The Mammoth Book of King Arthur (39 page)

However, we have to fit another sequence into this. In 410 Guthelinus had appealed to Aldroenus, whom he describes as the fourth ruler in line from Cynan who had been granted territory in
Armorica by Magnus Maximus in 383. The four kings would be Cynan, Gadeon, Saloman, and then Aldroenus. Do we know enough about these semi-legendary rulers to date their reigns? The brothers Cynan
and Gadeon, sons of Eudaf, may have ruled
together, and would have been in their sixties and possibly older by the early 400s. Although Alain Bouchart and Bertran
d’Argentré have assigned the dates 405–412 to Saloman’s reign, these dates are highly dubious. The chronology of the various rulers of Armorica is almost impossible to
piece together, and the details in Table 3.10 should be regarded with some circumspection.

We do not know the ancestry of Saloman, but we do know that of Aldroenus, called Aldwr by the British. Aldwr and his brother Constantine (Custennin) were the sons of Cynfor ap Tudwal, a
chieftain in southern Cornwall who lived in the mid fifth century, a good generation or two adrift from Geoffrey’s timescale. Cynfor has been identified with Cunomorus, whose name is
inscribed on a stone at Castle Dore near Fowey. This Cunomorus is also associated with the Tristram legend, and is sometimes identified as King Mark. However, this Cunomorus lived later, in the
early sixth century. Although Cynfor himself is unlikely to have migrated to Brittany, it is entirely possible for Aldwr to have done so. His brother has been called Custennin
Fendigiad
(the
“Blessed”) and Custennin
Waredwr
(the “Deliverer”), and is included in the list of “The Twenty-Four Mightiest Kings”. Evidently this much-praised prince
succeeded his father as king in the West Country, but must have spread further afield, as his name is associated with the founding of Chepstow, Warwick and Worcester. He was probably contemporary
with Arthur of Badon (
see
Table 3.10
), and thus is too late to fit into Geoffrey’s timescale.

Geoffrey probably latched on to the name Constantine because of the usurper emperor who ruled from 408–411, whose son Constans was indeed murdered, by his general Gerontius. So Geoffrey
took the real history of Constantine III and transplanted it onto the Dumnonian prince Custennin, with the evil Vortigern taking on the role of the commander Gerontius.

If we cannot place much credence in Geoffrey’s Constantine and Constans, is it any more likely that Constantine was the father of Ambrosius and Uther? We have already seen the plausibility
of an Ambrosius the Elder, of whom Vortigern was afraid, and since the younger Ambrosius was, according to Geoffrey, still a baby in 428, he is clearly not the antagonist at the battle of Guoloph
in 437. Therefore, in Geoffrey’s world,
Ambrosius the Elder would be equal to Custennin/Constantine. The association of Custennin with Chepstow and Worcester is
interesting as both these towns are in the Severn Valley, in the area of Gwent and the Gewisse, and would be associated with both Ambrosius and Vortigern. Though it is almost certainly oral
tradition, it places Custennin in the right location. However, this would mean that either Custennin or his father Cynfor “wore the purple”, to tally with Gildas’s description.
Clearly Constantine III, on whom Geoffrey’s Constantine is based, did wear the purple, but Gildas would have regarded him as a usurper and a tyrant, and would not have heaped praise on him as
he did on Ambrosius and his father. So we cannot accuse Gildas of confusing the Constantines as Geoffrey did. Custennin/Constantine does not fall neatly into the pattern of the Ambrosii, and
Geoffrey’s jigsaw is simply forcing the wrong pieces together.

So far, little that Geoffrey has written holds much water, yet his date for the birth of Ambrosius, around 427/428, is ideal for the chronology that has been developing. It would make Ambrose in
his thirties and forties at the height of his glories in the 460s and 470s, and he could still, although elderly, have witnessed Badon. Unfortunately, there is nothing in the way of concrete
evidence to support Ambrosius’s birth at that date, so we remain in the realms of conjecture.

Returning to Geoffrey’s narrative – with Vortigern’s rise to power the young Ambrosius and Uther are taken to Armorica where they are welcomed by King Budicius (Budic), who
ensures that they are properly cared for and educated. Meanwhile, in Britain, Vortigern’s treachery is discovered, and he now lives in fear, knowing that Ambrosius and Uther are alive and may
yet take their revenge.

There were several rulers of Armorica called Budic, but none at this time. The earliest, the grandson of Iahann Reeth (the possible Riothamus), did not reign until around 510. The
Brut
Tysilio
, however, calls the ruler Emyr Llydaw. Emyr Llydaw, was not a name but a title – Leader of the Men of Llydaw, (a territory in northern Ergyng –
see
Chapter 8).

The Celtic
Stanzas of the Graves
credit this Emyr with a son, Beidawg Rhudd, a name that could easily be construed as Budic. The original story may have meant that Ambrosius and Uther
were kept safe in Llydaw in Ergyng, not in Armorica. This would tie in with Nennius’s claim that the young Ambrosius was found in Gwent.

Geoffrey next announces the arrival of Hengist and Horsa with a boatload of warriors. Vortigern, who is in Canterbury, agrees to meet them. Hengist explains that it is their country’s
tradition to draw lots now and again, sending the surplus population to look for new lands. So they set sail, and their gods have brought them to Britain. Vortigern is disappointed that they are
pagan, but willing to negotiate. He suggests that if Hengist and his men offer to help him fight the Picts, he will consider their request. Soon afterwards the Picts cross the Wall into the North
Country, and the Saxons join a British army to do battle. The Saxons are so powerful that the British hardly have to fight, and the Picts are soon defeated. Impressed, Vortigern grants Hengist and
his men land in Lindsey.

Hengist reminds Vortigern that there is a faction keen to make Ambrosius king, and suggests bringing reinforcements from Saxony. In return, Hengist asks for a title. Vortigern refuses, but does
grant him enough land to build a settlement. In due course Hengist builds his castle at Thanceastre (
Kaercarrei
in British). The name means Castle of the Thong, because Hengist measured out
the land by a long leather thong, cut from the hide of a bull. There are places called Thong in Kent and Thwing in North Yorkshire, but Hengist’s settlement is unlikely to be either of these.
The most likely place is Caistor near Grimsby, for which the old Saxon name was Tunne-Caistor, and which was known to be an earlier British settlement called Caeregarry. Bede refers to the town,
and notes that the town’s name came from the monk Tunna, who lived in the late seventh century. Near to Caistor is Horncastle (previously
Hornecaestre
), which could equally have been
Geoffrey’s original source. Both towns are on the edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds in the territory of Lindsey, thus supporting the idea that this was the Saxons’ first settlement, and
not Thanet in Kent. Lindsey, like Thanet, was an island in those days, cut off from the surrounding land by marshy fens. Several village names in Lindsey, such as Firsby, Freiston and Friesthorpe,
attest to early settlement by Friesians, Hengist’s kinfolk.

Geoffrey’s narrative continues, telling of the arrival of
reinforcements in Britain, including Hengist’s daughter whom he calls Renwein. The story continues as
per Nennius, with a drunken Vortigern besotted by Renwein and desiring her as a wife even though he is already married. Hengist agrees, exchanging his daughter for the territory of Thanet, allowing
for a second, more plausible settlement in Thanet.

Geoffrey now recounts the visit of Germanus and Lupus to Britain (
vi.13
). We know this to have happened in 429, and it seems scarcely credible that all that Geoffrey has recounted since
Vortigern seized the throne could have happened in one year. Geoffrey gives no clue as to a time span, but the implication is that Ambrosius is old enough to have become a threat, and that we must
have moved on perhaps twenty to twenty-five years, taking us to 448–453. Interestingly, this is the period often attributed to Germanus’s second visit to Britain, although, as we
established earlier, 436 is a more likely date. This passage appears in the
Brut Tysilio
as an interpolation, which suggests its compiler did not know where to place it and just guessed, so
that if Geoffrey was drawing upon
Tysilio
he perpetuated the error.

Geoffrey’s narrative follows closely the story in Nennius. Under the spell of Renwein, Vortigern gives in to Hengist’s demands, and Hengist is allowed to bring in further
reinforcements, including his sons Octa and Ebissa, and a man called Cherdic (spelled Chledric in
Tysilio
). This sounds suspiciously like Cerdic, and it is strange that Geoffrey, Tysilio and
Nennius all mention him, as he does not reappear. Later, when referring to Cerdic of Wessex, Geoffrey calls him Cheldric. It is as if Cherdic had been introduced for a future story and then
forgotten about, so that when Geoffrey picks up the thread again the name has changed. It is rather too late for him to be the same Ceretic as Hengist’s interpreter, since Hengist seems to
have coped well enough without him for the last decade or more. The
Tysilio
refers to Octa and Ebissa as Octa (or Offa), Hengist’s son, and his uncle Ossa.
Ossa
may be a
confusion for Horsa, although Ossa (or
Oisc/Aesc
) was also the name of Octa’s son. It is also worth noting that the Offa who was the ancestor of the East Anglian kings was a
contemporary of Octa (
see
Table 3.11
), and, since the area around Lindsey was where Octa first settled, they could well have been related.

The growing Saxon forces unsettle the British and Vortigern’s son Vortimer rebels. Commanding the British, he succeeds in defeating the Saxons and driving them back
to the coast. Geoffrey notes the same battles as listed by Nennius, on the River Derwent, at Episford and on the sea-coast, from where they took refuge on Thanet.

The Saxons eventually sail away, but leave their women and children behind. Renwein, a folkloristic image of the evil stepmother, poisons Vortimer. Vortigern is restored to the throne, and
Hengist returns to Britain, now supported by 300,000 troops. Although this figure is an obvious exaggeration, it is probably indicative of an overwhelming force. Vortigern convinces his fellow
earls and counts to join him in a celebration of peace with the Saxons. What follows is the account of the “Night of the Long Knives”, in which Hengist’s men treacherously slay
the British nobility (a figure is given later of 480 leaders [
viii.
5]). Only one man apart from Vortigern survives – Eldol (or Eidiol), Count of Gloucester, who, armed only with a
stake, kills seventy men and escapes to tell the tale.

This section gives us two options. On the one hand, we can presume that Hengist arrived soon after Vortigern’s accession, around 428/9, the date given by Nennius. The alternative is that
the first wave of Saxons was pushed back, to return in a second major
adventus
during the 440s, and that this was when Hengist arrived. For many years, this has been most historians’
standard interpretation. To resolve these two theories, we need to know more about Hengist.

4. Hengist

The name Hengist appears in both the epic poem
Beowulf
and the related fragment,
The Fight at Finnesburg.
In both tales Hengist is a prince of northern Frisia,
driven into exile by interdynastic rivalries, who joins an army of Half-Danes, a mercenary warband led by Hnaef. While visiting Finn, king of the East Frisians, at Finnesburg, Hnaef is killed when
a fight breaks out. The rest of the
Finnesburg
poem is lost, but an aside in
Beowulf
tells us more. After Hnaef’s death Hengist became leader of the Half-Danes. They were forced
to winter at Finnesburg, but the following
spring, fighting resumed. This time, Hengist’s men were victorious and Finn was killed. We do not know for certain that
Geoffrey’s Hengist and the Hengist of
Beowulf
are the same, but the respective descriptions of him as “banished” and an “exile” are suggestive, and it seems
somewhat beyond coincidence that there would be two princes called Hengist exiled from Frisia at the same time.

Of course, this assumes that we are speaking of a real individual recorded in contemporary documents. Since we know no more about when any of these documents was composed, other than that it
would have been at least three centuries later, then Hengist could simply have been a standardized hero dropped into any story as a recognizable character. The main argument against this is that
Hengist is not central to
Beowulf
, but is mentioned as an aside, giving the story the feeling of authenticity. The legend of Hengist was so well known that it is almost certainly based on
fact, and there is no reason to presume that the tales relate to more than one individual.

Unfortunately, neither
Beowulf
nor the
Finnesburg
fragment provides a date for these events, and testing the chronology of the genealogies also causes a dilemma. Hengist is
regarded as the ancestor of the kings not only of Kent, but also of Swabia through another son, Harthwig (or Hartwake). Dates for the Swabian rulers are as uncertain as for the early Kentish kings,
but a later king of Swabia, Bertold, is assigned the dates 568–633 with some degree of certainty. He was fifth in descent from Hengist, and allowing the usual average of 25–30 years per
generation gives a mid-life date for Hengist of about 460.

We can compare this to the ancestors of the Icelingas, the tribe of Angles who settled in Britain under Icel. Icel’s great-great-grandfather, Wermund, and Wermund’s son Offa, are
remembered in the heroic poem
Widsith
and in the Danish history by Saxo Grammaticus. Describing conflict between the Angles and the Saxons, these two works place Wermund’s long reign
towards the end of the fourth century. This would place Icel’s mid-life at about 485. The genealogies make Icel contemporary with Hengist (
see
Table 3.11
), which would give Hengist a
prime-of-life of around 470–500, which overlaps with the previous calculation though could place him as much as a generation later.