Vortigern
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a British prince who flourished in the 5th century. According to Gildas, Bede, Ethelwerd, and the "Old English Chronicle," he invited Hengist and Horsa to assist him against his enemies the Picts and Scots. Nennius, on the other hand, represents the German chiefs as exiles who went to the island unasked. Whichever form of the story be true, it seems certain that after a short time the newcomers, re-enforced by fresh bands of their countrymen, countrymen, turned against Vortigern and wrested from him the Kentish territ territory. Nennius is the first to bring "the beautiful daughter of Hengist" on the scene. He does not, however, name her. This is first done by Geoffrey of Monmouth (12th century), who in the main follows and expands the version of Nennius. Geoffrey calls her Rowena, or, according to some MSS., Ronwen and Ronwenna; and he is the first to tell the familiar legend of the lady making a low curtsy to Vortigern and saying, as she offered him a cup of wine, "Lauerd King, wacht heil," and how the "devil" made him so enamored of the lovely pagan that he married her that same night. There is something like una ananimity in the ers regarding yo chroniclers regarding Vortigern's character. He was at once tyrannical and lascivious; and monkish indignation (as expressed in the legend of St. Germanus) affirms that he was finally destroyed by fire from heaven. It is to be presumed that Vortigern came to a violent end in conflict with the heathen adventurers who had established themselves in his dominions.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Collier's in 1921 could still treat Vortigern as a datable British prince who made a policy decision, weighing Bede's account against Nennius's. Modern historians are far more cautious: Gildas, writing closest to the events, refers only to a "proud tyrant" (the name appears in some manuscript traditions), the Historia Brittonum of about 829 is now treated as an anonymous compilation rather than the work of a single "Nennius", and the word Vortigern itself looks like a Brittonic title meaning something like "overlord" or "great chief" rather than a personal name. The invitation to Hengist and Horsa is now generally read as origin-legend rather than event, with archaeology pointing to Germanic settlement in eastern Britain spreading over decades in the fifth century; genetic studies published in the 2020s found substantial continental North Sea ancestry in early medieval eastern England, confirming real migration without rescuing the story of a single fateful summons. Rowena remains what Collier's already saw her to be: Geoffrey of Monmouth's twelfth-century invention, complete with the wassail toast.
Written for this edition, 2026.