Norman [ME] The Normans who invaded England in 1066 were not simply Frenchmen. They were a people of mixed Germanic and Scandinavian origin who settled in Normandy from about ad 910 under their chief Rollo, and became dominant in western Europe and the Mediterranean. Their name is a form of Northman, which was first used in Old English in reference to Scandinavians, especially Norwegians (the related form Norseman [E19th] comes from the Dutch word for ‘north’). The form Norman was in use by the 13th century, by which time it referred specifically to the people from Normandy.