Lox(h)am revisited

Abstract

Starting from the lost Lancashire place-name Lox(h)am < OE *Loxhūsum or Anglo-Scandinavian *Loxhúsum, a compound of a British river-name Lox and the dative plural of OE hūs, ON hús n. ‘house’ with the meaning ‘at the houses associated with a stream called Lox’, the present article goes on to discuss place-names in Lancashire containing the dative plural -um. Although such names can be formally Old English or Old Scandinavian, their currency in Lancashire must have been reinforced by Scandinavian usage. Lox(h)am was probably located in Penwortham parish in Leyland Hundred and further evidence for Scandinavian settlement in this region is provided by the presence of Scandinavian personal names, such as Gamall, Hrafnkell, Ormr, Steinólfr, Sveinn and Úlfkell, in medieval records, these names being examined in the concluding part of the article.