Aesc

Æsc

The traditional founder of the Aescing tribe, Aesc reigned, in Kent, between AD 488 and 512. He was possibly the son of Hengist, whom he assisted and succeeded in the beginnings of the Saxon conquest of Britain. His story may be related to that of Askr, one of the first two people of Norse-Teutonic mythology, the other being Embla.

This association seems to be further supported by the fact that Hengist, his father, claimed descent from Woden, the Anglo-Saxon variant of the Norse god Odínn (Odin/Oden).

Æsc joined the war in 456 or 457 and won a battle at Creacanford in Kent. In 465, he again defeated the Britons at Wippedsfleot. He won another victory with his father in 473, and became the ruler of Kent in 488.

Mentioned in the non-Arthurian Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, he may be identical to Eosa or Aschil of Arthurian tradition.