KING CANUTE

What Is a Noun?

King Canute

Grades 1+

When he was old, King Canute sat on his throne, on the beach, and faced the ocean. The tide was coming in. He commanded, “I am King Canute! I order you waves to stay back!”

He lived over a thousand years ago. He was from Denmark and had come to England when he was young.  He and his Viking warriors had conquered most of the country. The war had been very bloody.

He became a king who ruled with what is called “an iron hand.”  That means he imprisoned or killed anyone who opposed him.

But then King Canute became a Christian, and he began ruling in a more peaceful way.

He had many enemies. Even his own sons wanted him dead. King Canute was very sad. He was tired and sick. But he was still king. He was the king of England, Scotland, Denmark, and Norway.

Of course, he could not stop the waves. They splashed against him the same way they would a poor man.

“There is only one great king,” he told those around him. He pointed toward the sky.  “And he is in Heaven.”

He took off his golden crown, walked into the church, and put it on the statue of Jesus, where it stayed the rest of King Canute’s life.

Use the first noun test to determine which of the following are nouns. Don’t worry what part of speech the other words are.

Noun test:       the _______

1.   old

6. took

11. life

16. then

2. he

7. country

12. conquered

17. church

3. lived

8. bloody

13. enemies

18. a

4. of

9. his

14.  warriors

19. golden

5. ruling

10. throne

15.  iron

20. toward

Use both noun test to determine which of the following are nouns. Don’t worry what part of speech the other words are. Remember: A word only has to fit in one blank to be a noun.  the _________ named _________

1. Christian

6. hand

11. waves

16. ago

2. sons

7. King Canute

12. walked

17. was

3. argues

8. get

13. behead

18. what

4. tide

9. Jesus

14.  commanded

19. England

5. Scotland

10. had

15.  when

20. ocean

Check your work. Then go back through the essay and color all the nouns that you found brown. (You don’t need to color all the nouns.)