"Question on Rollo from Vikings TV show" Topic

In the TV show they make a big deal about Rollo betraying his brother. But that begs the question, by the standards of the day, did he really?

AS I understand it, in those days and in that culture a warrior was free to follow the best offer and no one thought any less of them.

I understand if you switched sides in a battle or something similar, but wasn't it different if you took the best offer in between campaigns?

Kind of like Robert Bruce (and countless other gentry) – he switched sides alright, but not in the middle of a battle or campaign.

Wallace was different. He wasn't a noble.

Family and clan was everything – he went against both, not just by fighting for another faction (understandable if he wanted to carve out his own fortune) but by fighting *against* his family, friends, and clan. So yes, he did betray just about everything meaningful, and had a blood debt on top of that. I'm surprised it was let go so easily, but Ragnar is a powerful and charismatic leader, and Rollo swings a mean axe.

Agreed, money, power, land was one thing, but blood was something else again. "Never take sides against the family again" sort of thing. Ragnar's "forgiving" the act would have been a remarkable thing, his holding on to power after doing it even more so. But let's remember, it's a TV series.