Character Name
Helmer
Helmer Helmer carries associations of authority and control — in part through Ibsen's famous bourgeois patriarch, in part through its Old Norse martial roots. Characters named Helmer tend to project confidence, competence, and a certain rigidity of principle. The name suits antagonists as well as complex protagonists in Scandinavian literary and historical settings.
Best genres for Helmer
Famous characters named Helmer
Torvald Helmer
A Doll's House — Henrik Ibsen
Nora's condescending husband whose rigid social conventionality drives her to her famous exit at the play's close.
Variations & nicknames
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Related names
Helmut
Germanic · “A Germanic masculine name composed of "helm" meaning "helmet" (protection, defence) and "mut" meaning "spirit", "courage", or "mind" — thus "courageous in battle" or "protected spirit". The name was common in German-speaking lands from the medieval period and became one of the defining masculine names of 20th-century Germany.”
Gunnar
Old Norse · “An Old Norse masculine name composed of "gunnr" meaning "battle" or "war" and "arr" meaning "warrior" or "army" — thus "battle-warrior" or "war-army". In the Völsunga saga and Nibelungenlied (as Gunther), Gunnar is the King of the Gjukungs (Burgundians), Sigurd's brother-in-law, and the man who orchestrates Sigurd's murder. Gunnar of Hlíðarendi in Njáls saga is one of the greatest heroes of Icelandic saga literature.”
More Old Norse names
Oddrun
“An Old Norse feminine name composed of "oddr" meaning "point" (of a spear or sword) or "sharp edge" and "rún" meaning "secret", "rune", or "secret lore" — thus "sharp-rune" or "the secret of the sword's point". In Norse poetry, Oddrún appears in the Eddic poem Oddrúnargrátr (The Lament of Oddrún), sister of Atli (Attila) and lover of Gunnar, whose story is one of the most emotionally intense in the entire Poetic Edda.”
Ivar
“Derived from Old Norse "Ívarr", composed of "yr" meaning "yew" (the wood of bows) and "arr" meaning "warrior" or "army" — thus "yew warrior" or "bow warrior". Ivar the Boneless (died c.873) was one of the most feared Norse leaders who commanded the Great Heathen Army that invaded England in 865, and the name appears throughout the Norse sagas as the name of warriors and kings of the highest rank.”
Gudrun
“An Old Norse feminine name composed of "guðr" meaning "god" or "battle" and "rún" meaning "secret" or "rune" — thus "divine secret", "battle-rune", or "god's mystery". Gudrun is one of the great names of Norse heroic legend — she is the sister of Gunnar and wife of Sigurd in the Volsunga Saga, and her fate forms the emotional core of the entire cycle as she witnesses the murder of her husband and the destruction of her family.”
Ulf
“Derived from Old Norse "úlfr" meaning "wolf". The wolf was one of the most important animals in Norse mythology — Odin's wolves Geri and Freki accompanied him, while the great wolf Fenrir was destined to devour Odin at Ragnarök. The wolf-name was a mark of fierce warrior identity in Viking culture, and "Ulf" appears frequently in runic inscriptions and the Norse sagas as the name of warriors and chieftains.”
Ragnar
“An Old Norse masculine name composed of "regin" meaning "counsel", "power", or "divine decision" and "arr" from "herr" meaning "warrior" or "army" — thus "warrior of divine counsel" or "powerful warrior". The name is most famously associated with Ragnar Lothbrok (Ragnarr Loðbrók), the semi-legendary 9th-century Norse king and hero of the Ragnar saga cycle, one of the great figures of Viking-Age popular culture.”
Freydis
“An Old Norse feminine name composed of "Freyr" (the fertility god) or "freyja" (lady) and "dís" meaning "divine woman" or female protective spirit — thus "divine lady" or "Freyr's dís". The most famous bearer is Freydís Eiríksdóttir, daughter of Erik the Red and sister of Leif Eriksson, who appears in the Vinland sagas as one of the most startlingly violent and morally ambiguous women in the Norse literary record.”
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