
Hengist
and Horsa
Hengist also spelled HENGEST (respectively d. c. 488; d. 455?),
brothers and legendary leaders of the first Anglo-Saxon settlers in
Britain who went
there,
according to the English historian and theologian Bede, to fight for
the British king Vortigern against the Picts between AD 446 and 454.
The brothers are said to have been Jutes and sons of one Wihtgils. The
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says that they landed at Ebbsfleet, Kent, and
that Horsa was killed at Aegelsthrep (possibly Aylesford, Kent) in 455.
Bede mentions a monument to him in east Kent; Horstead, near
Aylesford, may be named for him. The Chronicle says that Hengist began
to reign in 455 and that he fought against the Britons; it implies that
Hengist died in 488. The historic kings of Kent traced their direct
descent from Hengist, although the Kentish royal house was known as
Oiscingas, from Hengist's son Oeric, surnamed Oisc (or Aesc), who is
said to have reigned alone from 488 to 512. Hengist may perhaps be identified
with the hero of this name mentioned in the epic poem Beowulf in connection
with a tribe called Eotan (probably Jutes).