Dates are very fluid in the sources which remain to us. Rollo’s birth has been cited as any time from 840 to 846 and his son’s death between 935 and 942. No two seemed to agree. I have used a consensus.
Stirrups began to be introduced in Europe during the 7th and 8th Centuries. By Charlemagne's time, they were widely used but only by nobles. It is said this was the true beginning of feudalism. Knights used stirrups. It marked the nobles as landowners who rode their horses and controlled large tracts of land. It was the Vikings who introduced them to England. It was only in the time of Canute the Great that they became widespread. The use of stirrups enabled a rider to strike someone on the ground from the back of a horse and facilitated the use of spears and later, lances.
The Vikings may seem cruel to us now. They enslaved women and children. Many of the women became their wives. The DNA of the people of Iceland shows that it was made up of a mixture of Norse and Danish males and Celtic females. These were the people who settled Iceland, Greenland and Vinland. They did the same in England and, as we shall see, Normandy. Their influence was widespread. Genghis Khan and his Mongols did the same in the 13th century. It is said that a high proportion of European males have Mongol blood in them. The Romans did it with the Sabine tribe. They were different times and it would be wrong to judge them with our politically correct twenty-first century eyes. This sort of behaviour still goes on in the world but with less justification.
At this time, there were no Viking kings. There were clans. Each clan had a hersir or Jarl. Clans were loyal to each other. A hersir was more of a landlocked Viking or a farmer while a Jarl usually had a ship(s) at his command. A hersir would command Bondi. They were the Norse equivalent of the fyrd although they were much better warriors. They would all have a helmet shield and a sword. Most would also have a spear. Hearth weru were the oathsworn or bodyguards for a jarl or, much later on, a king. Kings like Canute and Harald Hadrada were rare and they only emerged at the beginning of the tenth century.
One reason for the Normans success was that when they arrived in northern France they integrated quickly with the local populace. They married them and began to use some of their words. They adapted to the horse as a weapon of war. Before then the Vikings had been quite happy to ride to war but they dismounted to fight. The Normans took the best that the Franks had and made it better. This book sees the earliest beginnings of the rise of the Norman knight.
I have used the names by which places were known in the medieval period wherever possible. Sometimes I have had to use the modern name. The Cotentin is an example. The Isle of sheep is now called the Isle of Sheppey and lies on the Medway close to the Thames. The land of Kent was known as Cent in the early medieval period. Thanet or, Tanet as it was known in the Viking period was an island at this time. The sea was on two sides and the other two sides had swamps, bogs, mud flats and tidal streams. It protected Canterbury. The coast was different too. Richborough had been a major Roman port. It is now some way inland. Sandwich was a port. Other ports now lie under the sea. Vikings were not afraid to sail up very narrow rivers and to risk being stranded on mud. They were tough men and were capable of carrying or porting their ships as their Rus brothers did when travelling to Miklagård.
The Norns or the Weird Sisters.
"The Norns (Old Norse: norn, plural: nornir) in Norse mythology are female beings who rule the destiny of gods and men. They roughly correspond to other controllers of humans' destiny, the Fates, elsewhere in European mythology.
In Snorri Sturluson's interpretation of the Völuspá, Urðr (Wyrd), Verðandi and Skuld, the three most important of the Norns, come out from a hall standing at the Well of Urðr or Well of Fate. They draw water from the well and take sand that lies around it, which they pour over Yggdrasill so that its branches will not rot. These three Norns are described as powerful maiden giantesses (Jotuns) whose arrival from Jötunheimr ended the golden age of the gods. They may be the same as the maidens of Mögþrasir who are described in Vafþrúðnismál"
Source: Norns - https://en.wikipedia.org
Rollo
I have used the name Rollo even though that is the Latinisation of Hrolf. I did so for two reasons. We all know the first Duke of Normandy as Rollo and I wanted to avoid confusion with his grandfather. I realise that I have also caused enough of a problem with Ragnvald and Ragnvald the Breton Slayer.
Rollo is generally identified with one Viking in particular – a man of high social status mentioned in Icelandic sagas, which refer to him by the Old Norse name Göngu-Hrólfr, meaning "Hrólfr the Walker". (Göngu-Hrólfr is also widely known by an Old Danish variant, Ganger-Hrolf.) The byname "Walker" is usually understood to suggest that Rollo was so physically imposing that he could not be carried by a horse and was obliged to travel on foot. Norman and other French sources do not use the name Hrólfr, and the identification of Rollo with Göngu-Hrólfr is based upon similarities between circumstances and actions ascribed to both figures.
He had children by at least three women. He abducted Popa or Poppa the daughter of the Count of Rennes or possibly the Count of Bayeux. It is not known if she was legitimate or illegitimate. He married Gisela the daughter (probably illegitimate) of King Charles of France. He also had another child. According to the medieval Irish text, ‘An Banshenchas’ and Icelandic sources, another daughter, Cadlinar (Kaðlín; Kathleen) was born in Scotland (probably to a Scots mother) and married an Irish prince named Beollán mac Ciarmaic, later King of South Brega (Lagore). I have used the Norse name Kaðlín and made her a Scottish princess.
I apologise for the number of Franks called Charles. All of them existed and they had the soubriquets I gave them. None were flattering. The family of the King of the Bretons are also accurate. Godfrid, Duke of Frisia was a Viking and he was murdered. As insane as it sounds the King of the Franks gave his 5-year-old as Rollo’s bride. As Rollo was almost sixty it does not sound right but they were different times.
The revolt in Normandy did happen. Rollo dealt with it harshly. Every male rebel was blinded and or had their feet or hands removed. They did not rebel again! The Battle of Soissons was a defeat for Charles but King Robert died in the battle. The battle of Eu was fought between King Rudolf and his Flemish allies against the Normans. They lost. Elfweard was murdered before he could become King of England. His brother did become a great King of England but many believed he had his brother assassinated. Count Arnulf had his vengeance and his killers ambushed and killed William Longsword just a few years after Göngu-Hrólfr Rognvaldson died. Wyrd”
This is the last book in the series. I originally planned a work which would take us to Hastings but that will be another series. I owed it to Göngu-Hrólfr Rognvaldson to end the book with his death. For those who have been on this journey, I hope you have enjoyed it. I enjoyed writing it.
Books used in the research
British Museum - Vikings- Life and Legends
Arthur and the Saxon Wars- David Nicolle (Osprey)
Saxon, Norman and Viking Terence Wise (Osprey)
The Vikings- Ian Heath (Osprey)
Byzantine Armies 668-1118 - Ian Heath (Osprey)
Romano-Byzantine Armies 4th- 9th Century - David Nicholle (Osprey)
The Walls of Constantinople AD 324-1453 - Stephen Turnbull (Osprey)
Viking Longship - Keith Durham (Osprey)
The Vikings in England- Anglo-Danish Project
The Varangian Guard- 988-1453 Raffael D’Amato
Saxon Viking and Norman- Terence Wise
The Walls of Constantinople AD 324-1453-Stephen Turnbull
Byzantine Armies- 886-1118- Ian Heath
The Age of Charlemagne-David Nicolle
The Normans- David Nicolle
Norman Knight AD 950-1204- Christopher Gravett
The Norman Conquest of the North- William A Kappelle
The Knight in History- Francis Gies
The Norman Achievement- Richard F Cassady
Knights- Constance Brittain Bouc
hard
British Kings and Queens- Mike Ashley
Griff Hosker
March 2019
Other books
by
Griff Hosker
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Ancient History
Ulpius Felix- Roman Warrior (prequel)
Book 1 The Sword of Cartimandua
Book 2 The Horse Warriors
Book 3 Invasion Caledonia
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Book 5 Revolt of the Red Witch
Book 6 Druid’s Gold
Book 7 Trajan’s Hunters
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Book 10 Roman Hawk
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Book 1 Housecarl
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Book 1 Saxon Dawn
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Book 3 Saxon England
Book 4 Saxon Blood
Book 5 Saxon Slayer
Book 6 Saxon Slaughter
Book 7 Saxon Bane
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Book 15 Viking Witch
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Book 20 Viking Shadow
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The Norman Genesis Series
Hrolf the Viking
Horseman
The Battle for a Home
Revenge of the Franks
The Land of the Northmen
Ragnvald Hrolfsson
Brothers in Blood
Lord of Rouen
Drekar in the Seine
Duke of Normandy
The Duke and the King
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Blood on the Blade
The Anarchy Series England 1120-1180
English Knight
Knight of the Empress
Northern Knight
Baron of the North
Earl
King Henry’s Champion
The King is Dead
Warlord of the North
Enemy at the Gate
The Fallen Crown
Warlord's War
Kingmaker
Henry II
Crusader
The Welsh Marches
Irish War
Poisonous Plots
The Princes’ Revolt
Earl Marshal
Border Knight 1182-1300
Sword for Hire
Return of the Knight
Baron’s War
Magna Carta
Welsh Wars
Struggle for a Crown 1360- 1485
Blood on the Crown
To Murder A King
The Throne
Modern History
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Book 1 Chasseur a Cheval
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Book 4 Soldier Spy
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Waterloo
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1914
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1917 Eagles Fall
1918 We will remember them
From Arctic Snow to Desert Sand
Wings over Persia
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Commando
Raider
Behind Enemy Lines
Dieppe
Toehold in Europe
Sword Beach
Breakout
The Battle for Antwerp
King Tiger
Beyond the Rhine
Korea
Other Books
Carnage at Cannes (a thriller)
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