The Ward of King Canute

The Ward of King Canute is a historical novel by Ottilie Adelina Liljencrantz (1876-1910), the Swedish-American writer whose short career produced several popular historical novels set in the Viking age and the broader medieval Scandinavian world.

Liljencrantz was born in Chicago to Swedish immigrant parents and developed an early interest in the Scandinavian historical material that her family background gave her access to. She produced four major novels during her brief career before her early death from heart disease at age thirty-four. The novels include The Thrall of Leif the Lucky of 1902, The Vinland Champions of 1904, Randvar the Songsmith of 1906, and The Ward of King Canute of 1903.

The novel is set during the reign of Cnut the Great (c. 995-1035), the Danish king who ruled England, Denmark, Norway, and parts of Sweden across the extensive early eleventh century North Sea empire. Liljencrantz uses the historical setting for a romantic adventure plot involving a young ward of the king and the various dramatic events surrounding the court. Her Viking-era novels were widely read in the early twentieth century American market.