Origin Myths Codexery

Hengist and Horsa

Legendary brothers who led the Germanic invasion of Britain.

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Modern scholars generally regard them as mythical, noting their alliterative animal names and the constructed nature of their genealogy.[1] According to an 8th-century text by Bede, Hengist and Horsa were the initial leaders among the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes in England.[2]

Quick Facts

Field
Legendary military leaders and founders
Nationality
Germanic (Angles, Saxons, Jutes)

Facts from the source article.

Key facts and history

Bede's 8th-century Ecclesiastical History records Hengist and Horsa as the first chieftains among the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes in England.[2] The Chronicle records further battles in 457, 465, and 473, with Hengist and Esc winning victories.[3] That account describes Vortigern giving them the Isle of Thanet, and later Hengist's daughter marrying Vortigern in exchange for Kent.[4][5] The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that in the year 455, Hengist and Horsa engaged Vortigern at Aylesford, resulting in Horsa's death.[3]

A genealogy in the 9th-century History of the Britons, which is credited to Nennius, extends Hengist and Horsa's lineage back to Geta, described as the offspring of a pagan deity.[4]

What the cited sources add

The History of the Britons records that Horsa died at the battle of Epsford alongside Vortigern's son Catigern.[6] J. R. R. Tolkien proposed that the Hengest found in the Finnesburg Fragment and Beowulf is identical to the legendary Hengist and has a historical basis.[7][8] The History of the Britons reports that following Hengist's demise, his son Ochta took over as his successor.[9]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Hengist and Horsa" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Halsall (2013:60-62).; Yorke (1993).; Harland (2021:32). (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Hengist and Horsa" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bede (1990:63). (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Hengist and Horsa" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ingram (1823:15-16). (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Hengist and Horsa" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gunn (1819:18). (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Hengist and Horsa" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gunn (1819:22–23). (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Hengist and Horsa" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gunn (1819:29). (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Hengist and Horsa" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Tolkien, "Finn and Hengest", George Allen & Unwin, 1982 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Open Library record, ISBN 0048290033 ("Finn and Hengest"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Hengist and Horsa" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gunn (1819:33).; Gunn (1819:34). (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Hengist and Horsa (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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