Hengist and Vortigern

After 400 years of Roman rule, the Roman army and government withdrew from Britannia in 410 AD. We don’t know who took over the business of running the country. Some of the Roman soldiers probably stayed, having family in Britannia, even generations of family. A few Roman government officials must have stayed and kept their same positions for love of the country they had come to think of as their own. 

There is one leader whose name has been passed down to us. Vortigern came to power around AD 445. Not only was he the ruler of Kent but a mighty landowner whose influence extended over all of Southeast England. Most historians believe Vortigern is but a title meaning Over Lord. In one text his name is listed as Vitalinus but most historians disagree with this and consider his actual name unknown, lost in the mist of time.

With the Roman army gone, Scots raided by sea from Ireland and Picts raided by land and sea from Scotland (known as Caledonia). Vowing to end these attacks, Vortigern hired the fiercest fighters known, Saxon Mercenaries. He recruited the best of these, two Jute brothers named Hengist and Horsa, renown for their battle prowess. The names Hengist and Horsa mean stallion and mare and so they were called due to their large physical statue and strength. In return for their service, Vortigern promised them great riches.

What Hengist needed was rich farmland and Britannia had plenty. The bit of Denmark in which the Jutes lived had gotten too crowded, they were seeking a new homeland when Vortigern hired them. At first Hengist, Horsa, and their men lived in Vortigern’s palace. After they won the first battle against the Picts, Vortigern gave the Jutes the Isle of Thanet to live on. Then Hengist told Vortigern they needed to send for more Jutemen to help protect Britannia. Vortigern agreed. 

The additional men needed more land. The Jute warlord told Vortigern they didn’t need much, just a hide of land. He agreed, thinking it would do no harm to give the Jutes a tiny piece of land the size of a bull hide. Legend goes, Hengist took the largest bull he could find, slew it, and cut it’s hide round and round into a thin strip of leather. This he stretched out and laid it on the ground in a huge circle, enclosing land large enough to build a fortress on. After the ship arrived carrying Hengist’s kinsmen, Vortigern was invited to feast with them at Thong Castle built on this skin of land not far from Lincoln.

One of the new arrivals was Hengist’s daughter Rowena. She has also been referred to as Renwein, Ronwin, and Ronixen. Depicted as a quite young, very blonde, beguiling, blue-eyed, dark-age babe. Vortigern wanted her. He asked Hengist for her hand and the Jute warlord gave his blessing but asked for all of Kent as the bride price. Vortigern agreed and married Rowena. As for giving Kent to the Jutes (known in general as Saxons) the princes of Britannia were furious. Also Hengist had three sons who were livid and ready to go to war against their father and his Jute friends.