Óslác is a

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

Anglo-Saxon given name Germanic given names are traditionally dithematic; that is, they are formed from two elements ( stems), by joining a prefix and a suffix. For example, King Æþelred's name was derived from ', meaning "noble", and ', meaning "counsel". The ind ...

, 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 The suffix in Modern English survives only in and . It descends from Old English , which was more productive, carrying a meaning of "action or proceeding, state of being, practice, ritual". As a noun, Old English means "play, sport", deriving ...

'' "play, sport; offering, sacrifice". Historical individuals bearing the name include: * a son of

Æthelfrith of Northumbria Æthelfrith (died ) was King of Bernicia from c. 593 until his death around 616 AD at the Battle of the River Idle. He became the first Bernician king to also rule the neighboring land of Deira, giving him an important place in the developme ...

(recorded in MS ''E'' of the ''

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the ninth century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of ...

'' 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. Oslac witnessed an undated charter of Ealdwulf, believed to be from about 765, with his name corruptly recorded in the surviving r ...

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

Oslac of York 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 disagre ...

(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 (; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as CharlesII, 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 series of civil wars during t ...

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 (more specifically an avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. It is the male equivalent of a matronymic. Patronymics are used, b ...

''Anlec'' still mentions in

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

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. The ...

Hedmark Hedmark () was a Counties of Norway, county in Norway from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, bordering Trøndelag to the north, Oppland to the west, Akershus to the south, and Sweden to the east. The county administration is in Hamar. Hedmar ...

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

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

''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 dating, chronological range of at least one thousand years in an area covering Scandinavia, the Bri ...

. 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); cf. identifies as such ''*ansulaikom'' the victory songs of the Batavi mercenaries serving under

Gaius Julius Civilis Gaius Julius Civilis (AD 25 – ) was the leader of the Batavian rebellion against the Romans in 69 AD. His Roman naming conventions, nomen shows that he (or one of his male ancestors) was made a Roman citizen (and thus, the tribe a Roman vassal) ...

after the victory over

Quintus Petillius Cerialis Quintus Petillius Cerialis Caesius Rufus ( AD 30 — after AD 83), otherwise known as Quintus Petillius Cerialis, was a Roman general and administrator who served in Britain during Boudica's rebellion and went on to participate in the civil wars ...

in the

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

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. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...

), and also the "abominable song" to

Wodan Odin (; from ) is a widely revered god in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Most surviving information on Odin comes from Norse mythology, but he figures prominently in the recorded history of Northern Europe. This includes the Roman Emp ...

sung by the

Lombards The Lombards () or Longobards () were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who conquered most of the Italian Peninsula between 568 and 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written betwee ...

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, cat1=Masculine given names, cat2=Old English masculine given names Anglo-Saxon paganism Germanic masculine given names Theophoric names Masculine given names