Óslác is a

theophoric A theophoric name (from Greek: , ''theophoros'', literally "bearing or carrying a god") embeds the word equivalent of 'god' or God's name in a person's name, reflecting something about the character of the person so named in relation to that deit ...

Anglo-Saxon given name Germanic languages, Germanic given names are traditionally wikt:dithematic, dithematic; that is, they are formed from two elements, by joining a prefix and a suffix. For example, Ethelred II of England, King Æþelred's name was derived from ', f ...

, cognate to Old Norse ''Ásleikr''/''Áslákr'' (Latinised ''Ansleicus'', modern Scandinavian ''Aslak'') and to Old High German ''Ansleh'' (''Anslech'', ''Ansleccus''). It is composed of '' ós'' "god" and '' lác'' "play, sport; offering, sacrifice". Historical individuals bearing the name include: * a son of

Æthelfrith of Northumbria Æthelfrith (died c. 616) was King of Bernicia from c. 593 until his death. Around 604 he became the first Bernician king to also rule the neighboring land of Deira, giving him an important place in the development of the later kingdom of Nort ...

(recorded in MS ''E'' of the '' Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' s.a. 617), *king

Oslac of Sussex Oslac was a King of Sussex. He reigned jointly with Ealdwulf and Ælfwald, and probably also Oswald and Osmund Osmund (Latin ''Osmundus'') is a Germanic name composed of the word ''Os'' meaning "god" and ''mund'' meaning "protection." Osmund or ...

(8th century), *Oslac of Hampshire, butler of Æthelwulf of Wessex (9th century), * earl

Oslac of Northumbria Oslac ealdorman (or earl) of York from around 963 to 975. His territory included but may not have been limited to the southern half of Northumbria. His background is obscure because of poor source documentation. The latter has facilitated disagr ...

(10th century), *

Anslech de Bricquebec Anslech or Anslec de Bricquebec (active in the 930s and 940s) played a major political role in the first days of the duchy of Normandy, though the sources on him are rather opaque. In the Anglo-Norman chronicles Around 1000, Dudo of Saint-Quentin e ...

(10th century). *''Ansleicus'' is the name of a Dane converted to Christianity in 864 according to the ''Miracles de St. Riquier''. This Ansleicus subsequently mediated between

Charles the Bald Charles the Bald (french: Charles le Chauve; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as Charles II, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), king of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a ...

and the Viking invaders of Normandy. The Norman French toponyms Anneville are from ''Anslecvilla'' "the farm of Ansleicus" and Annebecq too (cf. Norman

patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. Patronymics are still in use, including mandatory use, in many countries worldwide, alt ...

''Anlec'' still mentions in

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the l ...

1306 and in Hémévez around 1320). The name is attested in a medieval runic inscription on a sword scabbard found in

Tangen Tangen is a village in Stange Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The village is located near the shores of the large lake Mjøsa, about south of the village of Stangebyen. The small village of Espa lies about to the south of Tangen. ...

Hedmark Hedmark () was a county in Norway before 1 January 2020, bordering Trøndelag to the north, Oppland to the west, Akershus to the south, and Sweden to the east. The county administration is in Hamar. Hedmark and Oppland counties were merged int ...

(the ''Korsøygarden sword'', dated c. 1100), reading aumutær : geþemik : aø ͡slikæramik (normalized

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

''Auðmundr gerði mik, Ásleikr á mik'') "Audmund made me, Asleik owns me". As a given name, English ''Oslac'' unlike Norse ''Aslak'' is mostly extinct, but it survives into Modern English as a surname, besides Oslac also in the spellings ''Aslock'', ''Ashlock'', and '' Hasluck''. Based on the Anglo-Saxon, Old High German and Old Norse cognates of the name, Koegel (1894) assumes that the term ''*ansu-laikom'' may go back to Common Germanic times, denoting a ''Leich für die Götter'', a hymn, dance or play for the gods in early

Germanic paganism Germanic paganism or Germanic religion refers to the traditional, culturally significant religion of the Germanic peoples. With a chronological range of at least one thousand years in an area covering Scandinavia, the British Isles, modern Germ ...

. Grimm (s.v. "Leich") compares the meaning of Greek , denoting first the ceremonial procession to the sacrifice, but also ritual dance and hymns pertaining to religious ritual. Hermann (1906)Paul Hermann, ''Deutsche Mythologie in gemeinverständlicher Darstellung'' (1906) p. 342; c.f. ''Altdeutsche Kultgebräuche'', Jena (1928

identifies as such ''*ansulaikom'' the victory songs of the Batavi (Germanic tribe), Batavi mercenaries serving under

Gaius Julius Civilis Gaius Julius Civilis was the leader of the Batavian rebellion against the Romans in 69 AD. His nomen shows that he (or one of his male ancestors) was made a Roman citizen (and thus, the tribe a Roman vassal) by either Augustus or Caligula. Earl ...

after the victory over Quintus Petillius Cerialis in the

Batavian rebellion The Revolt of the Batavi took place in the Roman province of Germania Inferior between AD 69 and 70. It was an uprising against the Roman Empire started by the Batavi, a small but militarily powerful Germanic tribe that inhabited Batavia, on ...

of 69 (according to

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...

), and also the "abominable song" to

Wodan Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, victor ...

sung by the

Lombards The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the '' History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 an ...

at their victory celebration in 579. The sacrificial animal was a goat, around whose head the Lombards danced in a circle while singing their victory hymn. As their Christian prisoners refused to "adore the goat", they were all killed (Hermann presumes) as an offering to Wodan.

References

{{given name Anglo-Saxon paganism Germanic given names Theophoric names