A Breton Tradition

Ettlinger, Ellen

doi:10.1080/0015587x.1952.9718135

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“…Pitting his powers against the tide might then seem like a logical and natural extension of the powers of a monarch who had already conquered, through more conventional means, much of Northern Europe. Second, Canute's reign occurred at a time when sea levels were rising (Ettlinger, 1952, p. 236). Indeed, as many of the contemporary sources testify, in 1014 (the year he was declared king of England by the invading Danish forces with the death of his father), significant areas of the East of England in particular were submerged by unprecedentedly high tides.…”

Section: ‘Thus Far and No Farther’: The Origins Of The Legend Of mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…And finally, mastery of natural forces was a common theme in the folklore of the time. Thus, for instance, according to the (then) popular legend, in seeking to protect the monastery of Llantwit Major from encroachment by the sea, St Illtut drew a line in the sand with his staff beyond which the sea supposedly never again rose (Ettlinger, 1952, p. 234).…”

Section: ‘Thus Far and No Farther’: The Origins Of The Legend Of mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…9Indeed, as Ettlinger suggests, clearly showing a preference for narrative 2 in so doing, ‘the request of the courtiers was no idle talk at all, but had been caused [ sic ] by the plight of the country, which they hoped to end by calling upon the king to control the seas’ (Ettlinger, 1952, p. 236). …”

Section: Notesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

King Canute and the ‘Problem’ of Structure and Agency: On Times, Tides and Heresthetics

Hay

2009

Political Studies

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The story of King Canute (Cnut) is well known. Indeed, in perhaps its most familiar form it exists as an oral historical tradition passed from generation to generation. In this almost legendary account, King Canute is depicted as an arrogant ruler, so confident as to his own omnipotence that he takes on the forces of nature, pitting his own powers against those of the rising tide – his wet robes paying testament to his powerlessness in the face of potent material forces and to the triumph of (natural) structures over (human) agency. Or so it might seem. In this article I suggest that even in this, the simplest depiction of the story of Canute, the relationship between structure and agency is more complex and involved than it appears. This complexity is only accentuated if we turn from the legend to the historical evidence. Moreover, by reflecting on Canute's practical negotiation of the ‘problem’ of structure and agency we can not only gain an interesting political analytical purchase on a seemingly familiar tale, but we can also generate a series of valuable and more general insights into our understanding of the structure–agency relationship. In particular, the (various) stories of King Canute and the waves alert us to the need: (1) to maintain a clear distinction between the empirical and the ontological; (2) to resist the temptation to attempt an empirical adjudication of ontological issues (or, indeed, an ontological adjudication of empirical issues); (3) to differentiate clearly between the capacities of agents with respect to material/physical structures on the one hand, and social/political structures on the other; (4) to acknowledge the significance of unintended consequences; (5) to attend to the ‘performative’ dimensions of agency; and (6) to recognise the dangers inherent in an overly instrumental view of actors' motivations and intentions.

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Section: ‘Thus Far and No Farther’: The Origins Of The Legend Of mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: ‘Thus Far and No Farther’: The Origins Of The Legend Of mentioning

confidence: 99%