Wecta (Wodensson) Sachsen (abt. 300 - 388)

Descendants

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Witte I (Wodensson) Sachsen was a member of aristocracy in ancient Europe. Join: Medieval Project Discuss: medieval

Although there seems to be ample evidence for the existence of this line, there is no mention of them in any works contemporary to their times and they must be seen as legendary or mythological characters.

According to various versions of the Kentish Anglo-Saxon royal genealogies (see below for details) Wecta or Wægdæg was the son of Woden. It's not clear whether these alternatives are meant to be different people or variations on the same name. They are generally accepted as name variations.^[1]

Biography

Wægdæg is also the ancestor of Aella of Deira, and his son Edwin of Northumbria^[2]

Early Sources

The Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum (The Ecclesiastical History of the English People) written by the Venerable Bede in the early eight century (completed about 731) is the earliest existing work to name the brothers Hengist and Horsa, as the first Anglo-Saxon leaders to arrive in England in about 449.

He also gives their genealogy; sons of Wihtgils, son of Witta, son of Wecta, son of Woden (filii Uictgilsi, cuius pater Uitta, cuius pater Uecta, cuius pater Uoden) ^[3]

This genealogy is followed by most other works such as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, though they increasingly add further ancestors beyond Woden.

However another genealogy thought to be written about 811-814,^[4] reverses Wihtgils and Witta, and names Wægdæg as the son of Woden; either replacing Wecta or providing an alternative name for him (hengest uitting. uitta uihtgilsing. uihtgils vegdaeging. vegdaeg uodning. uoden frealafing)^[5]

This may be based on a Norse tradition; The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson, although written in the early to mid-13th century, is probably based on earlier written or oral sources^[6] and the genealogy follows the same order.

• "Odin set up three of his sons for land-wardens. One was named Vegdeg: he was a mighty king and ruled over East Saxland; his son was Vitgils; his sons were Vitta, Heingistr's father, and Sigarr, father of Svebdeg, whom we call Svipdagr.^[7]

Later Sources

At some point they developed into Kings of the Saxons, again under a slightly different arrangement; Witte I or Vecta, King of the Saxons 300, died 350 (son of either Veldeg or Woden or Bodo); father of Witte II or Vitta, King of the Saxons 350, died 400; father of Witigislus or Wihtgisilas, King of the Saxons 400, died 434, father of Hengist.^[8]

Sources

1. ↑ Anglo-Saxon royal genealogies
2. ↑ Anglo-Saxon royal genealogies
3. ↑ Bede, Historiam Ecclesiasticam Gentis Anglorum: Liber Primus
4. ↑ Sweet, p. 167
5. ↑ Sweet, p. 171
6. ↑ Brodeur, quoting Magnússon, in Sturluson, p. xiii
7. ↑ Sturluson, p. 7
8. ↑ Anderson, p. 447, Table CCXV and p. 733, Table CCCCLXXX

• Anderson, J. (1732). Royal Genealogies: or the genealogical tables of Emperors, Kings and Princes from Adam to these times, London: James Bettenham. pp. 184 & 447. Retrieved from https://books.google.hu/books?id=yrqeY839bMwC

• Anglo-Saxon royal genealogies. (2015, November 13). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2 January 2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Anglo-Saxon_royal_genealogies&oldid=690451745

• Bede., Historiam Ecclesiasticam Gentis Anglorum: Liber Primus. Retrieved from http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/bede/bede1.shtml

• Sturluson, S. The Prose Edda, trans from the Icelandic by A.G. Brodeur; vol. 5 of Scandinavian Classics; New York: The American-Scandinavian Foundation, 1916. Retrieved from https://archive.org/details/proseedda01brodgoog

• Sweet, H. (ed.). (1885). The oldest English texts, London: N. Trübner. Retrieved from https://archive.org/details/oldestenglishte01churgoog