Rollo, Ragnar Lothbrok’s older brother on Vikings seems to always have some plot going on behind the backs of everyone else. Those details often take viewers by surprise and give us reasons to click that “next episode” button over and over again. But Rollo is also a person and, as difficult as it may be to believe, he has feelings and compassion that are woven in among all the plotting and raiding.
From the actual person he’s based on from history to the big bombshell that doesn’t drop until the middle of season 5, Rollo is multifaceted. Read on to learn all about these hidden details you missed and the ways Rollo might be a far more interesting character than you ever knew.
The Duke Of Normandy And Count Of Rouen
In the show, Rollo eventually marries Princess Gisla and becomes the Count of Rouen and, later on, the Duke of Normandy. The show is not entirely historically accurate but on this detail, there is a lot of truth.
The Duke of Normandy during that time period was a Scandanavian Viking warrior that married into a Parisian family. Not only that, but this man was the first ever ruler of Normandy, Viking or not.
The Duke Of Normandy Had A Different Name
The change is pretty interesting. The original name of the Scandanavian Viking who became ruler of Normandy was Hrolfr. In history, it is known that his Christian baptism includes a new English name of Rollo.
In the show, Rollo is introduced with this name and then his baptism gives him the Christian name of Rolf. The show turned it completely backward! Rollo’s name, simplified, was always supposed to be Rollo.
There Are Hints Of A Past With Lagertha
From the first episode, there are hints that Rollo and Lagertha had a past back before she was Ragnar’s wife. There isn’t anything said outright but it is clear from the actions and conversations that Lagertha had a choice and she chose Ragnar over Rollo.
In those first few episodes, he hints through flirting and other actions that he wants to be with Lagertha even then and that he believes she chose the wrong brother.
Siggy And Rollo Come Full Circle
When Siggy and Rollo first get together, she says to him, “you need me as much as I need you.” Her ambition was clear when she married the earl in the first place and after he is dead, she latches on to Rollo and wants to build him up to be something bigger. He wants no part of it while he’s with her, even though she is broken and sad.
Then he comes back from battle injured and he does need her because he has no one else to care for him. After Siggy dies, he marries Princess Gisla and becomes exactly the kind of person Siggy always wanted him to be.
Rollo Shows Leadership From The Beginning
When Jarl Borg comes for Ragnar in the end of Season 2, Rollo takes swift action to get Aslaug and Ragnar’s sons out of harm’s way. When Ragnar returns, he talks his brother down from going charging into Kattegut without a plan to get back Jarl Borg.
Later, he devises the plan that gets Ragnar his revenge on Jarl Borg, even though it is not approved of by other leaders. He steps up to help his family from the beginning.
He Wanted Princess Gisla Before She Was Promised To Him
At the first battle of Paris, when Rollo makes his heroic charge up the siege ladder, his focus is on Princess Gisla. He fell from the ladder and almost died in the river with her face on his mind.
Their eyes met and the moment in the show appears to be more significant than when he’s with Siggy or when he’s flirting with Lagertha. Then, seemingly by complete chance, the Princess is the person that is arranged for him to marry. She is not happy about it and Rollo seems to go along with her disdain.
His Resentment Fuels His Desire To Be English
When Rollo volunteers to be baptized, he treats it like a joke. He boasts to Floki about the Christians he killed in battle later on and he insists that he is Viking through and through. But he also enjoys the comforts of the English table.
He does his best to converse with Aethelwulf and sees the opportunities in the west when he gets a taste of what victory could be like in Paris. He volunteers to stay behind in Paris to farm the new land and, at the end of Season 3, he greets the Emperor and the Princess in their own language. He resents Ragnar and sees opportunities for himself in this new place.
Rollo Knew He’d Go Back To Raiding After He Married Gisla
Once Rollo is married to Gisla with a title and riches all his own, he is portrayed as a right and proper Englishman just trying to fit in with his comrades. He cuts down every man, woman, and child left in the Viking camp he was supposed to lead and that is portrayed as him cutting ties with his past. But in the episode “Promise,” Rollo talks about the dishonor in stabbing a man in the back in battle.
Gisla insists that this is a Viking way and he is no longer a Viking. He dismisses this as some silly thing his wife said. Later, his Frankish forces defeat Ragnar’s Viking ships in battle and is praised by Emperor Charles. He used his Viking knowledge to win the battle and rides the wave of victory. When Bjorn comes years later to ask for safe passage through to Spain, Rollo insists that they take him along as payment.
He Doesn’t Tell Gisla Of His Misdeeds While Off Raiding
In Spain, Rollo falls back on his old Viking ways. The contemplative looks out over the Mediterannean before he goes home don’t excuse his raping and pillaging behaviors during the raid itself.
He goes from zero to Viking in one ride on a longship. When he comes home he goes back to the being Duke of Normandy in a heartbeat, backwards with one more journey. Before he left, Gisla gave him an ultimatum, the children and her or raiding and he chooses to go on the raid. When he comes home, she’s not exactly happy but she takes him back none the wiser to his Viking ways while he was away.
Rollo is Bjorn’s Father…Or So He Believes
In the first few episodes, the flirting and teasing between Lagertha and Rollo leaves out one major idea: that Rollo is actually Bjorn’s father. At this point in the show, Ragnar and Lagertha have Bjorn and Gita, Bjorn being the older of two. Rollo plays happily with Bjorn and accepts his place in the family for a little while.
When Bjorn is grown and comes to help them in battle, Rollo praises him while Ragnar criticizes his recklessness. When Gita dies, Rollo doesn’t seem all that concerned but is willing to move Heaven and Earth to get Bjorn and Lagertha safe passage in Season 5. It is only then that he comes out and says outright that Bjorn is his son. Bjorn refuses to accept this and Lagertha won’t confirm it either but Rollo’s conviction is clear and finite.
