General Notes

Alias:<ALIA> The /Dane/
REFN: 1411AN
REFN: P1411
Supposed father: Rognvaldr, jarl of Møre.
Supposed mother: Ragnhi ldr or Hildr.
The origin of Rollo is contraversial. There are several medieval sources
which claim to give information about the origin of Rollo, the most
widely repeated of which would make him a son of Rognvaldr, jarl of Møre
by Ragnhildr or Hildr. As can be seen from the following brief notices,
the var ious primary sources offer very contradictory information about
Rollo's origi n.
The earliest author to attribute an explicit origin to Rollo was Richer
o f Rheims, writing between 996 and 998, who called Rollo the son of
another Vi king invader of France named Catillus (presumably representing
the Norse name Ketil) [Richer i, 28 (see PL 138: 35)]. Since Catillus
appears to be a legen dary individual, this account has generally been
discredited, probably correc tly [see Douglas 420-1].
According to Dudo of St. Quentin (writing early 11th century), author of
the earliest history of the Normans, Rollo had a younger brother named
Gurim, presumed to be the familiar name Gorm. Dudo states that Rollo and
Gurim were sons of a man who held many lands in "Dacia" (Dudo's wor d for
Denmark, following other authors), and that after the death of the
(u nnamed) father of Rollo and Gurim, the king of Dacia fought against the
sons, killing Gurim and driving Rollo out [Dudo ii, 2-4 (pp. 26-7)]. Dudo
later re fers to duke Richard I as being related to a "king of Dacia"
named Haigrold [ Dudo iv, 84-88 (pp. 114-20 passim)], who must have been
the Viking raider of France of that name [Flodoard's Annals, s.a. 945,
see PL 135: 463-4, van Hout s 51], and not king Harald "Bluetooth" of
Denmark. Note that Gurim cannot be the famous Gorm "the Old" of Denmark,
who survived Rollo by many years.
Will iam of Malmesbury (early 12th century) appears to be the earliest
author to a ttribute a Norwegian origin to Rollo [WM ii, 5 (p. 125)].
As is well known, th e Orkneyinga Saga (late twelfth century) [OrkS 4 (pp.
29-30)], followed by ot her Icelandic sources (such as the well known
Heimskringla and Landnámabók), gives Rollo the name Hrólfr, and make him
a son of Rognvaldr, jarl of Møre, a nd brother of (among others) jarl
Torf-Einarr of the Orkneys [OI 1: 187]. Ear lier sources, such as Ari's
Íslendingabók (early to middle 12th century), men tion Rognvald of Møre
and his son Hrollaugr who settled in Iceland, but not t he supposed
connection to the dukes of Normandy [Ari 49, 61]. A poem allegedl y
written by Einar mentions his brothers, including a Hrólfr, but does not
connect Hrólfr to Normandy, and does not name a Gorm among the brothers.
(See the page on Rognvaldr for more on this poem.)
Historia Gruffud vab Kenan (ca. 1250), apparently a Welsh translation
and/or revision of an earlier Latin li fe of Gruffudd ap Cynan, gives
Haraldr Hárfagri of Norway ("Harald Harfagyr") a brother named Rodulf
(i.e., the Latin form of Hrólfr) who is called the fo under of Normandy
[HGK, 3-4]. However, this is evidently a corrupt version of the
Scandinavian version, and the suggestion that Rollo was a brother of
H araldr Hárfagri need not be given any credence.
The most prominent argument of the case for accepting the Scandinavian
account that Rollo was the same pers on as Hrólfr, son of Rognvaldr of
Møre, was given by D. C. Douglas [Douglas 4 19-23], and those who accept
this identification have generally followed the same arguments. On the
other side, arguments against the identification were given by Viggo
Starcke in his book Denmark in World History [Starcke 222-7].
Most of the argument of Douglas consists of accepting the tale of the
sagas and rejecting evidence from the Norman sources which contradict the
saga vers ion, while explaining away the problems (on which more below).
The evidence w hich Douglas puts forward as "a powerful, if not a
conclusive, argument in fa vor of the identity of Rollo