Many people will have heard of the legend of King Canute trying unsuccessfully to hold back the waves, but not a lot of people are aware that it is believed that the English town of Gainsborough in the East Midlands is where it all happened. Gainsborough is around twenty miles to the north west of Lincoln, and today has a population of around 20,100 people.

The legend has it that King Canute had a court composed of many people who got on his nerves by saying he was all powerful and could achieve any amazing feat. To try to keep in favour with the King and his most influential courtiers, the other courtiers would endlessly prattle on about how god-like the King was. The legend continues that King Canute became so tired of these constant pronouncements of his awesome power that he wanted to shut them up once and for all by showing that he could not indeed stop the waves coming in on a rising tide.

As mentioned previously, this event is believed to have happened at the town of Gainsborough. Located on the River Trent in Lincolnshire, Gainsborough has the distinction of being England's most inland port, as it is fifty five miles away from the North Sea.

It is interesting that the town of Gainsborough nearly became the capital city of England. During Saxon times the town was a capital of Mercia. After the Saxon era, Gainsborough was used as a base for administration by the Viking Kings who came over to England from Denmark to rule the country by force instead of the Saxons.

In the year 1013 the Viking warlord Sweyn Forkbeard became the King of England and established his extensive power base at Gainsborough. However Gainsborough did not fulfill its possible destiny of becoming the capital of England in place of London. This is because Forkbeard died just five weeks after becoming the King of England. The successor of Forkbeard, his son Canute, decided to create a base in another part of England, so the potential of Gainsborough to become the capital of England was not fulfilled.

Canute, a Viking Prince, became King of England in the year 1016 and King of Denmark in the year 1018 so he was indeed a powerful force, and gained control of most of Scandinavia too. England prospered under his reign, as the Viking attacks which had threatened and damaged the country in previous years were no longer a factor.

So to return to the legend of King Canute holding back the waves at Gainsborough, most of the depictions of this historic event show the King wearing his crown and sitting on his throne with the water of a rising tide lapping at his feet. Paintings and other illustrations show King Canute holding up his hands commanding the water to come no further with a group of his courtiers gathered behind him to observe the proceedings. King Canute was doing this not to make a fool of himself but to show his courtiers that he was only a man and although he had achieved a great deal in his life, he was not a supernatural being or a wizard and could not control the forces of nature.