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Dromo's Den
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[Up] [Dromo's Den] Rollo Biography ROLLO, HROLF, ROLF or ROU (real name HRÓLFR, known as the Ganger, or Walker). A Norse chieftain, the son of the Norwegian Ragnvald Mörejarl. He effected extensive conquests in northwestern France, and by the Peace of Clair-en-Epte, about 911, he was granted by King Charles the Simple of France the possession of Rouen and the adjacent territory which he already had seized. This was the origin of the Duchy of Normandy. He divided his lands among his followers, framed laws for his people, and made great donations to the Church, to which he had been converted. He was a faithful ally of Charles the Simple. By successful wars he gradually extended his possessions. Rollo and his followers and their descendants are strictly speaking, the Normans of history. Rollo himself became the ancestor of Norman dukes, kings, and crusaders, About 927 he associated his son William Longsword with himself as ruler. He died about 931. Consult E. A. Freeman, The Norman Conquest, vol. i (Oxford, 1807), and Gjerset, History of the Norwegian People, vol. i (New York, 1915) 1915). See NORMANS The New International Encyclopaedia, Vol. XX (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920) 91. |