Unequivocal identification of Geismar near Fritzlar as the location of the Donar Oak is found in the Catholic Encyclopedia, in teaching materials for religious studies classes in Germany, in the work of Alexander Demandt, in histories of the Carolingians, and in the work of Lutz von Padberg. The Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde notes that for Willibald it was probably not necessary to specify the location any further because he presumed it widely known. This Geismar was close to Büraburg, then a hill castle and a Frankish stronghold. Role in Bonifatian hagiography and imagery One of the focal points of Boniface's life, the scene is frequently repeated, illustrated, and reimagined. Roberto Muller, for instance, in a retelling of Boniface's biography for young adults, has the four parts of the tree fall down to the ground and form a cross. In Hubertus Lutterbach's fictional expansion of the Boniface correspondence, Boniface relates the entire event in a long letter to Pope Gregory II, commenting that it took hours to cut the tree down, and that any account that says the tree fell down miraculously is a falsification of history. See also List of individual trees Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae, a law code imposed by Charlemagne in 785 that prescribes death for Saxon pagans refusing to convert to Christianity Massacre of Verden, a massacre of 4,500 captive pagan Saxons ordered by Charlemagne in 782 Caill Tomair, a grove dedicated to Thor destroyed by the forces of Brian Boru in early 1000 Notes References Dowden, Ken (2000). European Paganism: The Reality of Cult from Antiquity to the Middle Ages. Routledge. Emerton, Ephraim (2000). The Letters of Saint Boniface. Columbia University Press. Gummere, Francis B. (1892). Germanic Origins: A Study in Primitive Culture. Charles Scribner's Sons. Levison, Wilhelm (1905). Vitae Sancti Bonifatii archiepiscopi moguntini. Monumenta Germaniæ historica: Scriptores rerum germanicorum in usum scholarum separatim editi. Hannover and Leipzig: Hahn. (Latin) Robinson, George W. (trans.) (1916). The Life of Saint Boniface by Willibald. Harvard University Press. External links Individual oak trees History of Catholicism in Germany History of Hesse Saint Boniface Thor Trees in Germanic paganism Iconoclasm Destroyed individual trees