| First: | The Song of Roland |
| Occupation: | Knight (paladin) |
| Significant Other: | Morgan le Fay |
| Based On: | Autcharius Francus, Adalgis, Othgerius Francus |
| Weapon: | Cortain |
| Series: | Matter of France |
| Nationality: | Danish |
Ogier the Dane (French: {{noitalics|'''Ogier le Danois''', '''Ogier de Danemarche'''; Danish: {{noitalics|'''Holger Danske''') is a legendary paladin of Charlemagne who appears in many Old French chansons de geste. In particular, he features as the protagonist in La Chevalerie Ogier, which belongs to the Geste de Doon de Mayence ("cycle of the rebellious vassals"; Doon is Ogier's grandfather). The first part of this epic, the enfance[''s''] (childhood exploits) of Ogier, is marked by his duel against a Saracen from whom he obtains the sword Cortain, followed by victory over another Saracen opponent from whom he wins the horse Broiefort. In subsequent parts, Ogier turns into a rebel with cause, seeking refuge with the King of Lombardy and warring with Charlemagne for many years, until he is eventually reconciled when a dire need for him emerges after another Saracen incursion.
His character is a composite based on an historical Autcharius Francus who was aligned with king Desiderius of Lombardy against Charlemagne. The legend of a certain Othgerius buried in Meaux is also incorporated into the Chevalerie.
In Scandinavia, he was first known as Oddgeir danski in the Old Norse prose translation Karlamagnús saga, but later became more widely known as Holger Danske, and was given the pedigree of being Olaf son of King Gøtrik in a 16th-century Danish translation. Since then, Holger Danske has become a Danish folklore hero, with a sleeping hero motif attached to him, and eventually a symbol of Danish identity and patriotism as well as anti-German nationalism.
The Ogier character is generally believed to be based on Autcharius/Otker, a Frankish knight who had served Carloman and escorted his widow and young children to Desiderius, King of Lombardy, but eventually surrendered to Charlemagne. The Ogier character could also have been partly constructed from the historical Adalgis (or Adelgis, Algisus), son of Desiderius, who played a similar role.[1] The chanson de geste does parallel this, and Ogier does seek refuge with the Lombardian king Didier or Désier (as Desiderius is styled in French).
An unrelated Othgerius (Otgerius), a benefactor buried at the Abbey of Saint Faro in Meaux in France, became connected with Ogier by a work called Conversio Othgeri militis (ca. 1070–1080) written by the monks there. This tradition is reflected in the chanson of Ogier, which states that the hero was buried at Meaux.
There is no Ogier of consequence in Danish history; at least, no Ogier as such appears in Saxo Grammaticus's Gesta Danorum. However, the Danish work Holger Danskes Krønike (1534) made Ogier into the son of King Gøtrek of Denmark (namely Olaf son of Gøtrek,[2] mentioned by Saxo). "Olgerus, dux Daniæ" ("Olger, War-Leader of the Danes") had rebuilt the St. Martin's monastery pillaged by the Saxons in 778, according to the chronicle of this monastery at Cologne (ca. 1050). However, this is not a contemporary record and may just be poetic fiction.
Ogier the Dane's first appearance (spelled Oger) in any work is in Chanson de Roland (c. 1060), where he is not named as one of the douzepers (twelve peers or paladins) of Charlemagne, although he is usually one of the twelve peers in other works. In the poeticized Battle of Roncevaux Pass, Ogier is assigned to be the vanguard and commands the Bavarian Army in the battle against Baligant in the later half. He plays only a minor part in this poem, and it is unclear what becomes of him, but the Pseudo-Turpin knows of a tradition that Ogier was killed at Roncevaux.
A full career of Ogier from youth to death is treated in La Chevalerie Ogier de Danemarche, a 13th-century assonanced poem of approximately 13,000 lines, attributed to Raimbert de Paris, preserved in six manuscripts. It relates Ogier's early years, his rebellion against Charlemagne and eventual reconciliation. This is now considered a retelling. Ogier in a lost original "Chevalerie Ogier primitive" is thought to have fought alongside the Lombards because Charlemagne attacked at the Pope's bidding, as historically happened in the Siege of Pavia (773–74), that is, there was no fighting with the Saracens (i.e. Muslims) as a prelude to this.
The legend that Ogier fought valiantly with some Saracens in his youth is the chief material of the first branch (about 3,000 lines) of Raimbert's Chevalerie Ogier. This is also recounted in Enfances Ogier (c. 1270), a rhymed poem of 9,229 lines by Adenet le Roi. The story of Ogier's youth develops with close similarity in these two works starting at the beginning, but they diverge at a certain point when Raimbert's version begins to be more economical with the details.
In the 14th-century and subsequent versions of the romance, Ogier travels to the Avalon ruled by King Arthur and eventually becomes paramour of Morgan le Fay (the earliest known mention of her as his lover is in Brun de la Montaigne[3]). This is how the story culminates in Roman d'Ogier, a reworking in French: [[Alexandrin]]s written in the 14th century, as well as its prose redaction retitled Ogier le Danois (Ogyer le Danois) printed in a number of editions from the late 15th century onwards. The Alexandrines version may contain some vestiges of the lost 12th-century Chevalerie Ogier. It is also possible[4] that Ogier the Dane has first appeared in the Arthurian context as the Saxon prince Oriolz the Dane (de Danemarche), sometimes known as the Red Knight, in the 13th-century Vulgate Merlin and its English adaptation Arthour and Merlin.
There are also several texts that might be classed as "histories" which refer to Ogier. Girart d'Amiens' Charlemagne contains a variant of Ogier's enfances.[5] Philippe Mouskes's Chronique rimée (c. 1243) writes on Ogier's death. Jean d'Outremeuse's Ly Myreur des Histors writes of Ogier's combat with the capalus (chapalu), which is a giant cat monster known from the Arthurian cycle.
A legend of Conversio Othgeri militis was invented by the monks at the abbey of Saint Faro at Meaux around 1070–1080. It claimed Othgerius Francus ("Frankish") to be the most illustrious member of Charlemagne's court after the king himself, thus making him identifiable with Ogier the Dane. He was buried in the abbey in a mausoleum built for him. His remains were placed in a sarcophagus lidded with his recumbent tomb effigy lying next to that of Saint Benedictus, and the chamber was enshrined with erect statues of various figures from the Charlemagne Cycle. A stone head later found in Meaux was determined to be Ogier's head from comparisons with these incunabula etchings. This stone head can still be viewed today.
This document was first commented on by Jean Mabillon in his Acta Sanctorum Ordinis S. Benedicti, printed editions of which include a detailed illustration of the mausoleum at St. Faro. The statues at the mausoleum even included la belle Aude, affianced to Roland, with one of the inscriptions there (according to Mabillon) claiming that Aude was Ogier's sister. It underwent restoration in 1535 by the Italian Gabriele Simeoni.
"Saa lod han ham christne og kaldte ham Oluf; men jeg vil kalde ham Olger (Then he was Baptized and christened Oluf, but I shall call him Ogier)".