r
in Wace's verses:

"Li Archeveske Frankes a Jumieges ala
A Rou et a sa gent par latinier parla....
... Donc vint Rou a Roem, amont Saine naja,
De joste Saint Morin sa navie atacha."]

Rolf found indeed very little except the "crowd without arms"
described by Dudo of St. Quentin in a town where hardly a stone wall
had been left upright and the population had been ruthlessly decimated
by his predecessors. As Wace says of the expedition of Hastings the
Dane:

"... A Roem sunt areste
Tote destruitrent la cite
Aveir troverent a plente
Mesonz ardent, froissent celiers,
Homes tuent, robent mostiers"....

so that it is almost astonishing to hear that even the church of St.
Martin de la Roquette remained standing, if, indeed, that is meant by
the phrase, "Portae cui innexa est ecclesia Sancti Martini naves
adhaesit," which may refer to the "Saint Morin" of Wace, or the
"Portus morandi" I spoke of on page 16. The town was still, it must be
remembered, in its primitive watery condition, the chapels, not only
of St. Martin, but of St. Clement and of St. Eloi, were on islands
that are now part of the firm soil of the river's bank. The waters of
the Robec itself formed one of the defences of the ruined city Rollo
took. Just beyond the line of the old Gallo-Roman walls, rose the
first rude monastery of St. Ouen; shrines were also consecrated to St.
Godard, to St. Martin, to St. Vincent sur Rive; but most of the houses
were still only of timber, and it was not till Rollo had closed up the
wandering bed of the river between these shifting islands that the
"Terres Neuves" were first formed that reached from the Rue Saint
Denis to the Eau de Robec, through the Place de la Calende, down to
the Rue de la Madeleine and the Rue aux Ours, and so to the Quai de la
Bourse by way of the Rue des Cordeliers. What is now merely No. 41 Rue
Nationale, was once the old church of St. Pierre du Chastel, and the
name commemorates the spot where Rollo built his first square tower,
the first of the many "Tours" that were built by the lords of Rouen,
native and foreign, princes or pirates, from the river to the northern
angle of the outer walls. Map B shows Rollo's castle and the three
which followed it, one on each side beneath, and one above.

It was in 912 that Rollo thus marked the beginning of the Duchy of
Normandy with the strong seal of his donjon-keep at Rouen, though he
and his descendants for