some aspects of viking research in france

Acta Archaeologica vol. 71, 2001, pp. 159–169 Copyright C 2000

Printed in Denmark ¡ All rights reserved ACTA ARCHAEOLOGICAISSN 0065-001X

SOME ASPECTS OF VIKING RESEARCH IN FRANCEby

A N J

INTRODUCTIONIn France, as in Scandinavia, most people know some-thing about the Vikings’ raid in the Frankish empire,their attacks on Paris and perhaps also about scaredmonks praying a furore Normannorum libera nos Domine.The general public often considers the Vikings as sav-age, cruel but also most fascinating barbarians,whereas the scholars eventually will observe that theVikings were not only pirates, but also merchants andthey may stress their level of organization. Most histori-cal surveys will mention the creation of the future Nor-mandy at Saint-Clair-sur-Epte in 911, when Charlesthe Simple granted the land betweeen the Seine andthe See to the Viking-chief Rollo. Furthermore severalpublications, recent expositions and colloquia havestressed the most extraordinary expansion of the‘‘French Normans’’ into England, Southern Italy, andthe eastern Mediterranean areas. Outside Normandy,the research on the Scandinavians in, e.g., Brittany andthe Loire areas is limited. The possible consequences ofthe Viking camps in the region of Bordeaux near theriver Garonne and near Arles in the Rhone, respec-tively, have hardly aroused the scholars’ attention.

The limited research on the Scandinavian presencein France contrasts to the rather numerous popularbooks on the Vikings. These works are mainly ad-dressing a general public, adults and children, andmany of them have been translated from English.The leading experts on medieval Scandinavia, RegisBoyer, Frederic Durand, Francois-Xavier Dillman,and Jean Renaud are all linguistic scholars. Amongthese scholars, Renaud, professor of ScandinavianStudies at the University of Caen, has written two

books about the Vikings in France, Les Vikings et la

Normandie (1989), and Les Vikings et les Celtes (1992).Generally, these scholars are mainly interested in theVikings in their Nordic context and according to therunic inscriptions, skaldic poetry, or the sagas,whereas the Scandinavian establishment in the Frank-ish area occupies only a minor part of their works.This tendency can also be observed in a new period-ical directed by Dillman, Ultima Thule, which al-ready enumerates several contributions from Scandi-navian scholars. Besides the serious publications, pas-sionate amateurs have published several books,transmitting the myth of the dynamic and heroic in-vaders reminding more of Kirk Douglas than Rollo.

The disparate character of all these publications onVikings makes it very difficult for foreign scholars toget a reliable impression of French research in thisdomain. The following presents at first the researchactivity on the Vikings, before dealing with the his-torian’s view on the Viking raids and their impact onthe Frankish empire. The archaeological evidence isdiscussed before concluding the article by presentingsome new perspectives of the Viking research will.

RESEARCH ON THE NORTHERN WORLDSA recent survey of French medieval research duringthe last thirty years – L’histoire medievale en France. Bilan

et perspectives – clearly shows the restricted number ofstudies concerning Northern Europe. The Byzantine,Arabic and Turkish cultures, as well as Africa, Italy,Spain and England each occupies a chapter, which isoften written by several authors. This contrasts with

160 Acta Archaeologica

a single chapter, written by Michel Parisse, supposedto cover the German Empire, Eastern Europe andScandinavia. The limited historical research becomeseven more obvious when Parisse indicates twospecialists in linguistics, Regis Boyer and Eric Maillef-er, as the foremost scholars on the medieval Scandi-navia. It is also striking that the chapter dealing withthe research on the early Middle Ages in the Occidentstill refers to Lucien Musset, Les invasions (1965) andto the Belgian historian Albert d’Haenens crucialbook from 1970, Les invasions Normandes, une catastrophe?

The foremost specialist on the Vikings in France iscertainly the Norman historian and linguistic, LucienMusset. The quality and the extension of his researchis impressive. Musset published his first importantwork in 1942 and he still writes in catalogues andelsewhere. Many of his articles on early medievalNormandy emphasize the survival of Frankish oreven Antique territorial and social organization inNormandy. Several Norman ‘‘idiosyncrasies’’ have asa matter of fact Frankish and not Scandinavian ori-gin. These archaisms indicate that the Vikings pre-ferred to adapt to the existing territorial organizationinstead of annihilating it. After all, this is a quite logi-cal proceeding as the land of Rollo was granted bythe Frankish sovereign.

Musset has summarized the essential of these the-ories in Naissance de la Normandie (Ve–XIe siecles) pub-lished in the Historie de la Normandie (Musset 1970).The reasoning is all the more convincing since Mussetis an outstanding expert on French and Norman his-tory (many important articles deal with purely Frank-ish or French themes) who is very familiar with Scan-dinavian languages and culture. His work Les peuples

scandinaves au Moyen Age (1950) and Les invasions. Le sec-

ond assaut contre l’Europe chretienne (VIIe–XIe siecles) (1965)are still important references. The outstanding qualit-ies of Musset and his numerous contributions con-cerning the Vikings have given the impression that allhas been said about this specific and difficult subject.This probably also explains that the linguisticscholars, familiar with Scandinavian languages, domi-nate the publications about Vikings in France andelsewhere. However, one should note that Musset haswritten many of his fundamental contributions before1980, which leaves little place for recent Scandina-vian archaeological research.

The restricted number of significant publicationsdoes not signify that French historians and archaeol-ogists are ignoring the Scandinavian world. Many ofthem will be just as well-informed – perhaps evenmore – about the Vikings as their Scandinavian col-leagues about the Franks. But general knowledgehardly encourages scholars to write about Vikings, ifone excludes some contributions in encyclopaedicworks. The fine specialist on early medieval NorthernEurope – Stephane Lebecq – has for instance writtenthe entry on the Vikings in the latest encyclopaediaof the Hachette (1994). More generally, one has to lookfor scattered remarks in regional or national studiesto get an idea of the impact of the Vikings accordingto recent research. Publications on the Carolingianperiod will naturally touch upon the Vikings’ incur-sions in some paragraphs or some pages, but hardlymore. The most detailed passages’ analyse the conse-quences of the raids on the Carolingian society, butthe study on the Vikings themselves will be left tolinguistic experts and foreign scholars.

Uncritical amateurs attempting to identify the ma-terial traces of the Vikings and arguing for an over-whelming Scandinavian heritage in Normannic tra-ditions have caricatured the actual research on theNordic settlement and its repercussions in Normandy.The local patriotism stressing Nordic origins and theirinfluence on Norman culture is apparently harmless.However, right extremist local historians, for instancethe editorial team of Heimdal, mainly represented byGeorge Bernage and Jean Mabire, have used the Vi-kings to glorify the Normans as the heirs of the tall,strong and dynamic Viking warrior (Marpeau 1996).Several specialists, ignoring the editorial ideologyhave actually written in these periodicals. Heimdaland similar publications have also reached the generalpublic interested in Scandinavian culture and localNorman history. In the end, the extreme right-wingtendencies were revealed to most of the specialists aswell as the readers. This ideological misuse combinedand the numerous uncritical local studies have obvi-ously discredited research on the Vikings in general.Studies on the Scandinavian presence in France willthus often arouse mistrust on the sources and even asuspicion on ideological intentions.

In the last decade, the research on the Vikings hasseen a renewed interest among the archaeologists.

161Some Aspects of Viking Research in France

Notably Patrick Perin, Jacques Le Maho and Jean-Yves Marin have recently published articles concern-ing the material evidence on the Viking invaders (Per-in 1990; Le Maho 1994; Marin 1997). When LeMaho excavated the Rouen Cathedral area he ob-served a new planning of the streets at the beginningof the 10th century (1). Combined with textual andcadastral analyses, these changes may indicate thatthe first Norman princes modified the antique townto adapt a new urban lay-out reminding of severalAnglo-Saxon towns. Actually, Le Maho has only pub-lished short passages on the Norman influence on theurban development of Rouen, but his monograph onearly medieval Rouen is in press (Le Maho 1994, cf.infra). Other projects, for instance concerning thestudy of the rural organization will be developed inthe coming years. Furthermore, some students envis-age to write a thesis on the Vikings in France. Onecan hope that these works and renewed Viking re-search will improve our knowledge on the reper-cussions on the Scandinavian establishment on theContinent, but these studies are still only on the plan-ning stage.

THE PICTURE OF THE VIKINGS INHISTORICAL RESEARCHFormerly the Vikings were considered as cruel andsavage barbarians. However, their dynamic organiza-tion and their supposed love for liberty have fasci-nated several scholars, even the brilliant medievalistMarc Bloch. The Norman myth is certainly exagger-ated but also quite comprehensible, when consideringthe remarkable stability of Norman institutions andterritorial organization and the spectacular Normanconquests of England, Southern Italy, Sicily, Antioch-ia, Tripoli, and even more areas (Neveux 1994). Irri-tated by the myth of the Viking love for freedom,Musset has pointed out that the Scandinavian settlersabove all showed their ‘‘love of freedom’’ by reinfor-cing the slavery, which was disappearing in mostother regions of the Carolingian empire. It was the

1. Jacques Le Maho is actually working on a book about Rouen’surban development, which develops the argumentation aboutthe important modifications of the town in the early 10th cen-tury. I thank Le Maho for this information.

Lombard clerk, Lanfranc, who at the end of the 11thcentury succeeded in convincing William the Con-queror that slave trade was ‘‘iniquitous’’ (Musset1965, 240). One may also add that the power of themedieval Norman dukes was remarkably extendedcompared to that of other French princes.

The Belgian historian d’Haenens’ crucial bookfrom 1970, Les invasions Normandes une catastrophe? hasdurably influenced the appraisal of the Scandinavianincursions. The formerly dominating negative judg-ment on the Viking raids and their supposed disas-trous impact on the Carolingian economy has nowa much more balanced view. D’Haenens has arguedvigorously against the apocalyptic vision of the raids,which he, incidentally, mainly attributes to the Danes.The Belgian historian stresses that the Vikings did anexcellent affair with the raids, which in the lengthfavored the Scandinavian integration in Western Eur-ope. The principal victims of the Scandinavian as-saults was the opulent elite, especially the religiousone, who also wrote the texts informing us about theVikings. The dramatic complaints contrast with theflourishing artistic activity in the future Belgium dur-ing the 9th century, comparable to any other period.In the Picardian charters, Robert Fossier, has by theway, only noticed two mentions of places destroyedby the Vikings (Theis 1990, 60).

Georges Duby stresses the raids’ relieving effects onthe economy. He underlines that the raids set free theaccumulated gold and silver in the monasteries fromthe ‘‘dead hand of thesaurisation’’. The plunderingthus vivified the circulation of precious metal (Duby1973, 135 pp). It is observed how the raids alternatewith markets, which generally attracted a large public(Theis 1990, 72). D’Haenens also remarks that an in-creasing commerce in relics followed the raids, whichhe explains as the clergy’s attempt to regain a part oftheir lost fortunes (d’Haenens 1970, 79–82).

FRANKISH ARISTOCRACY AND VIKINGSThe Frankish area did not only suffer from the raidsof the Vikings, the numerous internal conflicts wereprobably an even more substantial problem. Manyhistorians have drawn the attention to the ambiguousattitude of the Carolingian magnates. The Vikings in-spired more than one aristocrat to plunder the mon-


asteries more Normanni, whereas others used the Norm-ans to increase their own power. During the conflictbetween the opposing grandsons of Charlemagne, be-fore the treaty of Verdun in 842, Lothar relied onpagan Normans and Saxons to defend his interests(Werner 1984, 456). Some years later another grand-son of Charlemagne, Pepin II, who considered thatthe treaty of Verdun ignored his rights, did not hesi-tate to ask the Normans for assistance. It even hap-pened that members of the clergy relied on the paganinvaders to support their ambitions, for instance thebishop of Utrecht who wanted to secure his indepen-dence against the king (d’Haenens 1970, 54). TheNormans were not the only enemies to ally with am-bitious magnates. William of Septimanie used Muslimtroops of Abd-al-Rahman in his revolt against theking. Just as the Frankish aristocrats, the Normanswere easily divided. The Frankish king Charles usedDanish mercenaries from the Somme region to driveaway the Danes from the Seine valley. The same kingalso captured other Normans who had sacked thetown of Meaux and who – once converted to theChristian faith – joined the royal troops (Theis 1990,64).

D’Haenens refers to Ragnar Lodbrog remarkingthat he had never seen a richer land than that ofthe Franks and that he had never seen a peoplemore unable to defend itself (Miraculi St. German.chap. 30 and 31 cf. d’Haenens 1970, 53p). The ci-tation may be legendary, but the fact is that theCarolingian authorities had great difficulties organ-izing the territorial defense. The famous Carolin-gian cavalry, invincible in the wars of conquest, wasdifficult to mobilize and thus inefficient against theNormans excelling in sudden assaults. Even worse,the Carolingian troops were hardly motivated tofight the Vikings (d’Haenens 1970). When Charlesthe Bald attacked the Viking camp near Noirmout-ier, his army suddenly retired leaving the emperorand a few of his companions on the isle held by theVikings (Theiss 1990, 63). The Frankish inertiawhich amazed Ragnar Lodbrog owes probably a lotto the ambigious attitude of the magnates. From themiddle of the 9th century, the royal diplomas, hith-erto preoccupied with the protection of the poor areconcerned with controlling the population. In 857 aroyal charter blames the armed peasants defending

themselves against the robbers. Two years later, in859, the Frankish annals embarrassedly relate thatthe royal cavalry had crushed a popular army mo-bilized against the Normans. The Carolingian eliteobviously thought that armed peasants threatenedtheir authority more than some occasional Vikingattacks (Dhondt 1988, 234; Poly 1982, 32).

Most historians agree that the Scandinavian raidsby destabilizing the Carolingian society favored thedevelopment of medieval feudalism, which finallyallowed the great expansion of the 12th and 13th cen-tury. The raids may have impoverished the most ex-posed regions, but they also accelerated the changesof the Carolingian society. The recurrent aggressionsmade clear that the central power could neither de-fend the population nor control the elite. The generalconfusion, due to the aggressions of Vikings and otherinvaders, made it possible for the slaves to leave theirestates and look for better conditions elsewhere (Duby1973, 135; Theis 1990, 71). The local magnates tookadvantage of the troubles to increase their power andtheir independence of the royal authorities, while ru-ral populations found the most efficient protection.However, in the end, the local authorities would oftencontrol the peasants more firmly than the remote cen-tral Carolingian power. The Norman raids are cer-tainly not the origins of the medieval feudal societybut they accelerated the changes of the Carolingianorder which in many ways had revitalized an oftenoutdated antique heritage.

THE BIRTH OF NORMANDYEven though the Scandinavian incursions did not pa-ralyze Carolingian Europe, the repeated plundering,the levy of danegæld as well as the numerous internalconflicts impoverished the Frankish Kingdom. Themagnates’ ambitions and internal rivalries, the expan-sion of the Bretons in western Neustria and the estab-lishment of the Vikings in the Seine and the Loirevalleys weakened the public authority, which almostdisappeared from the northern territories. The Frankscertainly chose the smartest solution on the Normanproblems when they concluded an agreement withthe Viking chief Rollo at Saint-Clair-sur-Epte inabout 911. The treaty has disappeared, if it has everexisted, and we do not know its exact contents. Ap-


parently, Charles the Simple (2) nominated Rollo acount and entrusted him the land surrounding theSeine valley and the administration of the towns ofLisieux, Evreux and Rouen (Musset 1994; Theiss1990, 142; Werner 1984, 499–504). In return Rolloand his followers converted to Christianity and prom-ised to protect the land against further Norman ag-gression.

The agreement advantaged both sides. The Norm-ans became legitimate vassals of a rich territory andthe Franks got an ally, who recognized the centralpower and who engaged to restore the church. Theseadvantages explain why the king as well as the firstlyconcerned, Robert marquis of Neustria, willingly ac-cepted the deal at Saint-Clair-sur-Epte. As a Frankishvassal, Rollo would assure the protection of the cen-tral Frankish territories and his presence would re-strain the Breton expansion in western Neustria. TheChristian names of Rollo, Robert, and of his son Wil-liam clearly show their wish to integrate with thehighest Frankish aristocracy: Robert was also thename of the marquis of Neustria, who furthermorewas the Godfather of Rollo, and William that of theAquitanian duke (Werner 1984, 502).

‘‘Rollo and his Normans from Rouen’’ rapidly ex-tended their territory in the parts of western Neustria,which the Bretons had invaded. The Frankish author-ities, who anyhow had lost the control of these re-gions, willingly granted the territories to the Rouen-Vikings once the Bretons were defeated (Werner1984, 503). In fact, the Franks only gained from thesehostilities between their principal enemies, Vikingsand Bretons. The ‘‘Normans from Rouen’’ wouldeven fight the Loire-Vikings, when William Long-Sword († 943) conquered the western coastline ofNormandy.

In general, Rollo proved to be a loyal vassal evenif several Viking raiders rested for some time in Rou-en. In 924, however, the ‘‘Normans of Rouen’’ at-tracted Frankish ire when some of them joined theraids of the Loire-Vikings in Northern France. CountArnould of Flanders inflicted a severe defeat on theNormans at Eu in 925. In difficult situations like

2. The Danish translation of the Latin surname Simplex as the En-

foldige (naive or silly) is very misleading. The real significance is‘‘sincere and honest’’.

these, Rollo and later on his son William asked forDanish assistance, but the relations with the Scandi-navian world dimished rapidly. In the end, the ‘‘Nor-mans of Rouen’’ obviously preferred to integrate intothe Frankish society, and soon they would favor al-liances with the Anglo-Saxons against the Scandina-vians.

In the beginning, the Norman elite rememberedand valued its Nordic origins. The example of Rich-ard learning Danish in Bayeux is well-known andsome written sources emphasize the Nordic originsof many aristocratic families. In reality, this ancestralromanticism or snobbism did not influence Normanpolicy the least. From c. 1000, the Nordic identity ismerely anecdotal and the Normans even refuse to allywith the Northern kingdoms. The ducal dynasty was,for instance, opposed to the union between Cnut theGreat and the English queen Emma, who was a Nor-man princess. Some years later, when the Anglo-Danish king tried to marry his sister Estrid to the Nor-man Duke Richard II, the latter, probably consciousof his political independence, sent her back toDenmark.

When Cnut the Great died, the Normans alliedwith the Anglo-Saxons to prevent the Scandinavianattempts to reconquer England. Lastly, it was a Nor-man duke, William the Bastard, who put an end tothe Nordic ambitions in England. The Bayeux tap-estry depicts Scandinavian ships in the fleet of Willi-am the Bastard, but it was the ducal cavalry of Frank-ish type which crushed the Anglo-Saxon army. Whenthe tapestry names the combatants, it distinguishesFranks from English. Once Conqueror, William or-dered the making of the famous Domesday Bookwhich in many ways reflects the influence of Carolin-gian proto-types. The German historian Karl F.Werner has remarked that the heirs of Rollo show tobe the best pupils of Frankish civilization and govern-ment (Werner 1984, 485).

FRANKISH AND NORDIC HERITAGE ANDTHE NORMAN ‘‘IDIOSYNCRASIES’’In spite of the durable Scandinavian and Anglo-Scan-dinavian settlement in Normandy and the prolongedpresence of Vikings in the Loire-region and in Brit-tany pertaining archaeological finds are almost ab-


sent. In Normandy, place names and anthroponymsgive the most detailed information about the Scandi-navian settlement, but their study needs skills, whichMusset probably is the only historian to master fully.He and other linguists have used the toponyms andthe personal names to conclude that many Vikings inNormandy were of Anglo-Scandinavian origin (e.g.Fellows-Jensen 1995).

The origin of the Nordic settlers and the process ofsettlement varies quite a lot in the different areas ofNormandy. The place-name evidence testify to aDanish majority in the East, whereas the Norwegiansapparently were more numerous in the Cotentin inthe West. Several of these settlers had apparentlytransited by Ireland. Musset is certainly right, whenarguing for a planned conquest of Eastern Normandy.A progressive Scandinavian settlement by smallergroups so near the central parts of the Frankish king-dom is hardly conceivable. This was possible the casein Western Normandy, where the establishmentseems a more progressive one (Musset 1967 & 1992).

Following Musset, the principal aspect of what hequalifies as the Scandinavian ‘‘managing settlement’’(3) in Normandy is the impressive adoption and useof Carolingian administration and ruling. A Nordicheritage certainly exists but it is very difficult to per-ceive, in common life as well as in social and politicalorganization.

It is remarkable that Normandy has preserved itsboundaries ever since the Norman expansion duringthe first decades of the 10th century. No other regionin France has known such a territorial stability. Thiscontinuity is even more impressing since the Normanexpansion to the West in fact re-established the terri-tory of the Roman province of Lugdunis Secunda (Marin1997, 55). This fact emphasizes that the Viking colon-ization of Normandy did not rupture but continuedand strengthened the Carolingian and even older ad-ministrative systems and territorial lay-outs. The Nor-mans obviously succeeded in optimizing the formerFrankish territorial and administrative structures totheir advantage. The longevity of Normandy isunique, not only in France but also compared toother Nordic settlement areas outside Scandinavia.

3. ‘‘Colonisation d’encadrement’’.

Apart from the territorial continuity, Normandy alsodistinguished itself by several institutional particu-larities, for instance, overwhelming authority of theNorman duke compared to the other French territorialprinces. Unlike the neighboring regions, hereditary fi-efs hardly developed in Normandy, which remained‘‘the land of the duke’’. The ducal power suffered ofcourse when the throne was vacant, but once the orderre-established, the Norman duke maintained his auth-ority more strongly than any other. Even in the 12thcentury, this authority distinguished Normandy fromthe rest of the Plantagenet state. Andre Debord has ob-served how the Anglo-Norman kings maintained an ef-fective and firm command of the Norman fortresses,whereas the control of their castles in Aquitania wasoften much more relative (4).

The status of the Norman viscounts offers a furtherexample of the strong centralized government in Nor-mandy. Unlike the viscounts of most other French re-gions the Norman ones could not reclaim the inherit-ance of their function. They remained officials repre-senting the public authorities which nominated thempersonally. One may also note that the ‘‘vavasseurs’’,making up a part of the lesser Norman nobility, haveno contemporary equivalent in the neighboring re-gion. A closer analysis reveals, however, that the vav-asseurs have less to do with Nordic society than withold Carolingian social structures, which did not sur-vive elsewhere in France (Chanteux 1990).

The importance and the durability of slavery is an-other Norman particularity. When Rollo and hiscompanions were established in the Seine valley theydeveloped a renowned slave market in Rouen. TheCarolingian estates certainly used slaves, but theireconomic importance diminished and slavery tendedto disappear in favour of serfdom. This was not thecase in Normandy, nor in England. Thus, Normandydistinguishes itself from all other French regions bythe very limited, almost non-existent, serfdom. It isno doubt the importance of slaves, which explains thisabsence. As late as the end of the 11th century, theLombard clerk Lanfranc and friend of William theConqueror appeals to the king to abandon the tradeof slaves on his territory (Musset 1988).

4. Andre Debord (†), the Plantagenet castles, conference at theUniversity of Caen, autumn 1995.


Several Scandinavian or Anglo-Scandinavian ruralterms may indicate that the majority of the Normansettlers cultivated the land themselves. However, theydid not seem to have changed the Carolingian organ-ization notably. It is often possible to detect an earlymedieval or even antique territorial organization,whereas no Nordic one has been detected hitherto.Musset has studied some aspects of the rural organ-ization in these regions, but his attention concen-trated on juridical texts. The absence of detailed ca-dastral studies may explain the non-appearance ofNordic influence. To verify an eventual Nordic influ-ence on Norman agricultural organization, it is cru-cial to compare the rural systems in Normandy, Scan-dinavia, and England. In this perspective, it would beof very great interest to examine the distribution ofsolskifte or similar systems. It is also essential to explorethe configuration and the layout of the parcels in se-lected areas with an important Scandinavian settle-ment. Claude Lorren has purposed such studies inthe Val de Serre in the Cotentin and Le Maho in thePays de Caux (5). One may add, that already MarcBloch noticed a particular system of parcels in thisregion nearly seventy years ago (Bloch, 1988, 95).

The non-archaeological sources reveal several Nor-man ‘‘idiosyncrasies’’. Generally a Scandinavian ori-gin is difficult or, rather, impossible to detect whereasthe Carolingian heritage seems evident. The Vikingsapparently instrumented a revival of an archaic politi-cal organization. In some cases, e.g. slavery, the Nor-man exception may be both a Nordic heritage as wellas a Carolingian archaism.

ARCHAEOLOGY AND VIKINGSBoth the interpretation and the identification of thepossible archaeological remnants of the Scandinavianinvaders are often very questionable. These uncer-tainties make it almost impossible to present an ar-chaeological synthesis on the Scandinavian presencein France. Rural settlements in Normandy, whichanyhow differ completely from the Scandinavianones, are thus studied in the same manner as those in

5. I thank Claude Lorren and Jacques Le Maho from the UMR6577, C.N.R.S., Universite de Caen, Basse-Normandie fordrawing my attention to these field systems.

Picardie or in the Ile-de-France. With regards to therather numerous urban excavations, they primarilyconcern remnants from the Gallo-Roman period, andfrom the high Middle Ages, whereas features from theearly Middle Ages often are missing. At best, someblack earth layers represent this period, and it is ex-tremely rare to identify house-plans or distinguish thegeneral settlement pattern. The flimsy character ofthe early medieval layers is a general problem inFrench urban archaeology which makes it very diffi-cult to study the Frankish and Carolingian towns.The Norman archaeologist also has to face this prob-lem; furthermore, the apparent absence of Scandina-vian artefacts is preventing any attempt to ascertain a‘‘Scandinavian period’’ in the towns. Le Maho’s mostinteresting, but still unpublished, study on the topo-graphical evolution in early medieval Rouen presentsa remarkable exception which promises to reconsiderthe role of the Normans in urban planning (cf. infra).

The remarkably rapid and complete integration ofScandinavians and Anglo-Scandinavians in Norman-dy may explain why Viking artefacts are extremelyrare in France. Perin’s catalogue from 1990 of Vikingobjects in the Museum of Seine-Maritime shows thatthey are all stray-finds, apart from the fibulas fromthe grave of Pıtres (Perin, 1990). Only two – perhapsthree – cemeteries indicate the Scandinavian presencein Northern France, Pıtres and, perhaps, Reville inNormandy, and the isle of Groix in Brittany. The twooval fibulas and some human bones found near thecemetery of Pıtres in the Seine valley are the onlyremains of a female Viking grave south of the Rhine(Perin, 1993). In western Normandy the archaeologi-cal evidence is even more poor. Two sites may havesome relation to the Scandinavians but it cannot bedefinitely proved. The first site – Reville – is a cem-etery on the western coast (Fig. 1). Several unusualcremation graves with stone-settings, circular or boat-shaped, appeared on the occasion of an exceptionalspring tide. Pottery from one of the graves at Reville,now in the Museum of Normandy at Caen, may haveparallels at Birka (Marin 1997). The bad excavationconditions, the sparse material, and an apparent longperiod of use make it difficult to certify the Scandina-vian origin of the site. Cautiously, Michel de Boüardsuggested that some of the graves of Reville may beSaxon or Scandinavian but omitted to specify their


Fig. 1. Part of the stone-setting of a boat-shaped grave at Revilleon the western coast of Normandy (C.R.A.M., M. de Boüard).

possible origin (de Boüard 1964). The second site isan earthen rampart with a Scandinavian name – laHague-Digue – located in the Cotentin at the head ofthe peninsula, at the Hague. Some Carbon-14 datesindicate a protohistoric origin, but the rampart hasobviously been modified in the Carolingian period,perhaps by Vikings (de Boüard 1956).

Outside Normandy, some Breton sites have left evi-dence of a Scandinavian presence. Most of the Vi-kings in Brittany were originally based in the Loireregion. Their raids grew in intensity in 913 and on-wards, perhaps, because Rollo now defended theSeine region. In 921, the Vikings on the Loirefounded a principality at Nantes, but the Scandina-vian occupation of Brittany remained ephemeral. Asearly as in 937 the Breton chieftain Alain Barbetortedefeated the Vikings and drove them out of Brittany(Guillotel 1984, 374–402). The main recent publi-cation on the Vikings in Brittany is written by an Eng-

lish scholar Neil Price (Price 1989). His gazetteer in-cludes positive as well as negative evidence on theVikings’ activities in Brittany (e.g. layers of burneddeposits from the 9th and 10th centuries in early me-dieval monuments). The limited archaeological evi-dence may occasionally have tempted the author toidentify sites as Scandinavian.

The best defined Viking site in France, is the boat-grave on the isle of Groix, facing the southern coastof Brittany. The tomb is rich, but unfortunately thecremation had damaged the grave-goods, and the ex-cavation in 1906 suffered from bad conditions, no-tably intruders robbing the excavation (du Chatel-ier & Le Pontois 1908). It is, however, possible todistinguish the bones of two persons and several ob-jects of clearly Scandinavian character. The Mam-men-style decoration on a sword grip dates the graveto the middle of the 10th century or even later(Müller-Wille 1978; Renaud 1992).

Some early medieval fortresses are perhaps relatedto the Vikings’ occupation of Brittany. The ring-workat Peran near the northern coast of Brittany is mostprobably related to the conflicts opposing Bretons andVikings. Three Carbon-14 analyses from layers olderthan the ring-wall are thus dated, respectively, to855–1040, 890–1185, 865–1045, and 595–860,whereas the thermoluminessence measurements ofthe vitrified surrounding wall dates the destruction to915∫20 (6). The artefacts from the contemporarylayers confirm an occupation in the early 10th cen-tury (Nicolardot 1984). A St. Peter coin from York,struck between 905–925, was discovered in the for-tress and has been used to interpret the fortress as aViking camp. It has also been suggested to relate asword and a metal vessel from Peran to the Scandina-vians (Nicolardot, 1991; Renaud 1992 no 359). In re-ality, only the St. Peter coin can be linked to the Vi-kings, at least those established in England. It is nottotally excluded that one of the many Bretons whoexiled to England brought the coin to Brittany. ThePeran fortress is undoubtedly related to the conflictsbetween Vikings and Bretons, but it is very difficultto conclude whom of the antagonists built the fortress.

6. A stratigraphic analysis of W.H. Wimmers in 1987 made clearthat the surrounding wall covered a layer which contained twoof the analyses.


The coin is Anglo-Danish but the house-plans are lo-cal. A small U-shaped building from this phase lookslike some of the houses of a deserted Breton medievalhamlet Pen-er-Malo (Bertrand & Lucas, 1975). Likeconstructions can be noted in the Norman castle atPlessis-Grimoult from the 11th century, and even inrural settlements on the British Isles. If ever the Vi-kings founded the ring-work (Zadora-Rio, 1973–1974) at Peran, they must have forced the local popu-lation to construct it (Nissen Jaubert 1988).

Two further fortifications, also in northern Brit-tany, have been related to the Vikings of Trans, wherethe Breton leader Alain Barbetorte is said to havedefeated the Vikings. One of the fortresses, a trap-ezoidal earthen work at Vieux M’Na, is supposed tobe the camp of the Vikings, the second being the oneof the Bretons. However, these hypotheses are firstand foremost based on passages in the annals of Flo-doard. The archaeological evidence is very limited,relying on small fragments of pottery dated to be-tween 920 and 980, which have been collected in trialditches (Hamel-Simon et al. 1979). As a matter of fact,their context does not enable us to date the fortresswith certainty. Furthermore, the Breton ceramics,especially the early medieval ones, are very difficultto date.

CONCLUSIONThe former section has demonstrated the overwhelm-ing difficulties of identifying the material traces of theScandinavian presence in Northern France. Ten ortwenty years ago many scholars hoped that archaeol-ogy would bring to light the Scandinavian vestiges ofNormandy. Numerous rescue excavations without asingle Scandinavian artefact have diminished thishope. Perin (1990) and Marin (1997) have empha-sized the necessity for the French archaeologists tobecome acquainted with Viking artefacts. The collec-tions of the museums undoubtedly contain more,hitherto unknown Scandinavian artefacts. The ques-tion is if their number will be sufficient to change thevery poor archaeological evidence on the Scandina-vian settlers significantly? Marin seems more optimis-tic than Perin, but none of them believe in a radicalchange of the archaeological evidence. After all, onemay suppose that an archaeologist unable to recog-

nize Scandinavian artefacts at least would try toidentify unusual objects from the early Middle Ages.Medievalist archaeologists such as Lorren who has ex-cavated a rural settlement Trainecourt in the districtof Mondeville (Monde derives from the Danish nameAmund), and Annie Renoux who has studied one ofthe oldest ducal castles at Fecamp have not found anyScandinavian objects. A large wooden 10th-centurybuilding in the castle of Fecamp was probably the hallof William Long Sword or Richard I, the son of thegrand-son of Rollo. In spite of this context, the build-ing has no specific Nordic features but fits into currentNorth-West European hall-architecture (Lorren 1985;Renoux 1991, 343–387).

The remarkable lack of Scandinavian artefacts inNormandy and the neighbouring regions can hardlybe fortuitous. Their extreme rarity probably reflects ahistorical reality. The Scandinavian integration musthave been very complete and the acculturation muchmore rapid than in England, where the Anglo-Saxoninvasions probably had accustomed the native popu-lation to Nordic cultural and artistic traditions. Theantique heritage was much stronger in Gaul, wherethe invading Germanic tribes, Franks, Burgunds,Wisigoths long before the arrival of the Vikings hadadopted a Roman way of life. Most probably, the lo-cal population did neither understand nor appreciatethe Scandinavian symbolic language. Furthermore,the place names indicate that many Normans estab-lished in Neustria were English Vikings. These set-tlers, whose Nordic heritage probably was ratherfeeble, may easily have adapted Carolingian civiliza-tion and culture. Furthermore, the Nordic settlerswere apparently Christians or had Christianized veryrapidly. There is thus little chance to find funeralgoods, which represent a very important part of theScandinavian artefacts in England, Ireland, andRussia.

Traditional archaeological studies based on typo-logical observations of artefacts offer few possibilitiesto study the Scandinavian presence in NorthernFrance. Future research should rely on new and moreindirect methods to reveal a possible Scandinavianpresence. Le Maho’s research on the late antique andearly medieval cathedral complex in Rouen opensquite a new perspective for the studies on the Scandi-navian influence in Normandy. An important fire-


layer from the middle of the 9th century, followed bya period of abandonment recalls the great Viking at-tack in 841, ravaging Rouen. When the site was fi-nally occupied in the beginning of the 10th centurythe lay-out of the sector was entirely modified. LeMaho has completed these observations by a detailedstudy of Rouen’s urban topography. Early medievalsources on the monuments, observations in small ur-ban excavations completed by analyses of old cadastr-ian maps indicate two major phases in the town plan-ning, the antique one and a supposed new lay-outcharacterized by long parallel streets recalling severalAnglo-Saxon towns. The excavation near the ca-thedral suggests that these changes were related to thefirst Norman princes.

The new theories on Rouen’s urban developmentpresents the Scandinavian settlers in Normandy in aquite new and most fascinating light. Although LeMaho uses a very complete but also very complexargumentation to demonstrate the early medieval ur-ban planning, there is no final proof (Le Maho 1994;the same in press). Obviously, the Scandinavians wereintegrated perfectly into the local context. Theywanted an efficient government not an exportation ofNordic culture. These observations are probably evenmore correct in Normandy. It is also well-known thatthe decoration and even the form of several Nordicobjects are imitating Carolingian models.

Against this background it is hardly surprising if theScandinavians established in these regions completelyadapted Frankish art and way of life. As Else Roes-dahl already has pointed out, it would be quite logicalif the Scandinavians abandoned an artistic and sym-bolic language which the local population probablyconsidered barbarian and perhaps even awful (Roes-dahl 1987, 25).

Renewed studies on the rural organization in Nor-mandy may also offer further possibilities of detecting

the Viking influence in this region. English scholarshave, for instance, proposed to relate the solskifte withthe Scandinavian settlers (Harvey 1983). Hitherto thissystem has only been observed in Scandinavia andin England. However, the geographical distribution isperhaps partly due to different research traditions andperhaps also to a more difficult material in Norman-dy. Concerning the rural organization, it is interestingto note that the highly usual field name ‘‘delle’’ is ofScandinavian origin. The linguists generally considerthe ‘‘delle’’ names to be of Anglo-Scandinavian ori-gin, but a non-linguist may observe that the JutlandLaw, written in the 13th century, use the word ‘‘deld’’,which means a part of or a piece of land shared bymore villagers (Meyer 1991, 144; Lerche 1991, 165).The common vocabulary makes it tempting to pointout a passage in Dudo of St. Quentin, where thechronicle mentions Rollo dividing the land with ropes(§ 31, ... illam terram suis fidelibus funicolo divisit). Thisproceeding is unusual in France but it recalls severalparagraphs in the Northern regional laws.

The development of interdisciplinary research onthe rural settlement, notably in the University ofCaen may also improve our knowledge on the Vi-kings in the Frankish areas. In the coming years moreprojects are planned notably in the southern part ofthe ‘‘Pays d’Auge’’ (7). If the economics allow it, weshould take up the study of the impact of the Scandi-navian settlement foremost in the regions with a de-veloped territorial organization. The Nordic estab-lishment in France remains important.

7. ‘‘Evolution du Pays d’Auge de l’an Mil jusqu‘a l‘an 2000’’. Thechronological margins are more extensive than the title of theproject, especially concerning archaeological studies.


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some aspects of viking research in france

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