Sveyn and his son Canute had arrived in 1013, to drive home the point that the Danes wanted respect, not just more money. Their armies had driven south through Northumbria and Mercia and had sacked southern England, forcing Aethelred to flee. The Danes were already in charge of a large part of the Island, anyway, thanks to the Danelaw. Now, they wanted it all.
But Sveyn, as powerful as he was, couldn't escape death. His was an untimely one, coming so soon after he assumed power in England. And the English saw an opportunity to rise up against Sveyn's less magnanimous son Canute.
Rise up they did, in such numbers and with such purpose that Canute fled the country. Aethelred, at this time depending more and more on his sons, returned to reclaim the throne. Those sons, by the way, seemed to have their own interests at heart, perhaps taking after their father. Edmund, the oldest son, tried to endear himself to the Danes by marrying one of them, the widow of Sigeferth, one of the powerful Danes that Aethelred had ordered killed in 1014. The Danes were so pleased at this that they proclaimed Edmund to be their ruler, creating a rift between father and son.
At this time of familial unhappiness came the return of Canute, this time with more men and purpose. The response was divided, just like the country. Aethelred's days as king were again numbered.
He, in fact, died during this struggle, passing the throne in full on to Edmund. They had reconciled their differences in the king's last days, and this made it easier for the English to accept Edmund as their leader, which they did in 1016.
Postscript: Aethelred has been labeled "the Unready." This is not exactly what he was first called. The chroniclers of this period of history first termed him redeless, meaning that he was without rede, or council. This was true, since he didn't really have a ruling council, relying more on his henchmen and soldiers to "advise" him. The description became an epithet when later generations reviewed the situation and found Aethelred unready to assume command. Alfred's shadow was still, indeed, long.
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