when he had been in denmark 24 years (perhaps between 1109 and 1122, depending on the date he can be assumed to have arrived in denmark), he wrote his latin "vita et passio s. canuti" (english: "life and passion of st canute"). olrik calls it "one of the most important sources for the history of denmark in the middle ages". according to olrik, ælnoth is unusually frank as he, despite his awe of his hero, nevertheless hints at the faults of the violent king. he switches between prose and poetry in a way olrik defines as typically anglo-saxon. the legend is dedicated to king niels, and is more generally written with the political purpose of supporting the claims of the dynasty of the sons of sweyn estridson.