In the folkloric and some medieval sources Aschanes is presented as the first Saxon king or eponymous ancestor in an emergence motif: the Saxons and their first king are said to have 'grown out of' a small well or fountain among the Harz rocks in a forest. Medieval chronicle material and genealogical notes sometimes list Aschanes (or related forms such as Ascan/Ascanus) among founder names; these identifications are treated variably and sometimes tentatively in the sources. Separately, in biblical-commentarial material (following Josephus and later commentators) the same name-form appears in a different register and is discussed as possibly a personal name or an office (e.g., a steward) in the Daniel commentarial tradition.
The corpus does not preserve a distinct anthropomorphic or detailed physical description of Aschanes. Descriptive imagery in the sources centers on the origin locus: Aschanes is said to have 'grown' from the Harz rocks beside a fountain or well in a wood. Beyond that emergence motif, the texts do not supply a portrait of physical features, dress, or stature.
No supernatural powers, routine behaviors, or magical functions are attributed to Aschanes in the provided materials. The figure functions narratively as a founder or eponym — a name used in origin tales and medieval genealogies — and receives psychological-symbolic interpretation (for example, Jung reads the birth motif as a conglomeration of mother/earth symbols). The biblical-commentary occurrences discuss the name-form as a personal name or possibly an office, but do not ascribe supernatural agency.
Abdiel
Abdiel (Hebrew עֲבְדִּיאֵל) is primarily a theophoric Hebrew personal name meaning "servant of El/servant of God," attested once in the Hebrew Bible (1 Chronicles 5:15). In later literature—most notably John Milton's Paradise Lost—Abdiel is reimagined as a faithful seraph who opposes Satan's revolt. The provided sources do not treat Abdiel as an autonomous folkloric spirit type or record rituals or wards associated with the name.
Abiel
Abiel is attested in the supplied sources only as a male given name — borne by several historical American individuals and listed as two minor biblical figures. The provided materials contain no evidence presenting Abiel as a supernatural, mythological, or folkloric entity.
Abigail
Abigail is a female figure in the Hebrew Bible portrayed in 1 Samuel 25 as the intelligent and beautiful wife of Nabal who intervenes to prevent David from committing violence; later tradition regards her as one of the Tanakh's seven female prophets and as a model of beauty and wisdom.
Abraun
Abraun is an attested name in German-language plant-legend scholarship (Der abraun, ein beitrag zur pflanzensagenkunde, 1916) and a short database entry (Wikidata) labels it as a spirit from German mythology. Surviving accessible documentation is extremely limited: the principal academic treatment is a 1916 contribution to pflanzensagenkunde (plant-saga studies), but the excerpts available here contain only bibliographic metadata and do not record tales, descriptions, or rituals.
Accolon
Accolon is a mortal knight of the Arthurian court, presented in the Post-Vulgate Merlin tradition and Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur as Morgan le Fay's paramour and instrument in a plot to supplant King Arthur; his tale centers on enchanted weapons (Excalibur and its scabbard), love-manipulation, and a tragic duel with Arthur.
Acionna
Acionna is a local Gallo-Roman water goddess attested by a single votive inscription found at a spring in the Orléanais region. The inscription, discovered by Jollois in 1822 and datable by style to the 2nd century CE, dedicates a portico and ornaments "AUG(ustae) ACIONNAE" and was recovered from the Fontaine de l'Étuvée in Orléans; archaeological work in 2007 uncovered remains of a Gallo-Roman temple and a section of an aqueduct at the site.
Adils
Adils (Old Norse Aðils; also Eadgils, Adillus, Athisl, Adhel) is a semi‑legendary sixth‑century Swedish king attested in Old Norse saga material and later medieval traditions. He appears in saga episodes as a storied royal figure involved in warfare, court acts, and marriage suits rather than as a supernatural being.
Adsullata
Adsullata is attested as a Continental Celtic river goddess associated with the River Savus (modern Sava) in the Roman province of Noricum. Later traditions record her presence in Brittany as a goddess of hot springs and present her as an antecedent or origin-form of the Anglo‑Celtic sun goddess Sul.
Afaon fab Taliesin
Afaon fab Taliesin is a medieval Welsh warrior-counsellor, named as a son of the bard Taliesin and recorded among Arthur’s retinue in Welsh tradition. He appears in the Welsh Triads and in the tale Breuddwyd Rhonabwy (The Dream of Rhonabwy) as a notable martial figure and proverb-speaker rather than as a supernatural being.
Agilaz (Egil)
Agilaz (reconstructed Proto-Germanic) — commonly recorded in medieval sources as Egil or Ægil — is a legendary archer attested in Germanic heroic tradition. He appears as the brother of Völund (Wayland/Weland) in the Old Norse poem Völundarkviða and in the Thidreks saga, and his name is also inscribed on early medieval objects (Franks Casket, Pforzen buckle). The attested material presents him as a named heroic human archer within saga and inscriptional contexts rather than as a recurrent supernatural species.
Aglovale
Aglovale (also Agloval, Aglovan, Aglovaus, Acglavael) is a human knight of Arthurian romance, presented as the eldest legitimate son of King Pellinore and a Knight of the Round Table in the Vulgate/Post‑Vulgate cycles, Malory, and later adaptations. He brings his long‑lost brother Perceval to Camelot, takes part in military actions (including slaying Agrippa in one account), and his death is related in varying ways across traditions (accidental at Gawain's hand, deliberate murder by Orkney kin, or killed during Lancelot's rescue of Guinevere).
Agolant
Agolant is a literary Saracen king who appears as a recurring antagonist in medieval and Renaissance epic cycles (Matter of France). He functions as a human royal opponent to Charlemagne and his peers, supplying martial episodes, genealogical connections, and the transfer of legendary arms and horses in chansons de geste and later Italian romances.
Community Record
- [1]Hengist and Horsa (Wikipedia article, contains mention of related founder-legend milieu). Wikipedia: Hengist and Horsawiki
- [2]WDDM maillist excerpt (onomastic note linking Ask/Askanius/Ashkenaz). WDDM maillist excerpt discussing Aschanes/Askanius/Ask and Ashkenazother
- [3]Mixed Legends (genealogical note equating Ascan and Aschanes). Mixed Legends: note that 'Ascan was of the Welsh line and he may be the same as Aschanes'folk
- [4]Brut (Anglo-Norman) textbase excerpt (fragment mentioning Aschanius). Anglo-Norman Brut excerpt containing the fragment 'Un fiz Aschanes... Aschanius oid la nuvele'literary
- [5]Transformation | Symbols of Transformation (Jung quotation on birth of Aschanes). Jung quoted on 'the birth of Aschanes, the first Saxon king, who grew from the Harz rocks in the middle of a wood near a fountain'academic
- [6]Leipzig in 100 Superlatives (Leipzig folk-tale summary referencing Harz well motif). Leipzig summary: 'According to an old folk tale, the Saxons grew out of a small well in the Harz rocks in the forest with Aschanes, their first king.'folk
- [7]Gill's Exposition of Daniel 1 (commentary noting Josephus calls him Aschanes; name possibly an office). Gill on Daniel: 'Josephus calls him Aschanes, though some think it is the name of an office, as a steward, or the like...'literary
- [8]DANIEL 1 COMMENTARY (GILL). Gill's commentary repeating Josephus's usage and the interpretive note on Aschanes as possibly an officeliterary