Imagine this: You're poring over your Ancestry DNA results, expecting a straightforward map of French-Canadian roots from those rugged voyageurs who paddled the wild rivers of New France. But instead, the screen lights up with 47–61% Scottish and just 3–7% French. A betrayal? Not quite. It's more like a hidden chapter in your family's epic, whispering of ancient seas crossed by longships and a Viking chieftain named Rollo whose legacy might just flow through your veins.
Let's rewind to the 9th century. Rollo—known as Hrólfr in Old Norse—was no myth. Born around 860 in Scandinavia (debated between Denmark or Norway), he was a towering raider exiled for his fierce ways. By 911, after years of harrying the Frankish coasts and even besieging Paris, he struck a deal with King Charles the Simple: the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte. In exchange for loyalty and conversion to Christianity, Rollo got a swath of land along the Seine—the birth of Normandy. He married Poppa of Bayeux, settled in Rouen, and his followers ballooned from a few hundred Vikings into a blended Norse-Frankish society. Fast-forward, and his descendants conquered England in 1066, with ripples reaching Scotland through land grants and marriages. That's why your "Scottish" DNA might mask Norman echoes—those Viking genes pooled in the Highlands and Isles, binned by modern tests as Scottish.
Now, zoom in on your La Prairie ancestors, those intrepid voyageurs from Normandy's heartland. Take the Leber family: François Leber, born in 1626 in Pitres near Rouen (Rollo's original grant), arrived in New France around 1656–1660 as an immigrant blacksmith. He settled in La Prairie, forging tools for fur traders, and married Jeanne Testard in 1662 in Montréal. His brother Jacques became a merchant ennobled by Louis XIV in 1696 for his role in the fur trade, co-founding the Lachine post. Their parents? Robert Leber (born 1601) and Colette Cavelier, both from Pitres—a Viking settlement core along the Seine where Rollo wintered his raids. The Leber surname, deriving from "smith" (Old French fèvre), ties to the artisan class that supported Norman lords post-911.
Colette brings us to the Cavelier line, meaning "horseman" or "knight"—a nod to Normandy's cavalry elite. From the same Pitres-Andelys cluster, this family produced René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle, the Rouen-born explorer (1643–1687) who claimed the Mississippi for France in 1682. Shared parish origins suggest cousin-level connections, with Cavelier variants appearing in Norman rolls from the 1200s and even migrating to Scotland under Robert the Bruce. Picture it: Your ancestors' kin, riding from Rollo's fiefs to chart North America's rivers.
Then there's the Godefroy clan, hailing from Lintot near Yvetot in Normandy's Pays de Caux—Rollo's capital zone. Pierre Godefroy arrived in Québec in 1634 with Champlain, granted the Vieuxpont seigneurie. His son Jean-Paul (born 1610) co-founded Trois-Rivières in 1636, dominating Huron-Wendat trade and serving on the Sovereign Council. The name "Godefroy" stems from Old Norse "Guðfriðr" (God's peace), blending Viking and Frankish roots. Marriages wove them into your Leber web, like Marie-Madeleine Godefroy to Jacques Leber.
Rounding out the quartet: The Cussons from Saint-Jacques de Carquebut in Manche, part of Rollo's 933 Cotentin grant. Jean Cusson, baptized in 1630, arrived in 1651 as a Jesuit engagé, fought Iroquois raids, and built Varennes' first sawmill in 1667 for canoe timber. His daughter Jeanne married Joachim Jacques Leber in 1691, fusing lines. The surname hints at Norse "Kussón" (son of the short one), fitting Viking nickname traditions.
These families weren't just settlers—they were the backbone of New France's fur trade, paddling 36-foot canoes through rapids, dodging ambushes, and building empires from birchbark and beaver pelts. Their Norman origins, laced with Viking DNA (up to 15–20% Norse in the region), explain your results: That "Scottish" surge? Norman lords in Scotland post-1066. The slim French? Later colonial layers.
You're not less French-Canadian—you're a Viking voyageur descendant, with ancestors rowing from fjords to frontiers. To prove it: Grab a Y-DNA test for I1-Y4045 (Rollo's projected clade), dive into PRDH records, or trace ThruLines back to those Norman knights. Who knows what saga awaits in the archives?
The above is courtesy of Drifting Cowboy and Grok xAI.
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