Dudo
of St. Quentin's Gesta Normannorum
Franks, Burgundians and Aquitanians cannot prevent Rollo and his followers from conquering the future Normandy
Having returned thence to the boats, he is
planning in his sagacious mind what he should do, with the advice of his men,
having called together the leaders. Then his followers, as though prescient of
the future and imbued with a presentiment of divine inspiration, have said aloud
to Rollo: "This land is plentifully furnished with an abundant supply of
all the fruits of the earth, shady with trees, divided up by rivers filled with
fish, copiously supplied with diverse kinds of wild game, but empty of armed men
and warriors. We will subordinate this land to our power. And we will claim this
land as our allotment , we will obtain through battle both villages and
fortresses and towns large and small of neighboring peoples, so that the
distant throngs we have left behind may rest. Perhaps the explanation of your
vision referred to this territory." Thus gladdened by his followers'
replies, with ships untied Rollo is carried upstream from Rouen towards Pont de
l'Arche, to a place called Damps.
Thereupon does common talk, because it is
privy to affairs everywhere, announce that the Normans, collected into an
innumerable multitude in the bed of the Seine, are at the cross-roads of Francia.
But the Franks, as stupefied by their arrival as by the sudden sound of thunder,
have come upon the point of descent of the river Eure, along with Anstign (who
has been summoned there, himself formerly an invader of Francia) and with an
assembled army of vast multitude. Then Ragnold, prince of all Francia, said to
Anstign, that exciter of all vileness: "You, begotten of that nation, give
us advice about these matters." Replying forthwith to count Ragnold,
Anstign put this forward: "If you had sought advice from me with three days
notice, advice resulting from thorough consideration, then I would have given it
to you. Just send ambassadors to them to find out what they themselves
say." Then Ragnold: "Go swiftly, we pray, to find out their
purpose." Anstign replied: "I will not go alone." On the
contrary, they sent with him two warriors skilful in the Dacian language.
Coming upon the riverbank, they stood
still, saying: "Counts of royal power command you to say who you are, and
whence you have come, and what you are planning to do." Truly they replied:
"We are Danes. Carried here from Dacia, we have come to take Francia by
assault." Yet they: "What authority does your lord discharge?"
They replied: "None, for we are of equal power." Then Anstign, wishing
to know what they would say about himself, said: "Whose reputation has
prompted you to come here? Have you ever heard anything about a certain Anstign,
born in your homeland, who sailed here with a numerous warband?" They
replied: "We have heard of him. For he was augured to be a good man and he
made a good beginning, but he chose an evil end and finish." Again Anstign:
"Are you willing to lower your necks before King Charles of Francia, and to
devote yourselves to his service, and to draw many favors from him?"
They replied: "We will never subjugate ourselves to anyone nor cling to
anyone's service nor take favors from anyone. The favor that would please
us best is the one that we will claim for ourselves by force of arms and in the
hardship of battle." Then the Franks: "What are you going to
do?~" After this, the Dacians: "Go away, the sooner the better, and do
not stand there any longer, for we care nothing for your double-talk, nor are we
going to reveal to you what we shall do."
But, going away, they promptly reported to
the army what they had heard. But Ragnold said, turning towards Anstign:
"Does it seem to all of you that a war will be started? You men are of
their nation, you are not ignorant, through your own practice, of battling in
the style of the Danes, tell us what should we do?" Then Anstign, bolstered
by poisonous and fox-like skill, is addressing the army: "If this nation,
so strong in the flower of youthful age, so well-versed in arms, and tested in
many many battles, is attacked, great peril will be created for us." Then a
standard-bearer of the Frankish host, named Rotland, is said to have said:
"Why are you all looking to this man? A wolf will never be captured by a
wolf, nor a fox by a fox." Spurred on by these words, Anstign has said:
"From now on, war will not be reviled by me."
Meanwhile Rollo and those who were with him
have made for themselves a fortification, and an obstacle after the fashion of a
fortress (which is visible to the present day), defending themselves
behind a circular bulwark of rent earth, and leaving ample space to act as a
gate. Truly the Franks have come at dawn to the church of St. Germanus and,
hearing mass there, they partake of the body and blood of Christ. Riding hence,
seeing the boats on the riverbank, and the Dacians in the fortification of rent
earth, they have attacked the ample entrance-gate alone. But the Dacians have
lay down inside, spread out in every direction on the ground of the fortress,
and have covered themselves completely with their shields. Rotland, Ragnold's
standard-bearer, has violently rushed upon them through the ample entrance of
marvelous breadth, along with the battle-line that was advancing in front of the
army, and he has begun to subdue them. But the Dacians, rising up, in a moment
have slain Rotland and his attendants. Contemplating all the dead there, Ragnold
and Anstign and the other counts have taken flight, turning their backs, joyful.
Rollo, having immediately called together
those who were returning from the fleeing enemy, has said: "What evil have
we done to the Franks? Why did they leap upon us? For what reason have they
preferred to strike us down? It is they who have initiated this evil, the fault
is the attacker's, not the defender's, the audacity is his who wishes to strike,
not his who defends himself. Henceforth, whatever evil we might do to them, we
will be committing because their own deeds were a cause of offense. Ho! let us
occupy their fortresses and towns. In return for their offenses, let us
return like for like, now that such great evils have accumulated."
Having left behind the fortification of
turned-up earth, with Duke Rollo's encouragement they have first attacked the
inhabitants of Meulan, sailing with a swift course. With the leaders
killed, they quickly destroy Meulan, and they have laid waste the entire
province. But count Ragnold is trying to attack them a second time, with an army
greater than the one assembled earlier. However the Normans have lay themselves
down, massing closely together, so that their total number would be supposed
very small. Ragnold begins a war there that will not favor his own fortune.
Truly the Dacians, proceeding unshattered through Ragnold's battle-array, have
been overthrowing very many opponents with rough lashings. Moreover Ragnold,
seeing his followers wanting, has begun to flee with a swift course. A certain
Seine fisherman, associated with Rollo, has stopped him and killed him, pierced
through with his spear. Seeing their lord dead, Ragnold's men have made for
their horses, turning in flight. Then Rollo, pursuing them, has killed many and
has led many more captive to his ships. And he has said to his assembled fideles:
"Go, let us sail now to Paris and seek those citizens who have fled from
this battle."
Thus the Normans have untied their ships
from the bank at Meulan and, surrounding Paris, have besieged it and have
depended upon the booty of that province for carrying on the siege. As Rollo
lingers long at the siege of Paris, the booty, seized in far-off regions, has
been running out. The Normans instantly make for the Bessin , seizing all its
booty, have begun to storm the city. However the citizens have resisted them
like an enemy so that they would not stay there, they have even captured Botho,
that extraordinary Norman count. The Normans, grieving over Botho, have sent to
the people of Bayeux to say: "If you return Botho to us, we will give you a
guarantee of safety for one year." The people of Bayeux, drawn together in
deliberation, have said to one another: "It is better for us to rest for
the year than to pass the entire time in battle for the sake of a single
count." Thus, once the guarantee of security has been given, they have
returned Botho, that extremely fierce warrior. But once Rollo has passed a year
besetting Paris in the siege, he makes for Bayeux, and he has taken possession
of it by force and has utterly destroyed the entire city and has claimed for
himself captives and spoils from the whole region. Glad, he has at one time even
brought with him the daughter of Prince Berengar, the maiden Popa, beautiful in
appearance, grown strong from the arrogant blood of a very powerful man, and has
joined her to himself in sexual union. And he has sired by her a son named
William.
Afterwards, remaining near Paris, he has
sent his army to Evreux to capture the city and the bishop. Coming to the city,
the army has attacked it and has seized spoils and very many of the populace.
But the bishop, Sebar by name, has by God's will escaped. And they have laid
waste the whole land, seizing the spoils of the district , and have
immediately come back to Paris. Thus terrified by such things, very many of the
peoples of Francia have been paying tribute to Rollo, though very many have been
resisting him.
But the Angles, hearing that Rollo had
besieged the town of Paris and was held fast, entwined in Frankish affairs, and
estimating that he would not come to the assistance of his friend King Alstem,
casting off their promise, presumptuously began to grow haughty and to contend
against the King, dealing blows in unsuitable wars. Truly the English land was
being layed waste by the armies of the King and his opponents. Since he did not
have the wherewithal to resist the presumption of the Angles, the most Christian
King Alstem sent a certain count to Rollo, then fighting out the war around the
walls of the town of Paris. Coming to him, speaking with lowered countenance,
the count put forth: "Alstem King of the Angles sends you the dear present
of inextricable friendship. At one time, my lord, you and Alstem, peace-making King
of the Angles, pledged an alliance of mutual aid that whichever of you
might be in need of help, he would be strengthened by the other's support and
whichever of you unfavorable fortune might trample, the other would come to his
assistance. Wherefore, overwhelmed by an unexpected rising of the treasonous
Angles, he prays you to fleetly assist him with your might, greater than that of
all others, because the Angles, knowing you to be hindered by the matter of the
Frankish war, do not reckon that you will advance any closer to my lord's
assistance." But Rollo bestowed upon the King's ambassador whatever was
needed and ordered him to wait for three days. And he began to examine with the
assembled magnates what to do about the matter.
And at once he has sent to the princes of
the city either to surrender it to him or to give him hostages or to prepare
themselves for a diligent defense. However the citizens have not been willing to
surrender the town to him or to give him hostages, but they are hastening to
prepare themselves for the battles of the coming day. Truly, rising at dawn at
the time of the continuous conflict, Rollo has begun the day's combat and, for
an entire day, has cast down citizens in battle. Seeing, however, that he has
not captured the town through battle, at nightfall he has equipped his ships
with sails and has left Paris behind and has came as quickly as he could to the
land of the Angles, with King Alstem's ambassador. And he has sent that
ambassador to the King and has notified him that he is there to help. Then King Alstem, gladdened by the ambassador's words, has called for his abundantly large
army and has proceeded hastily to meet Duke Rollo. The two have met, embraced
and kissed extremely amicably.
Immediately, Rollo has begun to address the
King in a gracious voice: "I render to you, lord King, completely deserved
thanks, for you sent to me among the Walgri twelve ships filled with
distinguished warriors and the same number loaded with grain and wine and
lard." Then the King has said in a prophetic voice: "I owe you the
very greatest thanks for, because of me, you left behind a realm given to you by
God and hastily came to my assistance. You are not ignorant of the reason why I
have sent for you to aid me? This realm, which I rule and profit, is being laid waste, and the dignity of my rule being brought to nothing, for the Angles,
elated and corrupted by rash haughtiness, are unwilling to obey my commands.
Falling away from me, they have conspired among themselves and, rejecting me and
my service, account me of slight value, indeed even snatch for themselves the
profits of my small towns . Thus I pray you to help me dash them to pieces and
scatter them and crush them and tread down their insolent strength, so that they
be brought back, even if unwilling, to my service and sharply undergo whatever
punishment they deserve. Therefore I will give you the moiety of my realm, and I
will of my own accord grant you half the store of all my household furnishings.
And, thus bound by an indestructible alliance of united friendship, let us
together hold the realm and administer its goods, and those of the whole office
." Thus, King Alstem has given Rollo half the realm, and the moiety of his
own goods.
Duke Rollo has immediately replied to the King: "It is for you, lord
King, to command, and for me to obey. I will
crush whomever you wish, I will destroy whomever you may desire. I will destroy
their large towns and I will set fire to their villas and small towns, I will
trample and scatter them, I will subordinate them to you and kill them, I will
take their wives and offspring captive and I will devour their herds."
Having mutually brought these discussions to a close, they proceed (of one mind)
against the Angles who are opposing the King. Truly, Rollo has prosecuted many
battles against the Angles and has besieged their towns. He has pillaged many of
those towns, consumed by fire. Moreover the Angles, seeing that they have not
been prevailing against the King but, failing, have been being destroyed, have
come to Rollo and have said on bended knees: "Mightiest of the Dacians, we
are prepared to be reconciled and united with King Alstem for, inadvisedly,
we have transgressed against the King, rupturing the ties of fidelity which we
had promised him. We will give him sureties that our trust will be preserved and
faithfully serve him from now on, devoting ourselves to him of our own
accord."
Truly, hearing this, Rollo has gone to King
Alstem and announced to the King what the Angles had reported. Then the King,
moved by the dutifulness of his one-time followers, has said: "If you so
advise, my friend, I will accept them back into our service after they have
given sureties, so that the state be scourged no longer." Then Rollo:
"Do accept those sureties, lord, that they will abide strictly by their
promise to you; even I, a foreigner who does not know the customs of the Angles,
will accept for myself sureties of lasting fidelity." At once each
offending Angle, obligingly bearing responsibility for the offense and the
repentance, has given one pledge to the King and another to Rollo. And so,
formerly lashed by Rollo, they have become calm, pacified by him as well.
Moreover the King, estimating that Rollo will linger for all time in the English
land, is specifically designating for Rollo the moiety of his realm, namely
large towns and fortresses , villas and small towns , halls and
palaces and his own household goods, yea indeed he is begging Rollo to allow
himself to be redeemed in the sacred font and purified of his offences.
However Rollo, always mindful of his
vision, has not assented to the King's prayers. But, bringing his share of the
sureties before the King, he has said with a serene countenance: "I have,
my lord King, returned like for like in return for the goods which you laid out
for me in the territory of the Walgri. The realm which, beyond those goods, you
have given me, I return to you with this sword, which has twelve pounds of gold
in its hilt. Indeed, bid that the hostages who are mine by right, and who are
right here, be taken back, being careful lest the treachery of their fathers and
grandfathers, rejecting you, ensnare you again. I will swiftly return to Francia
and destroy and crush, scatter and conquer my foes. I only pray that, should any
men prefer to follow me, you not hold them back." However the King, marveling
and giving thanks for these words, has said: "Most mighty Duke,
part of my soul, I will go with you. For you I will abase the King, Dukes and
counts." Rollo has replied: "In no wise, lord, must you leave your
realm, which you ought to rule and profit with continual aid."
Amicably leaving the King, Rollo
immediately comes across the deep to the Frankish realm with an indescribable
multitude of assembled youths. Immediately dividing the counts of his army, he
has sent some swiftly sailing to take booty from the provinces lying along the
bed of the Seine, others along the flowing Loire, others along the torrent of
the Gironde. However, coming himself once more to Paris, he has begun to storm
the town and to lay waste the land of his foes. However King Charles, hearing
that Rollo had subjugated the realm across the sea, so weakened by unsuitable
wars, to the King and to himself, with the advice of the Franks asks bishop
Franco of Rouen, now associated with Rollo, to come to him. Suffering greatly
over the extreme poverty of his realm, he has said to the company of Franks,
assembled in order to take counsel about the pagans' great insolence, and to
bishop Franco, who has already been called: "The realm which I to rule is
deserted. The land is not rent by the plough, the state is both taken captive
and destroyed. I am unable to hinder Rollo, for I am daily deprived of my
followers. Wherefore am I asking and deprecating your paternal holiness to
obtain for us from Rollo a negotiated peace of three months and if, perhaps,
during that time he should wish to become a Christian, we will give him the very
greatest favors and repay him with great gifts."
Truly Franco, having returned to Rouen
after hearing this, has said to Duke Rollo with must humble prayers: "The King
of the Franks enjoins you to give them a three-month peace; perhaps some
advantageous measure will be enacted between you and him." Moreover, when
he had heard this, with the deliberation of his followers Rollo gave the King a
three-month pact. Truly for the interval of this very briefest time, the land
was at rest from the pagans. However the Burgundians, namely Richard, and Ebalus
count of Poitou, hearing that the unwarlike Franks, feeble in arms and almost
womanish, had requested safety from Rollo, sent to the King and counts, saying:
"Why do you allow the land you hold to be layed waste by pagans? Why do you
not help those over whom you ought rule and whom you ought to profit? And why do
you not resist this nation, banished from its own territory? If you would like,
we will aid you and will willingly be at your side if perchance some war should
assail you." But the Franks, irritated by these insolent words, began to
wage war again on the pagans once the term of the peace had run out.
At once Rollo, reckoning that he was
counted cheap by the Franks because of the safety which he had given them, began
to mangle and destroy and obliterate the populace, by savagely and cruelly
laying waste their provinces. His followers, however, proceeding into Burgundy
and sailing through the Yonne into the Siene and, laying waste the lands
adjacent to those torrents on all sides all the way to Clermont-Ferrand,
attacked the province of Sens and, pillaging all around, came back to meet Rollo
at St.-Benoet-sur-Loire. Rollo, however, seeing the monastery of St. Benoet,
was unwilling to defile it, nor did he suffer that province to be pillaged
because of St. Benedict. Indeed, going to Etampes he ruined all the nearby land,
took very many captives, took booty from neighboring lands, coming thence to
Villemeux, and then hastened to return to Paris.
But, seeing the strongest Frankish fighting
men and the fiercest Burgundian combatants entirely annihilated, rustics,
assembling an incomprehensibly numerous multitude fruitlessly bearing
unaccustomed arms, are trying to attack Rollo. However Rollo, looking back, has
seen the air full of dust and thickly clouded by the repeated charge of
foot-soldiers; he has said to his assembled leaders: "A crowd, whether of
foot-soldiers or horsemen I know not, is following us; let our foot-soldiers
swiftly make for the road, while the horsemen remain with us, so that we might
see how much courage they have, those who wish to ruin us." However as
Rollo waits with the horsemen, the rustics, horsemen with foot-soldiers, have
drawn near. At once Rollo has rushed upon the villagers, and has overthrown and
crushed them to their utter destruction by a cruel violent death. The great
carnage completed, he has gone back to his followers.
But afterwards, burning with a great fury
and inflamed with passion towards his foes, Rollo has made like an enemy for the
city of Chartres and has remained with a great army, laying waste the county of
Dunois and the Chartrain. But a certain most religious bishop, named
Uualtelmus, has had charge of the town. He, lamenting and wailing and earnestly
engaging in uninterrupted prayers, has sent for Richard Duke of the Burgundians
and for Ebalus count of Poitou to come, for the love of God, to the assistance
of that town, fallen prey to imminent death.
The Liberation of Chartres
However, he has also sent ambassadors with
this sorrowful message to the Franks. Keeping close to count Richard, they have
swiftly attacked Rollo, who was then battling around the walls of Chartres. But,
struggling valiantly against them, Rollo has rushed steadily upon them and has
vanquished them in his accustomed manner in the first effort of the war. But the
Franks and the Burgundians, recovering their strength and taking the risk a
second time, attack Rollo, who is roughly opposing them. Therefore, with very
many Christians and pagans now fallen, each army has been standing its ground in
the battle, procuring life for itself through exchanged blows, when suddenly
bishop Uualtelmus, crowned with the Episcopal mitre as though about to celebrate
mass and carrying in his hands a cross and the tunic of the sacrosanct Virgin
Mary, bounding forth from inside the city surrounded by iron-clad battle-lines
and followed by the clergy with the citizens, lashes the backs of the pagans
with spears and swords. Rollo, however, perceiving that he is now between two
armies and is not prevailing, and that his followers are waning, has begun to
turn away from them, passing through their midst, lest he fall prey to death.
Apostrophe
Rollo, mighty and powerful and vigorous and most fierce in arms,
Do not feel ashamed if you now are considered a runaway.
No Frankish or Burgundian assembly
Of manifold nations and hosts puts you to flight, fells you,
But the nourishing tunic of the Virgin mother of God and
Likewise amulets and relics and the reverend cross
Which the reverend prelate carries in his worthy hands.
Your will is still in your ability, as it was in the past,
And now your will and your ability shall go forward legally
And shall recognize, at this very moment, your human ability and will.
Your will shall now regard your ability as its ally
And your ability shall itself stand ready for your will as its ally.
And once these two, which had been separated, have been united,
You will either bring to pass, or not, whatever you will,
But without them, you will accomplish nothing.
Each often obtains its ally violently,
Each often resists its ally behind an impetuous barrier,
As nature, which endures the sad condition of a human creature
Because of its ally, preserves some harmony.
Another
Apostrophe to Rollo
Fortune has harassed you with many complaints,
Whence you have endured many kinds of threats and very great hardships.
Forthwith will it thenceforth offer you better things, with everlasting success,
Joyous things will now follow so many rough ones, tolerated for so long.
After this you will gather in long-lasting joys, grief conquered.
Thus far hardship has driven you about, an author of war.
After these griefs you will have enough of the gifts of repose,
For indeed many rewards take form as a result of burdensome hardship.