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Person Info

• Name: Hrolfr (Rollo) Duke Of Normandy
• Sex: M
• Birth: Abt 846 ^b
• Death: 933 ^d
• Burial: Notre Dame, Rouen ^u


Parents:

• Father:
  
• Ketil

Family:
Marriage:

• Poppa on 886 .^m1
  
• Poppa

Children:

1. Gerloc Of Normandy Death: Abt 14 Oct 962
2. William Longspee Duke Of Normandy Birth: Abt 900 in Rouen Death: 17 Dec 942 in Pecquigny-Sur-Somme

Marriage:

• Gisela on 912 .^m2
  
• Gisela Birth: Abt 908 Death: 919

Bibliography

Sources for birth and parent Information

date:

(846) [Ref: ES II #79]

846 [Ref: Moriarty Plantagenet p10]

abt 846 [Ref: Moriarty Plantagenet p11, Watney WALLOP #740]

second half of ninth century [Ref: Crouch Normans p1],

place:

somewhere in Norwegian settlement on Atlantic [Ref: Crouch Normans p1],

father:

[Ref: Crouch Normans p4, Crouch Normans p5],

note:

supposed father (doubful) Ketill [Ref: HenryII roran000 12/31/2007]

Sources with Inaccurate birth and parent Information

parents:

Rognvald Jarl of Orkney (#11604) & Hilda (#11605) [Ref: CP X AppA p3, ES II #79, Moriarty Plantagenet p10, Moriarty Plantagenet p11, Paget HRHCharles p135, Watney WALLOP #740],

father:

Rognvald Jarl of Orkney (#11604) [Ref: HenryII rognv000 12/31/2007, Weis AR7 #243A]

Sources for death Information

date:

[Ref: ES II #75 (as replaced in III.1)]

927 [Ref: Watney WALLOP #740]

928x933 [Ref: HenryII roran000 12/31/2007, HenryII willi000 2/8/2004]

931 [Ref: ES II #79, Moriarty Plantagenet p10, Moriarty Plantagenet p11]

932 [Ref: Paget HRHCharles p135, Tapsell Dynasties p202]

abt 927 [Ref: Weis AR7 #121E]

probably after 927, certainly before 933 [Ref: Crouch Normans p7]

Sources with Inaccurate death Information

date:

931 [Ref: Wurts MCBarons p422]

Sources for burial Information

place:

[Ref: Weis AR7 #121E]

Cathedral of Rouen [Ref: Crouch Normans p7]

Sources with Information about marriage to Poppa

date:

danish wife [Ref: Moriarty Plantagenet p10]

first and third wives of Rollo, repudiated but afterward remarried after 919 [Ref: Paget HRHCharles p135],

names:

[Ref: ES II #75 (as replaced in III.1), Moriarty Plantagenet p226],

child:

[Ref: Crouch Normans p5, ES II #79, Evans HAUTEVILLE p25, HenryII roran000 12/31/2007, HenryII willi000 2/8/2004, Moriarty Plantagenet p10, Moriarty Plantagenet p11, Paget HRHCharles p135, Settipani Capet p221, Weis AR7 #121E]

Sources with Inaccurate marriage information

child:

Crispina (#17034) wife of Gimaldus Prince of Monaco [Ref: Planche Conqueror&Companions v2p192]

Sources with Information about marriage to Gisela

date:

[Ref: ES II #79, Paget HRHCharles p135],

note:

supposed second wife of Rollo, but probably mythical [Ref: HenryII roran000 12/31/2007]

Research Notes:
Princeps Nortmannorum (Leader of the Normans [of Rouen]) [Ref: HenryII roran000 12/31/2007]
Duke of Normandy [Ref: Weis AR7 #144A]
Count of Rouen [Ref: Crouch Normans pix]

of noble warrier descent, else he would never have been accepted as jarl of a Viking fleet [Ref: Crouch Normans p1]

properly Hrolf; known from his stature as Gongu-Hrolf, 'Rolf the walker' because no horse could carry him [Ref: Watney WALLOP #740]

called Rolf the Ganger [Ref: Tapsell Dynasties p202]

abt 876: banished from Norway to the Hebrides [Ref: Weis AR7 #121E]

890: participated in Viking attack on Bayeaux, where Count Berenger of Bayeau was killed and his daughter Poppa captured [Ref: Weis AR7 #121E]

prob abt 911: king Charles the Simple of France ceded a district around the city of Rouen to Rollo, which eventually evolved into the duchy of Normandy [Ref: HenryII roran000 12/31/2007]

911: Duke of Normandy [Ref: Paget HRHCharles p135]

911: King Charles met Rollo at St-Clair on the River Epte, the boundary between the provinces of Vexin and the Roumois. The King conceded to Rollo the city of Rouen and the provinces as far west as Brittany [Ref: Crouch Normans p4]

911: Under Treaty of St. Claire, received Duchy of Normandy from Charles III The Simple [Ref: Weis AR7 #121E]

911-932: Duke of Normandy [Ref: Tapsell Dynasties p202]

912: said to have been baptised, assuming the Christian name Robert [Ref: HenryII roran000 12/31/2007]

918: (setting aside Dudo of St-Quentin, who wrote over a century later) first mention of him is in an act of Charles the Simple in favor of the Parisian abbey of St-Germain-des-Pres recites that "we have granted ... that abbey ... apart from those of its properties which we have given for the protection of the Kingdom of the Northmen on the Seine, that is, to Rollo and his associates" [Ref: Crouch Normans p3]

925: mentioned in the annal of Flodoard, recording Rollo at Eu leading the Northmen resisting Frankish retaliation against his earlier agression in the Beauvaisis [Ref: Crouch Normans p3]

927: Flodoard records that "son of Rollo" swore faith to King Charles the Simple [Ref: Crouch Normans p3]

928: holding Eudes, son of Heribert of Vermandois, as a captive [Ref: HenryII roran000 12/31/2007]

died by 933, when his son William was mentioned as leading the Normans [Ref: HenryII roran000 12/31/2007]

a generation later the historian Richer of Reims picked up from somewhere the fact that Rollo's father was Ketil [Ref: Crouch Normans p4]

documentation on the origin of Rollo and his brother Gorm.
1. The statement in De Moribus et actis Primorum Normanniae Ducum by Dudo st. Quentin who wrote this story at the request of Richard 1 Rollo's Grandson that Rollo was a Danish prince this was written 60 years after rollos death compared to 200 years for snorre's sagas.
2. According to Dudo rollo had a brother named Gorm also a danish prince. (the progenitor of the Montgomery's) The gorm arrived in france in the company of his uncle Sigfrid, Ragnars son, and of Godrid the son of Harold Klak. Barnard Danus a decendant of Gorm was called a dane or danus. (Bernard Danus is the progenitor of the harcourt family) This Gorm took a prominent part in the battle of Saulcourt fount on the 3rd of august 881and then passed to lorraine( A) Gorm also used the palace of the emperor Otto at Aachen as stables (B) and in the treaty of Esloo he was paid of in gold and silver. ( Plura Millia argenti et auri) (C)
3. Rollo was present at the siege of Paris in 885 and according to Dudo above Aethelstan sent Rollo present sasking him to leave the siege and come to his assistance against his rebellious subjects. [Ref: Ray Montgomery SGM 7/12/1999]

later and quite unreliable sources link him to the royal house of Norway, or to the powerful rulers of Orkney [Ref: Crouch Normans p1]

Since the article by Duglas [Duglas, David, English Historical review 1942, p417-36] seems to be one of the main secondary sources used by many who support the alleged Norwegian origin of Rollo, a brief discussion of Douglas's article is in order.
I agree with Duglas that the reference to Rollo as "filio Catilli" by Richer of Rheims can be dismissed. Richer used the generally reliable chronicle of Floodoard as a framework, which he then expanded with much legendary material of dubious value. This Catillus is a significant figure in Richer, but is apparently unknown from other sources, and his legendary nature is evident. The statement that Rollo was the son of Catillus is apparently an attempt by Richer to amplify the fame of Catillus (whose existence is doubful) by giving his a famous son.
Duglas then outlines the well known saga statements regarding Rollo's supposed identification with Ganger-Rolf, son of Rognvald. To support his claim that "Rollo" is an acceptable Latin form for "Hrolfr", Duglas brings forward a single charter [a charter of Richard II for St. Quen, which predated Dudo and the other later sources, mentions the _atavus Ralphus_ of the Duke] which reads "atavus Rolphus" (not Ralphus) which appears to be referring to Rollo (p.421). However, as Duglas admits, the charter itself is not above suspicion. Another example mentioned in a footnote is a certain Turstinus fillius Rolv who was apparently the same person as a Turstinus filius Rollonis. This is a very small sample to make the claim that Rollo was a Latin form for Rolf. Just as likely is the possibility that the names Rollo and Ralph were confused in a couple of manusccripts. Since Ralph was such a common name in Normandy and England, we should see a large number of examples of "Rollo" and "Ralph" being used as the same name, if they were in fact the same. Since the number of examples which Douglas was able to produce is so small, it is more likely that some sort of copying mistake was mde on the above examples, in which the uncommon name Rollo was accidently replaced by the extremely common (and similar) Ralph. Important negative evidence is not given, for Douglas never mentions that there is a Norse name "Hrollaug" for which "Rollo" is an obvious Latinized form. Since the sagas give Rognvald of More two clearly different sons named Hrollaug and Hrolf, it would be difficult to argue that Hrollaug and Hrolf are supposed to be the same name.
The main other piece of evidence Douglas gives for accepting the saga account is the supposed confirmation of a saga statement about Granger-Rolf in the contemporary records. The following statement by Ari is quoted: "Another son of Othere (he says) was Helge. He harried in Scotland and won there as his booth Nithbeorg, daughter of King Beolan and of Kathleen, daughter of Ganger-Rolf." Duglas then reads between the lines, and states that since Kathleen is a Celtin name, her mother would almost certainly be a Christian. He then turns to the nearly contemporary "Lament for the Death of William Longsword", which states that William was born outside France of a Christian mother at a time when his father was still pagan. He then states: "The suggestion of the Landnamabok is thus confirmed by an epic poem composed in Gaul in the tenth century. The fact would seem to be a powerful, if not a conclusive, argument in favor of the identity of Rollo with Ganger-Rolf."
The first sentence in the above quote is completely false. There is not a single detail in the quote from Ari which is confirmed by the statement in "Lament for the death ..." This argument used by Duglas, in which he deduces an additional statement not in the original, so that there is something which can be "confirmed" is unacceptable. The fact that Douglas wuld refer to such an argument as "powerful" only serves to emphasize how weak his argument really is. [Ref: Stewart Baldwin SGM 12/7/1996]

According to the Orkneying Saga (late twelfth century), Rognvald, jarl of More in Norway, was the father (among others) of a certain Hrolf, who became the first duke of Normandy, and is therefore intended to be identified with the historical Viking Rollo, who appears in the contemporary Frankish annals of the tenth century. Those who accept this view base their argument on these late Icelandic sources. In my opinion, the Icelandic sources are worthless for early Norman history, and should be rejected as a source for Rollo's parentage. Some of the basic reasons for this opinion are as follows:
1. The Icelandic sources are both late and foreign when it comes to Norman history. Other than the very well known fact that William the Conqueror was descended from the dukes of Normandy, the Icelandic sources to not offer a single fact about early Norman history which can be corroborated in the contemporary continental sources. In fact, the Icelandic sources say remarkably little about early Norman history, which is suspicious for a source which supposedly knows the origin of Rollo.
2. The Norman sources, which are both native and considerably earlier than the Icelandic sources, tell a completely different story about the origin of Rollo, who is said to be of Danish origin. Even though some of the early Norman sources (such as Dudo) have been criticized for their innacuracy (and for deliberate embellishment), it is still reasonable to suppose that early native sources would be more reliable on the matter of Rollo's origin than late foreign sources.
3. Unfortunately, the early tenth century is not well covered by the Frankish sources. However, even though the Norman sources have clearly embellished and romanticized the material on Rollo, the story of a Danish origin for Rollo fits quite well with what the Frankish sources for the late ninth century (a better covered period) say about the Danish invasions during that earlier period.
4. Contrary to what has been frequently claimed, the names Hrolf and Rollo do not appear to be the same. The Norse name Hrollaug, which is a different name (see #5), is the name which would have "Rollo" as a reasonable Latinization. The claim that "Hrolf" was Latinized as "Rollo" by mistake is unlikely, because the Franks were quite familiar with the name, and a different Viking raider named Hrolf from the ninth century has his name correctly Latinized as "Rodulf" in the contemporary ninth century sources.
5. Fifth, and most important, the Icelandic sources give Rognvald of More several sons two of whom are Hrolf, allegedly the same as the founder of Normandy, and Hrollaug, an early Icelandic settler. First, this shows that Hrolf and Hrollaug were regarded as different names. However, it also causes a big problem in the Icelandic story. If we are to believe the Icelandic account, Hrolf went to Normandy, where he was then known as Rollo/Hrollaug, i.e., the name of Hrolf's brother. If the Icelandic story were true, why would both the Frankish and Norman sources both refer to "Hrolf" by the name of his brother Hrollaug? (Claiming that the Icelandic sources were almost right, and that Rollo of Normandy was the same as Hrollaug son of Rognvald, is not feasible, because Hrollaug's role as an early settler of Iceland clearly marks him as a different person from Rollo of Normandy.) I would like to see this problem explained away by someone supporting position that Rollo was Rognvald's son. By the way, this last point (#5) has, to my knowledge, not been mentioned before (except by me in previous postings on the same subject), and I therefore have an obvious personal interest in knowing if this particular point has been mentioned by others. If point #5 has already been made somewhere else in the literature, I would be interested in having the reference.
Thus, in my opinion, for the reasons given above, Rollo of Normandy was was probably not the son of Rognvald of More, and his parentage should be regarded as unknown. [Ref: Stewart Baldwin SGM 3/16/1998]



Pedigree of Hrolfr (Rollo) Duke Of Normandy
 /-----Ketil
Hrolfr (Rollo) Duke Of Normandy



Descendants of Hrolfr (Rollo) Duke Of Normandy

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