Where we begin.....

My lineage begins with the Vikings of Normandy coming down through the Dukes of Normandy then Kings and Queens of England through William "The Conqueror" King of England before arriving in America in the early to mid 1600's.

Although there is a good bit of speculated information, on the internet, for ancestors going back further I only deal with what can be proven in my lineage. Having said that, I begin with Eystein “the Noisy” Glumra Ivarsson, Earl of More and Hendemarken. He was born about 810 in Maer, Norway, and about 831 he married Aseda (Aserida) Ragnvaldsdottir then died about 872.

Eystein and Aseda had a son, Ragnvald of More (also known as "the wise" of Eysteinsseon and Earl of Orkney) born in Denmark or Norway about 837. This man had at least 4 wives and he died about 892 in Orkney.
 

One of his sons, Rolo “the Dane” Ragnvaldsson was born in Norway about 857AD. He was a big man – so big, a horse couldn’t carry him, and he had to walk. He was an outlaw, even by Viking standards. His own father banished him from Norway about 876. He robbed, slaughtered, and plundered all up and down the French coast, and when he got tired of that, he sailed up the Seine river and plundered Paris. Charles the Simple, of France, was forced to cede a district around Rouen to Rollo, and this district evolved into the Duchy of Normandy. Hence, Rollo was the first Duke of Normandy. 

Rollo is said to have been baptized in 912, and assumed the Christian name of Robert. He married Poppa de Valois (Bayeux) (born 872, daughter of Count Berengar), and among their children were Guillaume (2nd Duke of Normandy) and Adela (Gerloc) de Normandy. Rollo “the Dane” Ragnvaldsson died about 929 in France, and is buried in Notre Dame Cathedral in Rouen, France. 

             

                                             Gold Sand School, Franklin County, NC  1931