from the enmity of so warlike a people as the Normans. In order
to acquire the friendship of the duke, he paid his addresses to Queen
Emma, sister of that prince; and promised that he would leave the
children, whom he should have by that marriage, in possession of the
crown of England. Richard complied with his demand, and sent over Emma
to England, where she was soon after married to Canute.[**] The English,
though they disapproved of her espousing the mortal enemy of her former
husband and his family, were pleased to find at court a sovereign to
whom they were accustomed, and who had already formed connections with
them; and thus Canute besides securing, by this marriage, the alliance
of Normandy gradually acquired, by the same means, the confidence of his
own subjects.[***] The Norman prince did not long survive the marriage
of Emma; and he left the inheritance of the duchy to his eldest son
of the same name; who, dying a year after him without children, was
succeeded by his brother Robert, a man of valor and abilities.

[* W. Malms, p. 72. In one of these sieges, Canute
diverted the coarse of the Thames, and by that means brought
his ships above London bridge.]

[** Chron. Sax. p. 151. W. Malms, p. 73.]

[*** W. Malms, p. 73. Higden, p 275.]

Canute, having settled his power in England beyond all danger of a
revolution, made a voyage to Denmark, in order to resist the attacks of
the king of Sweden; and he carried along with him a great body of the
English, under the command of Earl Godwin. This nobleman had here an
opportunity of performing a service, by which he both reconciled the
king's mind to the English nation, and gaining to himself the friendship
of his sovereign, laid the foundation of that immense fortune which
he acquired to his family. He was stationed next the Swedish camp, and
observing a favorable opportunity, which he was obliged suddenly
to seize, he Attacked the enemy in the night, drove them from their
trenches, threw them into disorder, pursued his advantage, and obtained
a decisive victory over them. Next morning, Canute, seeing the English
camp entirely abandoned, imagined that those disaffected troops had
deserted to the enemy: he was agreeably surprised to find that they were
at that time engaged in pursuit of the discomfited Swedes. He was so
pleased with this success, and with the manner of obtaining it that
he bestowed his daughter in marriage upon Godwin, and