What passes as ‘factual’ in most accounts of the early lineage of the Norman Dukes is nothing more than a preference for a Norwegian or Danish origin, fiercly contested in the 19th century by nationalistic zealots.

Other thorns in the side of any truth are discovered through a consideration of chronology applied to monkish chronicles – a cursory study makes them unreliable, and open to being contrived to claim fictional marriage alliances that enhanced the elites’ legitimacy to rule.

To merely quote them as references, without considering their validity, is short of the mark.

Norwegians, Danes (and Swedes) certainly came to Normandy – in as much as these modern concepts of statehood have relevance. “The fact that the origins of Bernard the Dane, companion of William Longsword, were remarked upon may mean that he belonged to a minority group” (David Crouch, The Normans: The History of a Dynasty, app. 1., 2006). To which could be added – a disproportionately powerful minority.

When Dudo tells of Rollo’s dream, it is an allegory that depicted the Norman view of of their ancestry, in which “birds of many types and colours came to bathe on a mountain”; that is, the ‘Normans’ were of mixed breed, ruled by an aristocratic minority.

On the principle that language adheres to the soil, it is claimed that Scandinavian words are frequently found in Normandy place-names, with affixes indicating settlement, such as ‘bye’ (Danish), proving this. In that we can not be certain of the primitive form of words claimed as Scandinavian, they may also be representatives of the Belgic, Anglian, or Saxon dialects; the latter being spoken by the Otlingua-Saxonica of the Bessin, who had established themselves on the channel coast centuries before the arrival of Rollo. ‘Scandinavianism’ occurs more probably in proper names, compounds of the name and a French noun, as in Toufreville; yet, again, many of these can not be assigned to a distinctly Scandinavian origin. Given the paucity of tenth-century charters, early spelling is absent, and names appearing in later charters are latinised and influenced by local vernacular. It may be added that the total number of place-names containing the elements ‘bye’ in Normandy is neglgible when compared to the number of them in England.

As shown by Isaac Taylor (Words and Places: Or Etymological Illustrations of History, pp. 94-95, 1873), in the Bessin we find Sassetot (Saxons field), Hermanville, Etreham, or Ouistreham (Westerham), Hambye, Le Ham, Le Hamelet, Cottun (cows’ yard), Heuland (hayland), Plumetot, Blomfield (Flowerfield), and Douvres (the shore). Charlemagne transported into France a vast multitude of Saxons – ‘multitudinem Saxonorum cum mulieribus et infantibus’. After another Saxon conquest he transplanted every third man – tertium hominem – of the vanquished people. Many of the German names in France may be due to these forced emigrations.

The area and intensity of this German colonization may conveniently be traced by means of the patronymic village names, of which there are more than 1100 in France. In addition to these names, about five hundred words were introduced into the French language by the German conquerors. Most of them are names of weapons and military terms, such as gonfanon, or guerre, from werra, war.The other words are chiefly the names of articles of dress, of beasts of the chase, and terms belonging to the feudal system. To these must be added the points of the compass, nord, sud, est. As late as the year 812, the Council of Tours ordained that every French bishop should be able to preach both in the Romance and Teutonic languages. Thus, it is impossible to distinguish between early Saxon settlers and later ones, and it may have been the case that the Saxons of Bayeux joined with later colonisers in a anti-French coalition.

The following construction is of one based on a Danish hierarchy being the central part of the Norman “flock”, and, seems, at least, plausible.

1. Sigfrid – alias Sigurd, the nephew of Godefrid, King of the Danes, or, perhaps more accurately, as ruler in Hedeby, a modern spelling of the runic Heiðabý(r), which was an important trading settlement in the Danish-German borderland, located towards the southern end of the Jutland Peninsula.

1.1. Reginheri – alias Ragnar Lodbrok, the leader of the Viking attack on Paris in 845. “The first recorded instance of the names being so used (Ragnar + Lodbrok) is Ari Þorgilsson’s reference to Ívarr Ragnarssonr loðbrókar in his Íslendingabók, written between 1120 and 1133” (McTurk, Studies in Ragnars saga loðbrókar and its major Scandinavian analogues, 1991).

1.1.1. Ivar exosus (cruel). His nickname, ‘beinlauss’, is wrongly interpreted as ‘boneless’, reflecting a misunderstanding of the written source of exosus, which was abbreviated to exos (boneless), hence stories invented to explain this strange epithet. “Exosus accords well with Adam of Bremen’s description of Ivarr as crudelissimusis” (J. de Vries, ‘Die westnordische Tradition der Sage von Ragnar Lodbrok’. Zeitschrift für deutsche Philologie 53, 257-302, 1928).

1.1.1.1. Guthfrith Ivarsson – alias Godfrey, “Duke of Frisia” and ruler in Dublin (883), vassal of the Emperor Charles III., after that ruler sued for peace, giving Godfrey most of Frisia to rule. Charles also gave him Gisela (865-908), illegitimate dau. of King Lothair II. (839-869), as his wife. (Godfrey and Gisela had issue: Reginhilde de Friesland, alias Rheinghildin de Frise, wife of Count Theoderic of Ringelheim, a direct descendant of Duke Wittikind. Their issue were: (1) Frederune of Ringelheim, who married King Charles III. of France. (2) Mathilda of Ringelheim, wife of Henry the Fowler, 876-936, alias Henry I., King of Germany. (3) Almalrad of Ringelheim, who married Everard, Count of Hameland, a domain of Wickman de Hameland. (4) Sigfrid, Count of Ringelheim: “Henry the Fowler bestowed the government (of Brandenburg) on Sigfrid, Count of Ringelheim”(Robert Beatson, A Political index to the histories of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, p. 494, 1806]. “It was this Sigfrid who was to become known as Sigfrid de Guines, who held Brandenburg simultaneously” (J. Dhondt, Recherches sur l’histoire Boulonnais, ix., x., in Memoires de l’Academie d’Arras, 4th. series, pp. 1-35, 1941/42).

1.1.1.1.1. Bernard the Dane. (Beorn) ‘Of the blood royal of Saxony’. Lothair II had had one son and three daughters, all by Waldrada, and all of whom were declared illegitimate: Waldreda was the sister of Gunther, Archbishop of Cologne (Germany) from 850 until he was deposed in 863. “In 856 a nephew of Charles le Chauve, and great-grandson of Charlemagne, Lothaire, king of Lorraine, lived openly with Waldrade, sister of Gunther, archbishop of Cologne, and niece to Teutgaud, archbishop of Treves” (F. Guizot, The History of Civilisation, translated by William Hazlitt, vol.3, p. 139, 1874). Bernard the Dane has been given a dual nationality within the larger Teutonic framework, being “Bernard of the blood-royal of Saxony” (Mark Antony Lower, Patronymica Britannica, p. p. 147, 1860), and “Bernard the Dane, Prince in Denmark” (William Chauncey Fowler, Memorials of the Chaunceys, p. 312, 1858).

1.1.1.2. Sitric. Smith, Hist. of Waterford, c. 4.— “Were we to believe Giraldus Cambrensis,” says Dr. Lanigan, “Sitric was the founder of Limerick” (c. xxi. sect. 14. note 143). But this is an oversight; for it is to Ivar that Giraldus attributes, the construction of this city: “Constructis itaque primö civitatibus tribus, Dublinia, Gwaterfordia, Limerico, Dubliniae principatus cessit Amelao, Gwaterfordiae Sytaraco, Limerici Yuoro” (Topog. ib. Dist. iii. c. 43). Of Limerick, its historian, Ferrar, says, “According to a manuscript in the editor’s possession, the Danes got possession of Limerick in the year 855”.

1.1.1.2.1. Ragnall ua Ímair. “The identity between the Ragnall of the Irish Sea and Ragnald of northern Britain is no longer in doubt” (Downham, Viking Kings, p. 94). “I equate him with this Ragnall: The annalist Flodoard mentioned a Viking named Ragenold, like Rollo, called princeps Nortmannorum, leader of the Loire Vikings, who were regarded as a menace, especially to Brittany. He is noted as being a man of Rollo, who attended the coronation of Rollo’s son, William Longsword, in 931, and was probably of Rollo’s family” (A. Hugo, France Historique, p. 416, 1837). “In 924, Ragenold, although he had accepted a grant of lands within the borders of France, laid waste the country of Duke Hugh” (Reginald Lane Poole, The English Historical Review, p. 16, 1911).

1.1.1.2.1.1. Harald of Bayeux, “noted ally of Rollo’s family, who came to hold land between Bayeux and Coutances, possibly connected to the family of the Duchess Gunnor, and the person called on for assistance by Bernard the Dane when the Scandinavian colonists came under attack by Frankish forces” (Hudson, Viking Pirates, p. 65, 2005).

1.1.1.2.2. Rollo. Richard of Reims (Historia, i, 28, p. 62) claimed that Rollo was the son of Ketil (‘filio Catilli’; a latinisation of Ketil; “mais Richer a dû confondre Rollon avec un autre chef viking, Björn, fils d’un certain Ketil Flatnef” (Pierre Bouet, Rollon: Le chef Viking qui fonda la Normandie, 2016). Rollon stems fron the Scandinavian name Hrolfr. (Harcourt is the latinised form of a fief that was originally named after a chieftain called Heriolfr or Heriulfr, of which Hrolf/r is a contraction: “Les autres croient ce nom personnel, et l’expliquent par plusieurs racines Scandinaves, dont la principale, Har ou Her, se traduit par éminent fort ou guerrier. Les chroniqueurs du moyen âge le latinisaient en Harulfi Corte, ce qui fournirait d’autres inductions” (La Rocque, Histre. de la M. d’Harc., p. xiii. , etc., cit. MSAN, 1837; Larchey, Recherche Etymologique, p. cxxxii, 1880).

In order to show that the exploits of Rollo were based on those of his uncle, Guthred (Godfrey), I will borrow from Mr. Howorth, whose essay ‘A Criticism of the Life of Rollo, as told by Dudo de St. Quentin,’ appeared in the ‘Archaelogia’, vol. xlv., 1880: “The story of Rollo depends mainly upon the testimony of the biographer and panegyrist of his grandson Richard the First, Dudo of St. Quentin, who had access to the sons of those who were Rollo’s actual contemporaries and companions, yet he given us such a false and unsubstantial account. Where the annals say Guthfred or Sigfred, he retains the exploit, but assigns it boldly to his hero. Dudo makes Rollo advance upon Rouen and there have an interview with its bishop, Franco; but, as has long been pointed out, Franco was not made bishop until the year 909, and it is clear that if the incidents of the story are reliable, the date 876 is utterly inadmissible.

The Siege of Paris: There Dudo gives the leadership to Rollo, were, in fact, the leaders of it were Sigfried and Guthred. None of the annalists of the time say a word about Rollo. The whole account is distorted, and is another instance of the way in which Dudo has converted to the honour of Rollo deeds with which he had nothing to do. The history of France during the ten years from 900 to 910 is hid in almost impenetrable mists. There is a huge gap in the Annals, the reason being no doubt the terribly disturbed state of Gaul and Germany and the ravages of the Danes. As these Annals fail, so does Dudo most consistently. Having no material to transform, he creates none. He has not handed us even a tradition, but makes a clean jump over the chaotic interval; and when we emerge from the blank it is generally supposed that we come upon undoubted, independent evidence of the existence of Rollo; that the Frodoard Annals mention the treaty he made with Charles the Simple at St. Clair-sur-Epte in 911; and that this date is the first one at which we have independent evidence of the presence of Rollo in France. That Rollo married Gisela, daughter of Charles the Simple, as one of the terms of the treaty of St. Clair-sur-Epte, has been accepted by historians with, I believe, almost unvarying credulity.

Let me collect the evidence. Charles the Simple was born in the year 879, and on the feast of St. Lambert (i.e. the 17th of September), as he tells us in one of his charters (Recueil des Historiens de France, ix. 531, quoted by Licquet 82). The treaty of St. Clair sur Epte was made, according to Dudo and his copyists, at the end of the year 911, and put in force at the beginning of 912, so that Charles must then have been 32 or at most 33 years of age.

The two wives of Charles the Simple of whom we know something were, Frederune, the sister of Boso, Bishop of Chalons, whom he married in 907 (Mabillon, de Re Diplomatica, 558). She died about ten years after, and was buried in the church of St. Remi. His second wife was Edgifa, or, as the French write it, Ogiva, daughter of Edward the Elder, and sister of Athelstane. It is clearly impossible that he could have had a marriageable daughter by either of these wives at the date of the treaty.

These facts make it very nearly certain that Charles the Simple could not have had a daughter of marriageable age in 911; and is the story then wholly false? By no means. Here, again, and this only makes the contention the stronger, he has merely robbed Guthred of another incident in his life. Reginon, Abbot of Prune, whose chronicle closes in the year 906, has sub ann. 882 the following notice: “Novissime rex Godfridus Normannorum ea conditione christianum se fieri pollicetur, si ei, munere regis, Frisia provincia concedcretur, et Gisela filia Lotharii in uxorem daretur”.

As M. Licquet says: Here we have a Charles (the emperor Charles the Fat) giving away a province (Frisia) with a Gisla or Gisela to a Norman chief, on condition of his being baptized. We have in fact the very circumstances assigned to Rollo in one of the clauses of the treaty of St. Clair-sur-Epte. The parallelism of the stories is so complete that we are driven to the conclusion that one has been borrowed”.

Writing a generation after Rollo, Flodoard describes Rollo’s son, William Longsword as having a mother ‘concubina Brittana’. The contemporary Frankish eulogy, ‘lament for William’, seems to suggest that Brittana equates to Britain rather than Brittany.

1.1.1.2.2.1. “Willelmus princeps Nortmannorum”, m. Sprota, a concubine. (Frodoard, 933, MGH SS III, p. 381).

1.1.1.2.2.1.1. Robert. m. (1) Emma, dau. of Hugh “le Grand”, duke of the Franks. Sans issue. (2) Gunnora, d. bef.Jan. 5, 1031. Professor Eleanor Searle (‘Facts and Patterns in heroic poetry’, 1984) wrote of the besieged colonists being reinforced by a new wave of Norsemen in the 960’s, and Richard (‘dux pyratorum’) took as a wife Gunnor, the daughter of one of their leaders, in a ‘peace-weaving’ marriage. The Normans pressed for the marriage of Richard and Gunnor, “so that from a Danish father and a Danish mother may be bore the heir of this land, and will be its defender and advocate” (Dudo, 4.125).

1.1.1.2.2.1.1.1. Richard, ‘the Great Prince’, bur. Fécamp.
1.1.1.2.2.1.1.1.1. Richard II., m. (1) c. 1000, Judith, dau. of Conan I. of Brittany.
1.1.1.2.2.1.1.1.1.1. Richard, duke of Normandy
1.1.1.2.2.1.1.1.1.2. Robert, by Herleva his concubine:
1.1.1.2.2.1.1.1.1.2.1. William the Conqueror.
1.1.1.2.2.1.1.1.1.3. Eleanor, m. Baldwin IV, Count of Flanders, whose first wife, Otgiva, was a sister of Giselle, who was probably the mother of Gilbert de Gand.
1.1.1.2.2.1.1.2. Robert, Archbishop of Rouen, d. 1037.
1.1.1.2.2.1.1.2.1. Richard d’Evreux, m. (after 1040), as her second husband, Godechildis, widow of Roger de Tosny. (W. Genet, Liber vii., iv., p. 269).
1.1.1.2.2.1.1.2.1.1. Agnes d’Evreux. Orderic records that ‘Radulfus filius Rogerii de Toenia’ kidnapped ‘Agnetem uterinam sororem suam, Ricardi Ebroicensium comitis filiam’ and married her to ‘Simoni de Monteforti’, brother-in-law of William Crispin 2, son of Gilbert Crispin I.
1.1.1.2.2.1.1.3. Mauger, m. Germaine de Corbeil, dau. of Albert, Count of Corbeil.
1.1.1.2.2.1.1.4. Emma, known as Aelgifu in England, m. (1) Aethelred II King of England, son of Edgar, King of England, and his second wife, Aelfthryth. (2) Canute, King of England (see Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, F, 1013 and 1017), son of Svend I, King of Denmark, and his first wife Swietoslawa (Gunhild) of Poland.
1.1.1.2.2.1.1.5. Havise, m. (996) Geoffrey I, Duke of Brittany, son of Conan I, Duke of Brittany, and his wife Ermengarde d’Anjou.
1.1.1.2.2.1.1.5.1. Alain de Bretagne, d. 1040, m. (1018) Bertha de Blois, dau. of Eudes II Comte de Blois and his second wife, Ermengarde d’Auvergne.
1.1.1.2.2.1.1.6. Mathilda, m (1003) as his first wife, Eudes II, Comte de Blois, son of Eudes I, Comte de Blois & his wife Berthe de Bourgogne. It was a dispute over Mathilda’s dower lands that led to the construction of Tillières (“castrum Tegulense”) Verneuil, Eure; the border fort given to the Crispins to defend, as vassals of the Counts of Brionne.

Richard, ‘the Great Prince’. About the year 980, Richard, duke of Normandy, gave Brionne to one of his natural children, named Godefroy, which included the territories of Bonneville and Bec. After the death of Richard, a brother of Godefroy (born like himself to a concubine), Guillaume, Count of Exmes, revolted against his elder brother. Raoul d’Ivry, uncle of the brothers, was charged to end the rebellion, and captured Guillaume in Exmes, bringing him to Rouen, under the guard of Turquetil de Harcourt. (See Charpillon, Dict., Hist., p. 584, 1868). Thus, Godefroy d’Eu held the barony of Bonneville-sur-le-Bec.

1.1.1.2.2.1.1.7. Godefroy d’Eu, cousin of Emma d’Ivri, wife of Osborn de Crepon, of whom W. Genet records that a sister married Osmund de Conteville. Their son was Foulques d’Anet. Gilbert Crispin I. married his daughter, thus explaining Prevost’s statement that there was an obvious connection between the FitzOsborns, decendants of Osborn de Crepon, and the Crispins, without its basis being known.

1.1.1.2.2.1.1.7.1. Heloise, m. Ansgot. Heloise received Bonneville as dower.

1.1.1.2.2.1.1.7.1.1. Herluin de Bec. Educated in the household of Gilbert de Brionne. Hellouin founded the Abbey of Bec toward the 37th. year of his life, i.e. 1034. “His father, Ansgot, derived his origin from those Danes who first conquered Normandy, and his mother was closely related to the dukes of Flanders. Gilbert, Count of Brionne, grandson of Richard I., Duke of Normandy, by his son, Prince Godefroy, had Herluin brought up by him, and particularly cherished him among all the lords of his court” (Francois Guizot, Collection des mémoires relatifs à l’histoire de France, p. 146, 1826). “Hellouin, in the presence of his two brothers, Odo and Roger, gave to Bec the third part belonging to him from his land of Bonneville, and his lands of Petit-Quevilli, Seine-Inférieure, and Surci, Eure, as well as the land of Cernai-sur-Orbec, Calvados” (W. Genet, t. xi, p. 35). This gift dates to c. 1035.

1.1.1.2.2.1.1.7.2. Gilbert de Brionne. (Perhaps the father of Gilbert Crispin I., by a concubine).

1.1.1.2.2.1.1.8. Guillaume d’Eu. (Perhaps the father of Gilbert Crispin I., by a concubine). He m. Lesseline, sister of Turquetil de Harcourt.

1.1.1.2.2.1.1.8.1. (Perhaps) Gilbert Crispin I, cousin of Gilbert de Brionne, m. a daughter of Foulques d’Anet. Gilbert Crispin held the fortress of Tillieres under the ducal family as a vassal of Gilbert de Brionne.

1.1.1.2.2.1.1.8.1.1. Gilbert Crispin II. (Colavilla), held the fortress of Damville as a vassal of Gilbert de Brionne’s son, Richard FitzGilbert (de Clare). Domesday shows “Gilbert de Colavilla” as a considerable undertenant of Robert Malet at Rendlesham; he also held under Robert Malet’s mother, Hesilia Crispin (DB/Sf 6/19-21, 29-30, 34-37, etc.).

1.1.1.2.2.1.1.8.1.2. William Crispin I. (Colavilla), m. Eve de Montfort-sur-Risle.

1.1.1.2.2.1.1.8.1.2.1. William Crispin II. “Ex dono Willielmi Crispin , Eccles. de Droecourt, cum terra et decima, etc.”. This is taken from a confirmation charter of Henry II. (in Monast. Anglican. Tom. II, p. 953) in which is acknowledged the gifts given to Bec by the following grouping: Fulc de Aneto, who donated, with his sister, the church of Mesnil Simon; Roger, son of Richard FitzGilbert, son of Gilbert de Brionne, who donated the fief of Colleville; William Malet, brother-in-law of William Crispin I., who donated the church of Conteville; William Crispin I., as given. William Crispin II. Colleville became a Malet holding, probably as dower of Hesilia Crispin.

1.1.1.2.2.1.1.8.1.3. Hesilia Crispin, m. William Malet (Monasticon 3. 405). His caput was Graville-sur-Honorine, near Le Havre, which had previously formed part of the Giffards barony, centred on Montvilliers.

1.1.1.2.2.1.1.8.1.3.1. Robert Malet, held the fief of Collavilla, near Harfleur, Seine-Inf.

The aforementioned confirmation charter followed one of 1134, in which the abbot of Bec confirmed the gifts to Bec of the churches of Blangy, Livarot, Drucort, and Duranville, held by the Crispins; and Saint-Philbert près Montfort, Saint-Georges-du-Vièvre, and Saint-Etienne-l’Allier, all once of the ‘honneur de Montfort-sur-Risle’.

1.1.1.2.1.1.2. Raoul d’Ivry (Count Rodolph), uterine brother of ‘Duke’ Richard I.
1.1.1.2.1.1.2.1. Osborn de Crépon.
1.1.1.2.1.1.2.1.1. William FitzOsborn
1.1.1.2.1.1.2.2. … de Crepon, m. Osmund de Centville.
1.1.1.2.1.1.2.2.1. Foulques d’Anet.
1.1.1.2.1.1.2.2.1.1. Gunnora d’Anet, m. (I suggest) Gilbert Crispin I, kinsman of the FitzOsborns.

1.1.2. Healfdene – The Albann/Healfdene of the Annals of Ulster and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, mentioned above, may also be identified with an Halbdeni mentioned in the Annales Fuldenses for 873 as the brother of the Danish king Sigifridus and as active on the European continent (in Metz) in that year.

1.1.3. Sigifridus Ragnarsson – alias Sigurðr ormr-í-auga – ‘king’ in Denmark in 873. In this year, Hedeby, and thus the fortress of Hochburg, was controlled by Sigifridus, who negotiated its trade with King Ludwig of Germany [Angelo Forte, Richard D. Oram, Frederik Pedersen, Viking Empires, p. 46, 2005]. “According to the testimony of Svein II. Estridsen, Sigfrid was succeeded as a king in Denmark by Helgi, probably after the battle on the Dyle in 891” (Gwyn Jones, A History of the Vikings, p. 111, 2001).

1.1.3.1. Helgi (Hulcius), who succeeded his father as ruler of Hedeby. Two commanders of Sigifridus and Healfdene were Hals and Vurm, called Helgi and Gorm in the Ragnarssona pattr, and mentioned in the Annales Fuldenses for 882. Hals is a similar name to Hulci in its genitive form, so it is reasonable to equate Hals with Hulci and Helgi. (Quant à Hulcius, si l’on retenait cette coupure, ce pourrait être le v. nor. Helgi, comme l’a suggéré L. de Saint-Pierre, Rollón devant l’histoire, Paris 1949, p. 195, nom qui a donné en Normandie Helge, Helge ou Helgus, in Fracia 5, p. 49, 1977).

Vurm is (cas. obl.) Vurmon, or Gormond, which equates with the Anglo-Saxon name Guthrum, “the name of a prince who was of Sigfrid’s family”. He certainly received a part of the tax levied on Emperor Charles – “Sigifridio etiam Vermoni illorumque complicibus” (Hincmar). This “prince” may well have been Guthrum Aethelstan: As shown, the mythos of Rollo’s early career is largely built around the exploits of the Danish chieftain Guthred, whose name equates with both Guthfrith and Godfrey. This Guthred had a brother (vide Hincmar) called Vurm (Guthrum); and Dudo makes Rollo an associate of Guthrum Aethelstan. (See Lappenberg, A History of England, p. 8, 1857).

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