Hengest

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hengest (or Hengist ) is a legendary figure of the 5th century AD who appears in two independent sources: once as the leader of the Anglo-Saxon invasion of (south-east) Britain and founder of the Kingdom of Kent , the other time in the " Finnsage “As a follower of the Danish king Hnæf . Although Hengest appears in two completely different contexts, there could be a connection between the two, ie the Hengest of the "Finnsage" with the Germanic invader Hengest be identical.

In modern research, however, like his alleged brother Horsa, he is not regarded as a historical person, but as a construct of later tradition.

Hengest as an Anglo-Saxon conqueror

According to early medieval sources ( Beda Venerabilis , Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , Nennius ), Hengest began the Anglo-Saxon conquest of (initially south-east) England together with his brother Horsa .

Gildas

Gildas , who wrote about 100 years after the events in the middle of the 6th century, was the first author to mention the Germanic conquest of south-east Great Britain. According to this writer, a "proud tyrant" who ruled in what would later become southern England invited together with the heads of the Romanized cities on the island "Saxon" mercenaries ( foederati ) to protect it from looters from today's Scotland after most of the Roman soldiers had withdrawn. According to Gildas, the Saxons followed the call, landed in Britain with three warships, signed a treaty with the British, settled in the southeast of the island and were joined by them from their homeland. But after a while they complained about insufficient food supply, mutinied and turned against Vortigern, devastating large areas of land. The names of the Germanic leaders are not given in this brief note from the Gildas, nor is an absolute chronology. Based on Gallic chronicles, it is believed that the uprising of the Saxon mercenaries began around 440.

Beda Venerabilis

The church historian Beda Venerabilis , who wrote around 731, mentions the alleged name of the tyrant - Vortigern - and the figure of Hengest and his brother Horsa as the earliest historical source, but otherwise essentially follows Gildas. Even after his account, Vortigern called the Saxons to help against the incursions of Nordic tribes ( Picts, etc.). Beda does not date the landing of Hengest and Horsa in England until the year 449. Like Gildas, Beda now tells that the Teutons were allocated a piece of land in the south-east of the island and initially successfully fought against invaders from the north, but more and more of their tribal comrades (from the Germanic peoples of the Jutes , Angles and Saxony ), then finally rose against the allied British and devastated Vortigern's empire. The following notes are new to Beda, namely that Horsa fell in one of the battles against the British and that a grave monument was built for him later in the east of Kent (probably near Aylesford ). The genealogy that Beda gives for Hengest and Horsa makes them sons of an otherwise unknown Wihtgils and descendants of Woden ( Wotan ?). According to a later note by Beda, Hengest's son was Oeric , nicknamed Oisc; after him the kings of Kent called themselves Oiscingas. The Æsc mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle can be identified with Oeric-Oisc.

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (written in the 9th century), which is partly dependent on Beda and progresses in annual entries , is the next important source for Hengest, but already provides more details. First, as with Beda, it is said that Wyrtgeorn (= Vortigern) called in 447 Hengest and Horsa against the Picts for help. In Ypwinesfleot (probably today's Ebbsfleet on the island of Thanet in Kent) the brothers went ashore, initially provided military support to the British against their hostile tribes as agreed, but then fought against the arrival of numerous other compatriots in four battles indicated with the year and place Vortigern, around 455 near Agælesþrep (probably today's Aylesford); in this battle Horsa fell. Now Hengest and his son Æsc (= Oeric) became rulers of the Saxons, first fought victoriously against the British in 457 at Crecganford (now Crayford in the London Borough of Bexley ) - who had to retreat from Kent to London after losing 4,000 men - then 465 also victorious in Wippedes Fleot (location unknown). In this latter battle twelve British chiefs, but only one Saxon chief, the Thane Wipped, were killed. After Hengest and his son had won a fight against the British at an undisclosed location in 473, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records for the year 488 that Æsc now became King of Kent, so Hengest must have died that year.

Historia Brittonum

Allegedly by Nennius wrote History Of The Britons (9th century), which places Gildas used matches the subject Hengest in the essential core points with Bede and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, but also brings many new, undoubtedly legendary details. Instead of the year 449, the Historia Brittonum puts the landing of the brothers Hengest and Horsa in England - here referred to as exiles from their homeland - in 447 and extends their family tree to even earlier ancestors, so that they are descendants of a (revered by the Teutons) Become god. The island of Thanet is given as the place that the newcomers were assigned by Guorthigern (= Vortigern) as a settlement area. As with the earlier representations, according to Nennius, Hengest brought reinforcements from his homeland to fight the northern English peoples, albeit so many that the British could no longer deliver the promised clothes and food.

As a new element, Hengest not only had his son (here called Ohta), but also his beautiful daughter (first named Rowena by the English historian Geoffrey von Monmouth ) come to England, seduced the Vortigern and made the Saxons docile should. In fact, Vortigern fell in love with Hengest's daughter and received her in exchange for Kent's cession to the Saxons. Vortigern later had to flee his empire, and his son Guorthemir (who first appeared at Nennius) (= Vortimer at Geoffrey von Monmouth) took the lead in the first British battles against the Germanic invaders. In contrast to his negatively drawn father, Vortimer is described as an idealistic and pious leader of the British defensive struggle, who fought several times successfully against Hengest, whose brother Horsa fell in one of these battles. Finally, the Saxons left England, but returned after the death of Vortigern soon afterwards, trusting their good relationship with Vortigern.

Although the Saxons could now live unchallenged in Kent, as Vortigern was very fond of Hengest's daughter, the latter had 300 British nobles and military leaders murdered at a banquet on the occasion of the (alleged) reaffirmation of the peace and blackmailed Vortigern, who was the only one spared, that he should ceded some provinces ( Essex , Sussex , Middlesex ) for his release . After Hengest's death, according to Nennius, his son Ohta followed him ; instead, as already mentioned, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle allows Æsc (= Oeric in Beda) to follow Hengest.

Later authors

Later authors depend mainly on the primary sources mentioned above. At the beginning of the tradition, which embellished the dry reports of the early chroniclers with many imaginative additions, is Geoffrey von Monmouth , who in his “ Historia Regum Britanniae ” (1139) essentially follows the account of Nennius on the invasion of Britain, but expands it like a novel , also incorporates new aspects and portrays Hengest as negatively as Nennius, while both authors portray the native British in a positive light. Since Geoffrey's work was most widespread in the late Middle Ages and was considered historically reliable, Hengest was accordingly characterized in most depictions as a cunning pagan. The view of the Frisians (since the end of the 16th century), who saw him as the ideal warlord and “free Frisians”, was completely different. It was only in the play "Hengist, King of Kent, or the Mayor of Quinborough" by Thomas Middleton (1620), that Hengest was again stylized as the national hero of the British.

Hengest as Finn's opponent

The only two sources that Hengest name as the opponent of the Friesian King Finn are two old English poems, the so-called Finnsburg fragment and the Finn episode in Beowulf (verse 1068-1159). Due to the fragmentary information, the North Sea legend behind it can only be partially reconstructed - partly through comparative research into legends. Therefore, the sketch of the plot given here is greatly simplified and controversial on many points:

The Frisian king Finn was married to Hildeburh, the sister of the Danish king Hnæf; the couple had a young son, whose name is not given, but who, according to genealogy lists of old English rulers, was apparently Friþuwulf (or Fredulf). At the invitation of Finn, his brother-in-law sailed to Friesland with 60 faithful, including Hengest, and moved into a hall called Finnsburuh that night.

This is where the 48-line Finnsburg fragment begins, according to which Hnæf and his people saw the approaching Frisians in the pale moonlight and defended themselves so bravely that they were able to repel the attacks in five days without losses, while the Frisians were dead.

In the now reconstructed intermediate piece, the Danish King Hnæf had to lose his life and Hengest took his place as the leader of the surviving Danes. Finn and Hildeburh's son fell on the Frisian side.

After the Finn episode in Beowulf, which, however, requires the audience to be familiar with the plot, Finn was unable to defeat the remaining Danes, and both warring parties eventually swore a peace treaty that made the surviving Danes followers of Finn. At the cremation of the fallen, Hildeburh wept for her brother Hnæf and her son. After the Danes had overwintered in Friesland, they were able to sail the sea again in the spring, and the Hengest, who was looking for revenge, received reinforcements from his homeland with which he attacked and killed Finn. Then he traveled back to Denmark with numerous treasures and Hildeburh .

This is where the line of tradition about the Danish hengest breaks off.

While the more heroic Finnsburg fragment mainly emphasizes the combative achievements of the war heroes, the more sentimental Finn episode in Beowulf focuses more on the lots by Hengest and Hildeburgh. On the one hand, as the wife of the Friesian king, on the other hand, as the sister of the Danish king, she is related to both conflicting parties and has to endure the death of her son, brother and husband; So she suffers a sad fate because of the tribal feuds and the oath of the followers of Hnæf to avenge his murder. Hengest, on the other hand, has to break his obligations to Hnæf when he lets himself be employed by his murderer. In order to wash himself away from this flaw, he again violates the oath of loyalty to Finn, who is now his new henchman. This conflict of conscience, which Hengest is exposed to due to contradicting duties of loyalty, is only hinted at in the Finn episode.

Identity of the Hengeste of the two traditions?

The majority of today's researchers assume that the Hengest portrayed as the companion of Hnæf and the Hengest portrayed as the leader of the Germanic tribes invading Britain were one and the same person. The two independent traditions (Finnsburg fragment and Finn episode on the one hand, Bede and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle on the other) do not provide any evidence for this identification, which only occurs in a very late source (a "Brut" version). The Hengest appearing as a follower of Hnæf does not necessarily have to have been a Dane, despite his leading role. B. Sigeferð as a nobleman from the Secgan tribe was a non-Danish warrior of the Hnæf. On the other hand, no clear assignment to a tribe can be made for the Anglo-Saxon conqueror Hengest. According to Bede, he was most likely a Jute, as this tribe, according to Bede, settled in Kent. Previously, Hengest could well have served as a Jutian mercenary with Hnæf.

If one assumes the identity of the Hengeste of the two lines of tradition, the combination of these gives the following biography of the Hengest: As a young man, he accompanied the Danish king Hnæf to the court of the Friesian king Finn, in whose service he worked after the attack by the Frisians and the murder kicked his master to survive with the remaining Danes. But later he murdered Finn to avenge the slain Hnæf and returned to Denmark. Some time afterwards he led the Germanic invasion of Britain with his brother Horsa, conquered Kent, died in 488 and was followed by his son Oeric, from whom the ruling family of the Oiscingas descended.

Question of historicity

In general, the question arises whether Hengest and Horsa were historical persons or just constructs from later tradition. A part of the older, but also large parts of the more recent research denies the brothers their historicity and instead sees them as an English version of the Indo-European Dioskur saga . As a rule, the legend of origin ( Origo gentis ) is regarded as a typical topical element that can also be found in several other gentes of the migration period . According to recent research, this should also apply to Hengest and Horsa, whose “story” is a later construction.

It has also been theorized that they were mythical founders of the Kingdom of Kent and that they originally represented horse deities because of their names, which mean “stallion” and “horse” (see also horse heads (gable decoration) stallion and hors). Other considerations were that they were legendary divine twins, similar to Romulus and Remus , or that Hengest was an honorific name of a warlord at the time, while Horsa was a later addition, perhaps due to a reading error on a marginal note in a manuscript that just meant that Hengest just horse means horse.

At least the report by Gildas, who wrote about a century later, about the Germanic immigration in England should on the whole be credible, as archaeological finds also point to the presence of Germanic mercenaries in southern England in the 5th century, and it was quite a practice on the European continent late Roman general (e.g. Flavius ​​Aëtius ) to recruit “barbarians” for payment to defend the borders. However, since Gildas does not name any names, nothing can be derived from his report about the historicity of Hengist and Horsa.

On the whole, it seems more likely that Hengest and Horsa were more mythical people from later tradition than historically real personalities.

Reminiscences

Coat of arms of the city of Bünde

The East Westphalian city ​​of Bünde shows two knights shaking hands in its city arms. According to legend, it is about Hengist and Horsa , who made a covenant for the conquest of Britain in what is now the urban area. Today there is also the Hengistweg and the Horsastraße in Bünde .

The street name Horsatal in Wenningstedt-Braderup on the North Frisian island of Sylt also refers to Hengist and Horsa. According to legend, in 449 Hengist and Horsa left the port of old Wennigstedt with an army for Britain.

In the British comedy Ist ja crazy - Caesar loves Cleopatra (original title: Carry on Cleo ) from 1964, the friends Hengest (or Hengist) and Horsa are involuntary heroes who fight together against the Romans.

Monuments

A memorial plaque for him was placed in the Walhalla near Regensburg .

swell

literature

  • Thomas Honegger: Hengest and Finn, Horsa. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde . Volume 14: Harp and Lyre - Hludana Hloðyn. 2nd, completely revised and greatly expanded edition. de Gruyter, Berlin et al. 1999, ISBN 3-11-016423-X , pp. 386-391.
  • Rene Pfeilschifter : Hengist, Horsa and Anglo-Saxon Britain. In: Mischa Meier (Ed.): They created Europe. Historical portraits from Constantine to Charlemagne. CH Beck, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-406-55500-8 , pp. 111-123.
  • David E. Thornton: Vortigern. In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Volume 56: Usk - Wallich. Oxford University Press, Oxford et al. 2004, ISBN 0-19-861406-3 , pp. 598 f.
  • Barbara Yorke : Kent, Kings of. In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Volume 31: Kebell - Knowlys. Oxford University Press, Oxford et al. 2004, ISBN 0-19-861381-4 , p. 315 f.

Remarks

  1. ^ Gildas, De excidio Britanniae 23
  2. ↑ Beda, Historia Ecclesiastica 1, 14f.
  3. ^ Beda, Historia Ecclesiastica 2, 5
  4. ↑ Nennius, Historia Brittonum 31
  5. ↑ Nennius, Historia Brittonum 36ff.
  6. ↑ Nennius, Historia Brittonum 43f. - Nennius Episford (Old English Rithergabail) as the name of the battlefield where Horsa was killed, while the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle calls it Agælesþrep.
  7. ↑ Nennius, Historia Brittonum 45f.
  8. ↑ Historia Brittonum 56
  9. ↑ Thomas Honegger: Hengest and Finn, Horsa. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde. Volume 14 (1999), p. 389
  10. ↑ only received in a book published in 1705 by the English scholar George Hickes , who copied a now lost folio manuscript
  11. ↑ Thomas Honegger: Hengest and Finn, Horsa. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde. Volume 14 (1999), p. 386ff.
  12. ↑ Thomas Honegger: Hengest and Finn, Horsa. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde. Volume 14 (1999), pp. 389f.
  13. ↑ Thomas Honegger: Hengest and Finn, Horsa. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde. Volume 14 (1999), p. 390
  14. ↑ Thomas Honegger: Hengest and Finn, Horsa. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde. Volume 14 (1999), p. 388; 390
  15. ↑ See also Walter Pohl : Die Völkerwanderung . 2nd Edition. Stuttgart et al. 2005, pp. 90f.
  16. ↑ Barbara Yorke, Kent, Kings of. In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Volume 31, Oxford et al. 2004, p. 315.
  17. ↑ for example David E. Thornton: Vortigern. In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Volume 56, Oxford et al. 2004, p. 599; Barbara Yorke, Kent, Kings of. In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Volume 31, Oxford et al. 2004, p. 315
  18. ↑ Cf. Barbara Yorke: Kent, Kings of. In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Volume 31. Oxford et al. 2004, pp. 314f.
  19. ^ Frank Deppe: Street names on Sylt . Books on Demand GmbH, Norderstedt 2006, ISBN 3-8334-4516-5 , p. 72 .
predecessor Office successor
Horsa Kingdom of Kent
455-488 		Oeric
personal data
SURNAME Hengest
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Stallion
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Anglo-Saxon ruler in Kent
DATE OF BIRTH before 447
DATE OF DEATH at 488