Hengist and Horsa are attested in Bede's 8th-century Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum ; in the 9th-century Historia Brittonum, attributed to Nennius ; and in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a collection of annals compiled from the end of the 9th century.

Hengist continues that they were driven from their native country because " the laws of the kingdom require it " and details that Saxony had become overpopulated ; the tradition of their people dictates that when their lands are overstocked with people, the princes of all their provinces meet, and they order that all of the youth of the kingdom assemble before them.

* Aircraft for army co-operation and liaison and gliders were given names associated with mythological or legendary leaders ; e. g. Westland Lysander, Airspeed Horsa, General Aircraft Hamilcar, Slingsby Hengist.

According to Nennius, Gwrangon was King of Kent in the time of Vortigern, until Vortigern took away the kingdom and gave it to Hengist ; but Nennius is regarded as an untrustworthy source, and “ Gwrangon seems to have been transported by the story-teller into Kent from Gwent ” and “ is turned into an imaginary King of Kent, secretly disposed of his realm in favour of Hengist, whose daughter Vortigern wished to marry ” ( Wade-Evans 1938 ).

Other horse twins are: Greek, Dioskuri ( Polydeukes and Kastor ); borrowed into Latin as Castor and Pollux ; Irish, the twins of Macha ; Old English, Hengist and Horsa ( both words mean ' stallion '), and possibly Old Norse Sleipnir, the eight-legged horse born of Loki ; Slavic Lel and Polel ; possibly Christianized in Albanian as Sts.

The first five of the planned second batch of 15 locomotives were intended for use on BR's Southern Region ; these were allocated names Hengist, Horsa, Canute, Wildfire and Firebrand, which had all been previously used on locomotives in southern England.

Sources disagree on his relationship to the other kings in his line ; he may have been the son of Hengist or Oisc, and may have been the father of Oisc or Eormenric.

Some manuscripts of the Historia include genealogies of the Saxon kingdoms ; the genealogy of the kings of Kent names Octa as the son and successor to Hengist and the father to the subsequent king Ossa.

According to a well-known legend, Hengist and Horsa, two brothers, landed in 449 as mercenaries for a British king, Vortigern.

After a rebellion over pay and the death of Horsa in battle, Hengist established the kingdom of Kent.

According to Bede, Æthelberht was descended directly from Hengist.

The father of Oeric was Hengist.

The sequence of events of the fifth and sixth centuries is particularly difficult to access, peppered with a mixture of mythology, such as the characters of Hengist and Horsa, and legend, such as St Germanus's so-called " Alleluia Victory " against the Heathens, and half-remembered history, such as the exploits of Ambrosius Aurelianus and King Arthur.

Hengist ( or Hengest ) and Horsa ( or Hors ) are figures of Anglo-Saxon, and subsequently British, legend, which records the two as the Germanic brothers who led the Angle, Saxon, and Jutish armies that conquered the first territories of Britain in the 5th century.

Hengist, through his son ( who varies by source ), is traditionally listed as the founder of the Kingdom of Kent.

Notably, Hengist is also briefly briefly mentioned in the Prose Edda, written by Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century.

According to these sources Hengist and Horsa arrived in Britain as mercenaries serving Vortigern, King of the Britons.

Sources disagree with whether Hengist was the father or grandfather of Oisc of Kent and Octa of Kent, one of whom succeeded Hengist as king.

In the Historia Brittonum Hengist had an unnamed daughter ( her name is first given in Historia Regum Britanniae as Rowena ) who seduced Vortigern, eventually leading to the Night of the Long Knives when Hengist's men massacred the Britons at a peace accord.

While the early sources indicate that Horsa died fighting the Britons, no details are provided about Hengist's death until Geoffrey's Historia, which states that Hengist was beheaded by Eldol, the British duke of Gloucester, and buried in an unlocated mound.

In what is now Northern Germany horse head gables, or gable signs adorned with two rampant horse figures, were referred to as " Hengist and Hors " up until the late 19th century.

As a result, scholars have theorized a pan-Germanic mythological origin for Hengist and Horsa, stemming originally from divine twins found in Proto-Indo-European religion.

In older scholarship, the scholar J. R. R. Tolkien and others have argued for a historical basis for Hengist.

In his Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, Bede records that the first chieftains among the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes in England were said to be Hengist and Horsa.

According to Bede, Hengist and Horsa were the sons of Wictgils, son of Witta, son of Woden.

Later in the same work, Bede notes that Hengist was the father of Oeric, and that Oeric accompanied Hengist upon his invitation by Vortigern.

Hengist and Horsa arrived at a place called Ipwinesfleet, and went on to defeat the Picts wherever they fought them.

Hengist, having previously " consulted with the Elders who attended him of the Angle race ," demanded Kent.

However, the Saxons continued to increase in numbers, and after Hengist died his son Ochta succeeded him.

Hengist — here Geoffrey notes whose " years and wisdom entitled him to precedence "— responds for the company, stating that they have come from their homeland of Saxony, and that they had come to offer their services to Vortigern or some other prince.

Vortigern asks Hengist and Horsa if they will help him in his wars, and offers them land and " other possessions.

" Geoffrey refers to Hengist as a " man of experience and subtilty ," and records that Hengist told Vortigern that Vortigern's enemies assail him from every quarter, and that few of Vortigern's subjects love him.

Hengist asks Vortigen to allow him to send word to Saxony to bring over more soldiers so that the Saxon forces will be better able to oppose the call to depose Vortigern.

Hengist bows low in thanks, and tells Vortigern that, while Vortigern has provided him with much land, he wishes Vortigern would make of him a consul or a prince, as Hengist notes Hengist's royal heritage dictates.

Hengist asks Vortigern to give him only enough land that Hengist can encircle with a leather thong, so that Hengist may build a fortress upon it — in case a future retreat may require it.

Hengist reassures Vortigern that Hengist will always be faithful to him.

Rowena sends messengers to her father Hengist to alert him of the plight of the Britons.

While consulting with the Britons, who would not be suspicious, Hengist would give out the command " Nemet oure Saxas ," and, at that moment, every soldier must be ready to seize the Briton closest to him and, with their drawn dagger, stab him.

Hengist tells these chosen men not to be afraid of Aurelius, for Aurelius must only have had a few Armorican Britons, as their numbers did not exceed ten thousand, and the native Britons he did not mention, " since they had been so often defeated by him.

He may have been the " superbus tyrannus " said to have invited Hengist and Horsa to aid him in fighting the Picts and the Scots.

After the Romans leave, Vortigern comes to power, and invites the Saxons under Hengist and Horsa to fight for him as mercenaries, but they rise against him, and Britain remains in a state of war under Aurelius Ambrosius and his brother Uther Pendragon, assisted by the wizard Merlin.