ROLLO
They gave him Normandy to make him stop.
Rollo (Hrollaugr, Latinized as Rollo) was a Norse chieftain who besieged Paris and ravaged the Seine valley in the early 10th century. In 911 AD, King Charles the Simple of West Francia offered Rollo a deal: he would receive the territory around Rouen — which became Normandy (“land of the Northmen”) — in exchange for defending the Seine from other Vikings and accepting Christian baptism.
Rollo accepted. He was baptized, taking the name Robert. According to legend, when required to kiss the king’s foot as part of the ceremony of homage, Rollo refused to kneel. He ordered one of his warriors to do it instead. The warrior lifted the king’s foot to his own mouth, tipping the king backward off his throne.
His great-great-great-grandson conquered England.
Rollo’s epithet “The Walker” (Ganger Rolf) came from the tradition that he was too large for any horse to carry and had to walk everywhere. His descendants — the Dukes of Normandy — became the most powerful feudal lords in France. His great-great-great-grandson was William the Conqueror, who invaded England in 1066 and defeated Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings.
A Viking who was too big for a horse founded a dynasty that conquered England, Sicily, and the Holy Land. The Norse sagas and the legends of Ragnar say Rollo was Ragnar’s brother, though historians dispute this. Whether related to Ragnar or not, Rollo is the Viking who became France.
© 2026 Carter Luense · Lund Studio LLC · Norse Mythology · φ