('ends'), or boroughs.

The Old Norse name Hólmgarðr is usually identified with the city. A wide range of explanations for the origin of the name have been proposed, including it referring to Ilmensky gorod (a town on Lake Ilmen), a town on an island (from hólmr, 'island'), settlements in the insularum regio (during the flood on the Volkhov), and Holm-gorod (a fortified settlement called Holm). Another possibility