Holmgeirr

This name derives from the Old Norse “HolmgæiRR,” meaning “the spear of the small island.” The name is composed of two elements: “holmr” (small island) plus “gaiRaR” (spear). Ogier the Dane (Danish: Holger Danske) is a legendary character who first appears in an Old French chanson de geste, in the cycle of poems Geste de Doon de Mayence. The 12th-century Danish chronicler Saxo Grammaticus was not familiar with the character, and Ogier has not been connected to any historical event in Denmark. A chronicle from St Martin’s monastery in Cologne claims that the Saxons had pillaged the monastery in 778, but that it was rebuilt by “Olgerus, dux Daniæ” (Olger, War-Leader of the Danes), with the help of Charlemagne.