The Murder of Edmund Ironside
Edric’s treason handed the crown of England to Cnut the Great, but Cnut was not so poor a judge of character as to believe that a traitor could be trusted.
1016
King Cnut (Canute) 1016-1035 to King Edmund Ironside 1016
Edric’s treason handed the crown of England to Cnut the Great, but Cnut was not so poor a judge of character as to believe that a traitor could be trusted.
1016
King Cnut (Canute) 1016-1035 to King Edmund Ironside 1016
Henry of Huntingdon has told us how in the autumn of 1016, King Cnut of Denmark and Norway finally managed to subdue the English King, Edmund, thanks to repeated betrayals by Edmund’s treacherous counsellor, ealdorman Edric. Edmund agreed to be known henceforth as King of Wessex only, leaving Cnut as the more powerful King of Mercia, but the two warriors nevertheless cherished great mutual respect.
KING Edmund was treasonably slain a few days afterwards. Thus it happened: one night, this great and powerful king having occasion to retire to the house for relieving the calls of nature, the son of the ealdorman Edric, by his father’s contrivance, concealed himself in the pit, and stabbed the king twice from beneath with a sharp dagger, and, leaving the weapon fixed in his bowels, made his escape. Edric then presented himself to Cnut, and saluted him, saying, “Hail! thou who art sole king of England!”
Edric having explained what had taken place, Cnut replied, “For this deed I will exalt you, as it merits, higher than all the nobles of England.” He then commanded that Edric should be decapitated and his head placed upon a pole on the highest battlement of the tower of London.* Thus perished King Edmund Ironside, after a short reign of one year, and he was buried at Glastonbury, near his grandfather Edgar.*
* The Tower of London as we know it today was not raised until some sixty years after these events, being built on the orders of William the Conqueror between 1077 and 1097. Perhaps Cnut employed some earlier landmark fortification, here or elsewhere in the capital; or perhaps Henry of Huntingdon (?1088-1157), like any good story-teller, understood that details bring added conviction and either did not know or did not care that he was committing an anachronism. At any rate, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle has neither this detail nor any mention of Edmund’s murder, saying only that Edmund died on November 30th, and that in 1017 “the aldorman Eadric was slain in London, very rightly”.
* That is, Edgar the Peaceful (r. 959-975), father of King Edward the Martyr and of King Ethelred the Unready, Edmund’s father. See posts tagged Edward the Peaceful. The murder of Edmund by a noble anxious to ingratiate himself with his king recalls The Assassination of Thomas Becket a century or so later.
1. What is the author aiming to achieve in writing this?
2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that strike you. How do they help the author communicate his ideas more effectively?
3. What impression does this passage make on you? How might you put that impression into words?
Based on The English Critic (1939) by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn, Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University, USA.