Aisne

The Aisne is a river in northeastern France. It is a left-side tributary of the Oise River. It gave its name to the French department of Aisne. In the Roman period it was known as Axona.

The river rises in the Argonne Forest, at Rembercourt-Sommaisne, near Sainte-Menehould. It flows north and then west before joining the Oise at Compiègne. The Aisne is 356 km long and its main tributaries are the Vesle, the Aire and the Suippe. The Battle of Axona between the Romans and the Belgians took place near here in 57 BC. Three battles were fought in the Aisne valley during the First World War.

Etymology

Ancient forms of the Aisne River are Axona, 1st century BC; Axuenna, 3rd century; Axina in 650; Axna in 850.
According to Ernest Nègre, the name comes from Gaelic and is composed of the root *ax-, perhaps a variant of *asca, or even esca, meaning „water“ in that language, with the suffix -ona, where the accent is on the initial syllable. The etymology of the word is similar to that of the Essonne, a tributary of the Seine.
According to Noémie Beck, professor of British and Irish civilisation, the term Axona comes from Acionna, the goddess of rivers, whose cult is attested in Roman Gaul at Orléans, because of the similar origin of the names „Aisne“ and „Essonne“.

Geography of the Aisne River

It rises in the Argonne near Sommaisne, at an altitude of 250 m, near the border between the Meuse and Marne departments, and flows into the Oise between Clairoix and Compiègne in the Oise department, along a 355.9 km long path. It is therefore about 15 kilometres longer than the Oise.

Fishing

From a pondkeeping point of view, Aisne is classified in the second category. The river is rich in white fish, the most common of which are roach, bream and bream. There are also good populations of pike, carp, tench, zander, perch and common carp. All these populations occur in high densities