What is "aescwine"

Aescwine or Escwine or Æscwine is an Anglo-Saxon name, whose modern descendant is Ashwin. It translates literally as " ash-tree friend", but can mean a number of things, including "strong/manly friend", or "friendly man." Anglo-Saxon compound names were often poetic rather than literal. For example, " Beowulf" could mean "bee-wolf", "bee-hunter", or simply "bear" (one who hunts for bees). Attested in the Poetic Edda, the first man was made from the log of an Ash-tree and was named Ash.

Notable persons with the name include:

• Aescwine of Essex (494-587), born in ancient Saxony in northern Germany and in 527 he became king of Essex
• Aescwine of Wessex (died circa 676), king of Wessex