctly German. But the new name was evidently not much employed, except, perhaps, on occasions when the King wished to emphasise his Christian character. He seems to have entered into some sort of fraternal relations with the monks of Bremen: in the book of our brotherhood, says Adam the monk, he is named Lambert, King of the Danes.[463]
The historians of Old English times, both Saxon and Norman, were ecclesiastics and saw the reign of Canute from their peculiar view-point. To them the mighty Dane was the great Christian King, the founder of monasteries, the giver of costly gifts and valuable endowments to the houses of God. To the undisputed traits of Christian liberality, they added those of piety and humility, and told stories of the visit to the monks of Ely and of Canute's vain attempt to stem the tides and compel their obedience. The former is probably a true story; there is no reason why the King, who seems to have taken great interest in the abbeys of the Fenlands, should not have visited the cloisters of Ely, and he may have been attracted by the chants of the monks, which is more doubtful. But the tale of how Canute had to demonstrate his powerlessness before his admiring courtiers is a myth too patent to need discussion.[464] There was nothing of the Oriental spirit in the Northern courts.
That Canute was religious cannot be denied. Nor should we doubt that he was truly and honestly so, as religion passed among the rulers of the age. The time demanded defence and support of the priesthood, and this Canute granted, at least toward the close of his life. Perhaps in real piety, too, he was the equal of his contemporaries whom the Church has declared holy: Saint Stephen of Hungary, Saint Henry of Germany, and Saint Olaf of Norway. Still, it becomes evident as we follow his career that at no period of his life, unless it be in the closing years of which we know so little, did Canute permit consideration for the Church or the Christian faith to control his actions or determine his policies. The moving passion of Canute's life was not a fiery zeal for the exaltation of the Church, but a yearning for personal power and imperial honours.
In the Northern sources written by laymen, especially in the verses of the wandering scalds, we get a somewhat different picture of Canute from that which has been painted in the English cloisters. Little emphasis is here placed on Canute's fidelity to the new faith; here we have the conqueror, the diplomat, the politician whose goal is success, be the means what they may. The wholesale bribery that he employed to the ruin of Saint Olaf, the making and breaking of promises to the Norwegian chiefs, and the treatment of his sister's family suggest a sense of honour that was not delicate, a passion for truth that was not keen. In his preference for devious ways, in the deliberate use that he made of the lower passions of men, he shows a characteristic that is not Northern. All was not honest frankness in the Scandinavian lands; but the pirates and their successors, as a rule, did not prefer bribery and falsehood to open battle and honest fight.
Slavic ancestry, Christian culture, Anglo-Saxon ideas, and the responsibilities of a great monarchy did much to develop and modify a character which was fundamentally as much Slavic as Scandinavian. Still, deep in his strong soul lay unconquered the fierce passions that ruled the viking age—pitiless cruelty, craving for revenge, consuming hatred, and lust for power. As a rule he seems to have been humane and merciful; he believed in orderly government, in security for his subjects; but when an obstacle appeared in the path of his ambitions, he had little scruple as to the means to be employed in removing it. The mutilation of the hostages at Sandwich, the slaughter and outlawry of earls and ethelings in the early years of his rule in England, the assassination of Ulf in Roeskild church suggest a spirit that could be terrible when roused. Something can be said for Canute in all these instances: Ulf was probably a traitor; the hostages represented broken pledges; the ethelings were a menace to his rule. But why was the traitor permitted to live until he had helped the King in his sorest straits; and what was to be gained by the mutilation of innocent Englishmen; and was there no other way to make infants harmless than to decree their secret death in a foreign land?
Canute possessed in full measure the Scandinavian power of adaptation, the quality that made the Northmen such a force in Normandy and Naples. He grasped the ideals of mediæval Christianity, he appreciated the value of the new order of things, and undertook to introduce it among the Northern peoples. But he did not permit the new circumstances and ideals to control him; only so long as they served his purpose or did not hinder him in the pursuit of that purpose did he bow to them. When other means promised to be more effective, he chose accordingly.
The empire that he founded did not survive him; it had begun to crumble in his own day; the English crown was soon lost to the Danish dynasty. It would appear, therefore, as if the conqueror accomplished nothing that was permanent. But the achievements of genius cannot be measured in such terms only: the great movement that culminated in the subjection of Britain was of vast importance for the North; it opened up new fields for Western influences; it brought the North into touch with Christian culture; it rebuilt Scandinavian civilisation. These are the more enduring results of the reign and the preceding expeditions to the West. At the same time, Canute's reign minimised the influence that was working northward from the German outposts. The connection with England was soon interrupted; but while it endured the leavening process made rapid spread and the Northern countries were enabled to absorb into their culture much that has remained a native possession.
To England Canute brought the blessings of good government. For nearly twenty years England had peace. Troubles there were on the Scotch and Welsh borders; but these were of slight importance compared with the earlier ravages of the vikings. It is true, indeed, that the Danish conquest paved the way for the later invasion by the Normans; but this was a result that Canute had not intended. It was not a part of his plan to have the sons of his consort educated in Normandy; at the same time, he was not in position to take such steps in their case as he may have wished, for they were the sons of his own Queen.