Numerose cronache latine medievali raccontano di Normanni bellicosi che attaccavano con azioni fulminee e che non si fermavano neppure davanti al sacro. Questi testi, scritti nei monasteri rappresentano la nostra più importante fonte di informazione su questi “uomini del nord” e fino ad oggi influenzano l’immagine che abbiamo di loro. Tuttavia, è una visione troppo unilaterale. Molti “vichinghi” viaggiarono attraverso tutta l'Europa, commerciarono e si insediarono stabilmente nelle regioni in cui giunsero. Rouen era già un centro commerciale importante prima dell'arrivo di Rollone e dei suoi uomini, e i viaggi da e verso il nord continuarono anche dopo la nascita della Normandia. La rapida integrazione dei Normanni non favorì la conservazione di tracce archeologiche "vichinghe". Quello che è rimasto oggi sono per lo più reperti ritrovati nei fiumi o di tracce di distruzione (nelle cronache o su resti architettonici – per esempio tracce di incendi su capitelli).
Discovered in the Seine near Rouen, 2nd half of the 9th c./Beginning of the 10th c.
Rouen, Musée des Antiquités, Inv. 1804.12.1 (1); Inv. 1804.13 (2); Inv. R.89.1 (3); Inv. R.89.1 (4)
These weapons were discovered by chance during dredging works of the Seine near Rouen (1882–1884). Together with similar weapon finds, they testify to Viking raids in the region in the 9th century. Battle axes were typical weapons of the Vikings, while swords were widely used throughout all of Europe. The broken sword (1) was probably lost by a Viking.
The long sword with a semicircular pommel (2) was made by a Carolingian armourer. It can therefore not be assigned with certainty to a Viking or a local Frankish fighter, because Vikings also valued and used Carolingian weapons.
Pîtres (Eure), 2nd half of 9th c.
Copper alloy, gold plated
Rouen, Musée des Antiquités, Inv. 1251
Oval brooches with detailed animal ornamentation were mass-produced in Scandinavia during the Viking Age. This pair, however, represents the only find of this kind outside Scandinavia on the European continent. They probably were found in the grave of a Viking woman. Their discovery show that Scandinavian women also travelled and perhaps traded in the region that is now Normandy. For Christians, a burial with jewellery was unusual in the 9th century, so the deceased woman was not of Christian faith.
Prüm, 1084
Parchment
Trier, Wissenschaftliche Bibliothek, HS 1286/43 8°, fol. 41
Regino’s chronicle is an important source on Frankish history for the 9th and the early 10th centuries. As Abbot of Prüm, Regino witnessed a raid by the nortmanni first-hand, as he calls them, in 822. He impressively describes the violence with which the plunderers proceeded: “... they struck [the peasants] down and slaughtered them as if they were unreasonable cattle, not people. [...] When the [Northmen] departed, the fire, which burned in various buildings, consumed the monastery, because there was no one left to extinguish it.” Experiences such as this influenced the image of the Northemen for a long time.