" Vortigern asks what country they have come from and why they have come to his kingdom.

At Hengist's mention of Mercury, Vortigern looks " earnestly upon them " and asks them their religion.

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 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.

Vortigern falls in love with the pagan Rowena ( due to the influence of " the devil " in Vortigern's heart, according to the account ) and Vortigern asks.

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

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

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.

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

In the entry for the year 455 the Chronicle details that Hengist and Horsa fought with Vortigern at Aylesford and that Horsa died there.

The Historia Brittonum records that, during the reign of Vortigern in Britain, three vessels that had been exiled from Germania arrived in Britain, commanded by Hengist and Horsa.

" In 447 AD, Vortigern received Hengist and Horsa " as friends " and gave to the brothers the Isle of Thanet.

Vortigern allowed Hengist to send for more of Hengist's countrymen to come over to Britain and fight for Vortigern.

Hengist prepared a feast, inviting Vortigern, Vortigern's officers, and Ceretic, his translator.

" At the instigation of the Devil ", Vortigern fell in love with Hengist's daughter and promised Hengist whatever he liked in exchange for her betrothal.

Hengist told Vortigern that he would now be both Vortigern's father and adviser and that Vortigern would know no defeat with his counsel, " for the people of my country are strong, warlike, and robust.

" Hengist convened his forces and sent to Vortigern an offer of peace.

Vortigern accepted, and Hengist prepared a feast to bring together the British and Saxon leaders.

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.

" Hengist and Horsa accept Vortigern's offer, settle on an agreement, and stay with Vortigern at his court.

In chapter 11, since Vortigern now owes his victory to Hengist and Horsa, he increases the rewards he has promised to two.

Vortigern gives Hengist " large possessions of lands in Lindesia for the subsistence of himself and his fellow-soldiers.

" 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 continues that Vortigern's subjects threaten Vortigern and say that they will bring over Aurelius Ambrosius from Armorica to depose Vortigern and make Aurelius king.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry for the year 449 records that Hengest and Horsa were invited to Britain by Vortigern to assist his forces in fighting the Picts.

The story as reported in such sources as the Historia Brittonum and Gildas indicates that the British king Vortigern allowed the Germanic warlords, later named as Hengist and Horsa by Bede, to settle their people on the Isle of Thanet in exchange for their service as mercenaries.

* Vortigern, king of the Britons, receives the Saxon leaders Hengist and Horsa " as friends " and grants the brothers the Isle of Thanet, most easterly point of Kent ( England ).

* Vortigern, king of the Britons, forms an alliance with Hengist and Horsa, by tradition chieftains of the Jutes, who led the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain.

In 1949 the ' Hugin ' sailed from Denmark to Thanet to celebrate the 1500th anniversary of the traditional landing of Hengist and Horsa and the betrothal of Hengist's daughter, Rowena, to king Vortigern of Kent.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records the Battle of Aylesford taking place nearby 455, where Hengest fought Vortigern, although his brother Horsa is said to have fallen in this battle ; Alfred the Great defeated the Danes in 893 ; as did Edmund II Ironside in 1016.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle relates that around the year 449 Vortigern, King of the Britons, invited the " Angle kin " ( Angles allegedly led by the Germanic brothers Hengist and Horsa ) to help repel invading Picts.

In the 5th century, British warlord Vortigern and his two sons, Vortimer and Catigern, took part in the Battle of Elstree, then called the Battle of Ailestreu, where the Saxon Horsa was killed.

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.

The site is traditionally known as the burial site of Catigern, brother of Vortimer and son of Vortigern following a battle with the Saxon Horsa in the mid fifth century AD-listed in The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as taking place in 455 AD.

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.

According to the Historia, Vortigern allows Saxons under Hengest and Horsa to settle on the Isle of Thanet, and offers them provisions in exchange for their service as mercenaries.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the years 449-454 records the arrival of large numbers of Angles and Jutes under Hengest and Horsa, defeating the British king, Vortigern, in 455.

Many historical personas ( some already included in the Arthurian legend ) exist in the Cycle, alongside less " factual " characters: Taliesin, Magnus Maximus, Theodosius, Ambrosius Aurelianus, Vortigern, Constantine III, Myrddin Wyllt, Clovis I, Gwyddno Garanhir, Elffin ap Gwyddno, Horsa, Hengest, Cerdic, Aelle, Gildas, and Aneirin ( in the series, it is revealed that the last two are the same person ; born with the name Aneirin, he changes it to Gildas after Arthur's death ).

According to the tradition, Vortigern, who has become the high king of the Britons in the wake of the Roman withdrawal from Britain, allows Anglo-Saxons under Hengist and Horsa to settle on the Isle of Thanet.

His battle with Horsa is the subject of John Lesslie Hall's poem " The Death of Horsa ", and he appears as a minor character in William Henry Ireland's play Vortigern and Rowena, which was initially touted as a lost work by William Shakespeare.

Hengist says that, if Vortigern deems these terms acceptable, he requests that Vortigern set a time and place for them to meet.