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1 _UID F04DE436EA184A938A0DF78AA66A342BBD58
1 _UID 7A3D748ADE58D94B9785AA53759D122A76C9
Supposed father: Rognvaldr, jarl of Møre.
Supposed mother: Ragnhildr or Hildr.
The origin of Rollo is contraversial. There areseveralmedievalsourceswhich claim to give information about the origin ofRollo,themostwidely repeated of which would make him a son of Rognvaldr,jarlofMreby Ragnhildr or Hildr. As can be seen from thefollowingbriefnotices,the various primary sources offer verycontradictoryinformationaboutRollo's origin.
The earliest author to attribute an explicit origin to RollowasRicherofRheims, writing between 996 and 998, who called Rollo thesonofanotherViking invader of France named Catillus(presumablyrepresentingthe Norsename Ketil) [Richer i, 28 (see PL 138:35)]. SinceCatillusappears to bea legendary individual, this account hasgenerallybeendiscredited,probably correctly [see Douglas 420-1].
According to Dudo of St. Quentin (writing early 11th century),authoroftheearliest history of the Normans, Rollo had a youngerbrothernamedGurim,presumed to be the familiar name Gorm. Dudo statesthat RolloandGurim weresons of a man who held many lands in 'Dacia'(Dudo's wordforDenmark,following other authors), and that after thedeath ofthe(unnamed) fatherof Rollo and Gurim, the king of Dacia foughtagainstthesons, killing Gurimand driving Rollo out [Dudo ii, 2-4 (pp.26-7)].Dudolater refers to dukeRichard I as being related to a 'kingofDacia'named Haigrold [Dudo iv,84-88 (pp. 114-20 passim)], who musthavebeenthe Viking raider of Franceof that name [Flodoard's Annals,s.a.945,see PL 135: 463-4, van Houts 51],and not king Harald'Bluetooth'ofDenmark. Note that Gurim cannot be thefamous Gorm 'the Old'ofDenmark,who survived Rollo by many years.
William of Malmesbury (early 12th century) appears to betheearliestauthorto attribute a Norwegian origin to Rollo [WM ii, 5(p.125)].
As is well known, the Orkneyinga Saga (late twelfth century)[OrkS4(pp.29-30)], followed by other Icelandic sources (such asthewellknownHeimskringla and Landnámabók), gives Rollo the name Hrólfr,andmakehima son of Rognvaldr, jarl of Møre, and brother of(amongothers)jarlTorf-Einarr of the Orkneys [OI 1: 187]. Earlier sources,suchasAri'sÍslendingabók (early to middle 12th century), mentionRognvaldofMøreand his son Hrollaugr who settled in Iceland, butnotthesupposedconnection to the dukes of Normandy [Ari 49, 61].Apoemallegedlywritten by Einar mentions his brothers, including aHrólfr,butdoes notconnect Hrólfr to Normandy, and does not name a Gormamongthebrothers.(See the page on Rognvaldr for more on this poem.)
Historia Gruffud vab Kenan (ca. 1250), apparently aWelshtranslationand/orrevision of an earlier Latin life of Gruffudd apCynan,givesHaraldrHárfagri of Norway ('Harald Harfagyr') a brothernamedRodulf(i.e., theLatin form of Hrólfr) who is called the founderofNormandy[HGK, 3-4].However, this is evidently a corrupt versionoftheScandinavian version,and the suggestion that Rollo was abrotherofHaraldr Hárfagri need not begiven any credence.
The most prominent argument of the case foracceptingtheScandinavianaccount that Rollo was the same person as Hrólfr,sonofRognvaldr ofMøre, was given by D. C. Douglas [Douglas 419-23],andthosewho acceptthis identification have generally followed thesamearguments.On theother side, arguments against the identificationweregiven byViggoStarcke in his book Denmark in World History[Starcke222-7].
Most of the argument of Douglas consists of accepting the taleofthesagasand rejecting evidence from the Norman sources whichcontradictthesagaversion, while explaining away the problems (on whichmorebelow).Theevidence which Douglas puts forward as 'a powerful, ifnotaconclusive,argument in favor of the identity of RollowithGanger-Rolf'concerns apassage in Landnáamabók that refers to adaughterofGongu-Hrólfr:
'... Annarr son Óttars vas Helge; hann herjaðe á Skottland, okfeckþaratherfange Niðbiorgo, dóttor Beolans konungsokCaðlínar,dóttorGongo-Hrólfs' (Another son of Óttarr was Helge. HeharriedinScotland,and won there as his booty Niðbjorg, daughter of kingBeolanandCaðlín,daughter of Gongu-Hrólfr.) [OI 1: 66-7]
This passage, which Douglas attributed to 'Ari the Learned' (whomayormaynot have been the author), is then compared with a passagefromthenearlycontemporary Plaintsong of Rollo's son William'Longsword'whichwaswritten soon after William's death:
'Hic in orbe transmarino natus patre in errore paganorum permanente matrequoque consignata alma fide sacra fuit lotus unda' (Born overseas from afather who stuck to the pagan error and fromamotherwho was devoted to thesweet religion, he was blessed withtheholychrism.) [Douglas 422 (Latin);van Houts 41 (English translation)]
After explaining that the two stories are consistentwithoneanother,Douglas then state that '[t]he suggestion of theLandnámabókisthusconfirmed by an epic poem composed in Gaul in thetenthcentury.'Whileit is true that the two accounts as they standareconsistent witheachother and with the claim that Rollo andGongu-Hrólfrwere the sameman(ignoring all other evidence), it is surely agrossoverstatementtoclaim that the Plaintsong 'confirms' the otheraccount,for there isnota single statement in the passage from Landnámabókthat isconfirmedbythe Plaintsong. This is a clear case of circularreasoning,forwithoutfirst assuming that Rollo and Gongu-Hrólfr were thesameman,there is noevidence that the two passages have anyrelationwhatsoever.Douglas'scase is further undermined by the fact thatanothersource[Laxdla Sagachapter 32, see OI 1: 246] makes Niðbjorg'smotherCaðlín adaughter ofGongu-Hrólfr, son of Oxna-Þórir,directlycontradicting thethesis thatCaðlín was supposedly a granddaughterofRognvaldr of Møre.Yet, Douglasapparently regarded this as thestrongestpart of hisargument.
There are three main strands of evidence (somewhat relatedtoeachother)against the identification of Rollo with Hrólfr sonofRognvaldr:
1. The discrepancies between the Norman and Icelandic sources. Amongother contradictions, the Norman sources give Rollo abrothernamedGurim,while the Icelandic sources give Hrólfr severalbrothers,none ofthem namedGormr (the presumed Old-Norse form for Gurim).Althoughbothof the sourceshave their problems, earlier native sourceswould seemtohave a higherpriority than later foreign sources. While manyelementsofthe Dudo'saccount are clearly legendary, there appears to benoclearmotive on thepart of Dudo (writing less than a centuryafterRollo'sdeath) to invent ayounger brother for Rollo who isthenimmediatelykilled off.
2. The general unreliability of Norse source for the early tenth century.For the period under consideration, i.e., the early ninthcentury,thesagashave a poor record for reliability, even forScandinavianhistory.Forexample, consider the following words of PeterSawyer(written withregardto a different matter, but true in general), awellknown experton earlyViking history: '... These sagas cannot,however, beaccepted asreliablesources for the tenth century. The onlytrustworthyevidence forthe tenthcentury in those sagas are thecontemporary versesaround whichthe sagawriters wove their tales.'[Sawyer 42] None of theseversesconfirm theidentity of Rollo and Hrólfr.The suspicion is madeevenlarger by the factthat the Icelandic sourcesshow no knowledge ofNormanhistory other thanthe fact (well knownthroughout Europe at thetime)that William theConqueror was a descendantof the dukes ofNormandy.
3. Rollo and Hrólfr appear to be different names. The naturalLatinization of the name Hrólfr would be RadulfusorRodulfus.Yet, theFrankish and Norman sources consistently refer tothefounder ofNormandy asRollo. Since these sources also includenumerousindividualsnamed Rodulfus,and consistently separate the twonames, itappears thatthe names wereregarded as different. Douglasexplained thisby suggestinga hypotheticalhypochoristic form 'Hrolle' ofthe name'Hroðwulf' as thebasis for the nameRollo, and provides a singlecharterin which Rollo isreferred to as'Rolphus' as evidence that thenameswere the same,acknowledging, however,that the charter itself was'notabove suspicion.'If the names were reallyregarded as the same, itwouldbe expected thatmore convincing evidence tothis effect couldbeoffered.
Personally, I am inclined to believe that the identificationofHrólfrandRollo has no basis in fact, that it was likely to havebeeninventedby asaga writer who wanted to give the jarls of Orkneysomefamousrelatives(i.e., the kings of England), and that whatevertheconfusingNormansources say are probably about the closest we are goingtoget toRollo'sorigin. However, based on the surviving evidence, itisnotpossible tocome to any definitive conclusion one way or theother,andRollo'sparentage should be listed as 'unknown' unlessfurtherevidencebecomesavailable.
Rollo (later Robert) 'of Normandy' Viking leader in France, d. 928933Although he is often referred to as the first duke ofNormandy,thattitleis an anachronism. Probably about 911 [see Douglas426-31],kingCharlesthe Simple of France ceded a district around the cityof RouentoRollo,which eventually evolved into the duchy of Normandy. Heis saidtohavebeen baptized in 912, assuming the Christian name Robert[Dudoii,30 (p.50)]. He was still living in 928, when he was holdingEudes,sonofHeribert of Vermandois, as a captive [Flodoard's Annals, s.a.928,seePL135: 439, van Houts 45], and was probably dead by 933,whenhissonWilliam was mentioned as leading the Normans[Flodoard'sAnnals,s.a.933, see PL 135: 445, van Houts 45].
Date of Birth: Unknown Place of Birth: Unknown
Date of Death: 928933 (see above) Place of Death: Presumably what is nowNormandy.
Father: Unknown (see Commentary)
Mother: Unknown (see Commentary)
Spouses:
Poppa, said to be a daughter of count Berengar [Dudo ii, 16(pp.38-9);seealso Keats-Rohan]
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1 _UID 12AFC89363CD1046AE2496B1A7CE61D26350
1 REFN M8555
Thomas
Schäfer
