rthography
of proper names, and owing also, perhaps, to the character of the
Northumbrian dialect of the Anglo-Saxon tongue, Bede spells the
preceding and other similar surnames with an initial V, while by most
other Anglo-Saxon chroniclers, and in most other Anglo-Saxon dialects,
the surnames are made to commence with a W. Thus, the Vilfrid,
Valchstod, Venta, etc., of Bede,[172] form the Wilfrid, Walchstod, Wenta
(Winchester), etc., of other Saxon writers. In this respect Bede adheres
so far to the classic Roman standard in the spelling of proper names.
Thus, for example, the Isle of Wight, which was written as Wecta by the
Saxons, is the Vecta and Vectis of Ptolemy and Eutropius, and the Vecta
also of Bede; and the name Venta, just now referred to as spelled so by
Bede, is also the old Roman form of spelling that word, as seen in the
_Itinerary_ of Antonine.

The _Saxon Chronicle_ gives the details of the first advent of the
Saxons under Hengist and Horsa in so nearly the same words as the
_Historia Ecclesiastica_, as to leave no doubt that this, like many
other passages in the earlier parts of the _Saxon Chronicle_, were mere
translations of the statements of Bede. But most copies of the _Saxon
Chronicle_ were written in the dialect of the West Saxons, and,
consequently, under A.D. 449, they commence the surnames in the pedigree
of our Saxon invaders with a W,--as Wightgils, Witta, Wecta, etc.;
telling us that Hengist and Horsa, "waeron Wihtgilses suna, Wihtgils
waes Witting, Witta Wecting, Wecta Wodning," etc.

Ethelwerd, an Anglo-Saxon nobleman, who himself claimed to be a
descendant of the royal stock of Woden, has left us a Latin history or
Chronicle, "nearly the whole of which is an abridged translation of the
_Saxon Chronicle_, with a few trivial alterations and additions."[173]
In retranslating back into Latin, the Anglo-Saxon names in the genealogy
of Hengist and Horsa, he makes the Wecta of the _Saxon Chronicle_ end
with an R,--a matter principally of interest because, as we have already
seen, some have supposed the corresponding name in the Cat-stane to
terminate with an R. Speaking of Hengist as leader of the Angles[174]
Ethelwerd describes his pedigree thus:--"Cujus pater fuit Wihtgels avus
Wicta; proavus WITHER, atavus Wothen," etc. In a previous page,[175] the
same author tells us that "Hengest et Horsa filii Uuyrhtelsi, avus eorum
Uuicta, et proavus eorum Uuithar, atavus eorum Uuothen, qui est rex
mu