By Ben Mondy / Surfer / December 16, 2024
In the 11th Century, King Canute united the kingdoms of England, Denmark and Norway into what was known as the North Sea Empire. It was an incredible feat. Especially, as he was known as Cnut at the time.
However, he is remembered for setting his throne by the shore and commanding the incoming tide to halt. As the two-footers washed around his shins, he declared to his courtiers: “Let all the world know that the power of kings is empty and worthless … heaven, earth and sea obey eternal laws.”
Old Cnut has been forever linked with the futility of trying to stop the tides using his supernatural powers, even if he was trying to teach his fawning courtiers the opposite. Roughly 1,000 years later, his lesson could be applied to the continued building of seawalls to combat erosion.
“Seawalls damage virtually every beach they are built on. If they are built on eroding beaches – and they are rarely built anywhere else – they eventually destroy the beach.” That was Cornelia Dean, the Science Editor of the New York Times, in her book “Against the Tide, The Battle of America’s Beaches.” And that was in 1999.
By Ben Mondy / Surfer / December 16, 2024
In the 11th Century, King Canute united the kingdoms of England, Denmark and Norway into what was known as the North Sea Empire. It was an incredible feat. Especially, as he was known as Cnut at the time.
However, he is remembered for setting his throne by the shore and commanding the incoming tide to halt. As the two-footers washed around his shins, he declared to his courtiers: “Let all the world know that the power of kings is empty and worthless … heaven, earth and sea obey eternal laws.”
Old Cnut has been forever linked with the futility of trying to stop the tides using his supernatural powers, even if he was trying to teach his fawning courtiers the opposite. Roughly 1,000 years later, his lesson could be applied to the continued building of seawalls to combat erosion.
“Seawalls damage virtually every beach they are built on. If they are built on eroding beaches – and they are rarely built anywhere else – they eventually destroy the beach.” That was Cornelia Dean, the Science Editor of the New York Times, in her book “Against the Tide, The Battle of America’s Beaches.” And that was in 1999.