Editing Hengist and Horsa (section)

==Modern influence==
[[File:Stadtwappen der Stadt Bünde.svg|thumb|Coat of arms of [[Bünde]], Germany, depicting Hengist and Horsa]]
Hengist and Horsa have appeared in a variety of media in the modern period. Written between 1616 and 1620, [[Thomas Middleton]]'s play ''[[Hengist, King of Kent]]'' features portrayals of both Hengist and Horsa (as ''Hersus'').<ref name=TAYLORLAVAGNINO1448>Taylor. Lavagnino (2007:1148).</ref> On 6 July 1776, the first committee for the production of the [[Great Seal of the United States]] convened. One of three members of the committee, [[Thomas Jefferson]], proposed that one side of the seal feature Hengist and Horsa, "the Saxon chiefs from whom we claim the honor of being descended, and whose political principles and form of government we assumed".<ref name="MERILL98">Peterson (1970:98).</ref>

"Hengist and Horsus" appear as antagonists in the play ''[[Vortigern and Rowena]]'', which was touted as a newly discovered work by [[William Shakespeare]] in 1796, but was soon revealed as a hoax by [[William Henry Ireland]].<ref name="CamelotProject">{{cite web |url= http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/ireland.htm|title= Vortigern |work= The Camelot Project|publisher= University of Rochester|access-date=September 16, 2009}}</ref> The pair have plaques in the [[Walhalla Temple]] at [[Regensburg]], [[Bavaria]], which honours distinguished figures of German history.<ref name=EVERILL12>Everill (1845:12).</ref>

During [[World War II]], two British [[military glider]]s took their names from the brothers: the [[Slingsby Hengist]]<ref name=NIGL19>Nigl (2007:19).</ref> and the [[Airspeed Horsa]].<ref name=FREDERIKSEN14>Frédriksen (2001:14).</ref> The 20th-century American poet [[Robinson Jeffers]] composed a poem titled ''Ode to Hengist and Horsa''.<ref name=HUNT423>Hunt (1991:423).</ref> Likewise, [[Jorge Luis Borges]]'s poem ''Hengist Quiere Hombres (449 A.D.)'' was published in translation in ''[[The New Yorker]]'' in 1977.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Borges |first=Jorge Luis |date=1977-06-20 |title=Hengist Wants Men (449 A.D.) |url=https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1977-06-20/flipbook/034/ |magazine=The New Yorker |location=New York, NY |publisher=Condé Nast |access-date=2022-12-01 |translator-last=Reid |translator-first=Alastair |translator-link=Alastair Reid (poet)}}</ref>

In 1949, [[Prince Georg of Denmark]] came to [[Pegwell Bay]] in Kent to dedicate the longship ''[[Hugin (longship)|Hugin]]'', commemorating the landing of Hengest and Horsa at nearby Ebbsfleet 1500 years earlier in 449 AD.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WME8QE_Beginning_of_English_History_Commemoration_Stone_Pegwell_Bay_Kent_UK | title = Beginning of English History" Commemoration Stone - Pegwell Bay, Kent, UK - UK Historical Markers on Waymarking.com | access-date = 2013-10-26}}</ref>

Though Hengist and Horsa are not referenced in the medieval tales of [[King Arthur]], some modern Arthurian tales do link them. For example, in [[Mary Stewart (novelist)|Mary Stewart]]'s ''[[Merlin Trilogy]]'', Hengist and Horsa are executed by Ambrosius; Hengist is given full Saxon funeral honours, cremated with his weapons on a pyre. In [[Alfred Duggan]]'s ''[[Conscience of the King]]'', Hengist plays a major role in the early career of [[Cerdic of Wessex|Cerdic Elesing]], legendary founder of the kingdom of Wessex.

Part of the [[A299 road]] on the Isle of Thanet is named Hengist Way.<ref>OpenStreetMap https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=16/51.3410/1.3366</ref>