Canute (you will also see Cnut) was a king who lived from about 995 to 1035. He was King of England from 1016 to 1035, and he also became king of Denmark and Norway. His name came through Middle English Canut and Anglo-Norman from Old Norse Knútr, perhaps first a byname meaning “knot”, though that last bit is only a possible story. The tale people remember: his servants said he was so great that even the sea would listen. He sat by the water and ordered the waves not to come in. They came in anyway. He did this to show that a king is not as strong as proud talk says. Though actually, many people today say “King Canute” for someone who tries to stop a thing that cannot be stopped, as if he really thought he could boss the sea. That turns the old lesson around. When the name appears in news or essays, it is usually this picture: a person, or a law, standing against something as sure as the tide.

克努特（大帝）