MOUNT BADON = ST. GERMANUS' ALLELUIA BATTLE?

Liddington Castle/Badbury

I've always had a problem with my identification of the Second Badon of Badon site with that of Liddington Castle.  For the argument underlying this identification, please see the following link:

https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-second-battle-of-badon.html

The "problem" has always been the etymology of the Badon place-name.  Later Welsh spelling - and, indeed, that of Gildas and his successors - points to a 'Bath' site.  But such a spelling might be a later development.  If I'm right and the reading of the Welsh Annal for the Second Battle of Badon really does indicate Liddington/Badbury, then we must seriously consider this alternative.  This is especially true given the early date for the Annal entry.

But there is one other piece of the puzzle that I've long held back.  Why my reluctance to post this?  Because it ruins a lot of Arthurian theory, running directly counter to some preconceptions we researchers all readily accept.

It has long been recognized that between the time of Ambrosius Aurelianus and Badon there would seem to be only one major British victory recorded in our extant sources.  This is the one belonging to St. Germanus.  Now, I'm certain A.A. belongs to the 4th century, although I've been willing to actually place him in Britain only recently (see https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2020/05/why-ambrosius-aurelianus-was-put-in.html). Such an early date for A.A. immediately made me wonder whether we are wrong also about the conventional range of dates for Badon.

If we look at the first VITA for St. Gildas, written by a monk of Rhuys in Brittany, we note that Gildas is said to have come to Armorica when he was 30.  The date provided for this advent is the reign of the Frankish king Childericus son of Meroveus.  Now Childericus reigned c. 457-481. If we subtract 30 years from both dates, we arrive at a spread of 427-451 for Gildas's birth date - the moment the Badon battle was supposed to have taken place.  This time span contains the visits of St. Germanus to Britain.

I had written about the famous Alleluia Battle of Germanus in the past, but was unhappy with my results.  That is, until I realize I had missed something critical.  The following selection is from an excellent recent paper on Germanus by Professor Nicholas Higham:

https://www.academia.edu/6943989/Constantius_St_Germanus_and_fifth-century_Britain

 What follows in the last two chapters of the vita that deal with the first

visit to Britain (XVII, XVIII) is Constantius’s account of the ‘Alleluia

Victory’. This is the one place in this work where Constantius sought to

develop Germanus as the physical protector of his flock, as well as their

spiritual and diplomatic champion. In preparation, he is seen baptizing

the soldiers in camp at Easter. Whether the Britons were pagan or heretics

in unclear, but their baptism by a Catholic bishop claimed the subsequent

victory for the Catholic church and positioned Germanus as God’s

champion in ways familiar from the Old Testament. The nature of the

enemy force interested Constantius very little; joint action by Saxons and

Picts seems unlikely. He later (in XVIII) referred to the Saxons alone,

implying that all that really mattered to him was that they were pagan

barbarians. The core of the account, in XVIII, then reads as follows:

"And now the fierce multitude of the enemy approached, that they

looked to draw into the ambushes they had prepared, when suddenly

Germanus reminded and instructed [them] of the universal sign, that

they should respond with one voice with a war-cry [clamor] and with

a confident enemy still sure that their arrival was unexpected the

bishops three times chanted the Alleluia. All followed with one voice

and the exalted war-cry [clamor] rang through the air and multiplied, 

shut in the mountains. The enemy army was struck down by terror,

thinking not only that the surrounding rocks were falling down on

them but even the sky itself, and the belief spread, in fear, that

swiftness of foot could scarcely save them. They fled in all directions,

threw down their arms, glad to save only their bare bodies.Many were

even devoured in their panic by the precipitous river which they had

crossed in good order on their approach."

Why have I emphasized the Latin word 'clamor' used in this account?  Because it is the meaning of the Old English word(s) underlying the place-name Liddington, the other name of the Badbury hill-fort. 

Liddington W [at Lidentune 940 BCS 754 Ledentone DB, Ludinton 1242 Fees]. 'TUN on R Hlyde.' Cf. LYD. OE Hlyde, a river-name derived from hlud 'loud' and meaning 'roaring stream, torrent'.  - E. Ekwall

Here are the relevant listings for the OE words from Bosworth and Toller's dictionary:

HLÚD; adj. LOUD, sonorous :-- Heora stefn wæs swíðe hlúd their voice was very loud, Blickl. Homl. 149, 27: Cd. 148; Th. 184, 14; Exod. 107. Hlimman hlúdes wæteres torrentem, Ps. Th. 123, 4. Hlúdre stefne with a loud voice, Blickl. Homl. 181, 18. Hlúddre stefne, 15, 19: Cd. 227; Th. 302, 18. Hlúdan stefne. Andr. Kmbl. 2720; An. 1362. Hlúde wæ-acute;ran hý ðá hý ofer ðone hlæ-acute;w ridan loud were they when they rode over the hill, Lchdm. iii. 52, 13. Francan wæ-acute;ron hlúde loud was the sound of the javelins, Cd. 93; Th. 119, 20; Gen. 1982. Hlúddra sang chorea, Ælfc. Gl. 34; Som. 62, 47; Wrt. Voc. 28, 28. Ðæt ár ðonne hit mon slihþ hit biþ hlúdre ðonne æ-acute;nig oðer ondweorc aes dum percutitur amplius metallis celeris sonitum reddit, Past. 37, 3; Swt. 267, 24. Hlúdast, Menol. Fox 467; Gn. C. 4. [O. Sax. O. Frs. hlúd: O. H. Ger. hlút: Ger. laut.]

ge-hlýd, -hlýde, es; n. A cry, clamour, noise, tumult, murmuring; cl&a-long;mor, tumultus, murmur :-- Mycel gehlýd wæs on ðære menigeo be him murmur multum &e-short;rat in turbo de eo, Jn. Bos. 7, 12 : Mt. Bos. 27, 24 : Homl. Th. ii. 336, 18. Gehlýde mín to ðé becume cl&a-long;mor meus ad te perv&e-short;niat, Ps. Th. 101, 1. He geseah mycel gehlýd v&i-short;det tumultum multum, Mk. Bos. 5, 38 : Bd. 5, 12; S. 628, 30 : Homl. Th. ii. 252, 17 : 546, 16 : Basil admn. 2; Norm. 34, 15. Mid ánþræcum gehlýde with a horrible clamour, Homl. Th. ii. 508, 17.

hlúd-ness e; f. Loudness, clamour Clamor on Englisc ys hlúdnys, Angl. viii., 332, 3. [O. H. Ger. hlút-nussi clangor.]

hlýdan; p. de To sound, make a loud noise, to clamour, vociferate :-- Ic hlýde strepo, Ælfc. Gr. 28; Som. 30, 63. Ic hlýde garrulo, 36; Som. 38, 29. Se tympano biþ geworht of drygum felle and ðæt fell hlýt ðonne hit mon sliehþ in tympano sicca et percussa pellis resonat, Past. 46, 2; Swt. 347, 5. Ðíne fýnd hlýdaþ inimici lui sonaverunt, Jud. 5; Thw. 156, 1: Exon. 20 b; Th. 55, 14; Cri. 883. Se uncer hláford hlýdde ðæ-acute;r úte that master of ours was vociferating without, Shrn. 43, 14. Hlóh and hlýdde he laughed and clamoured, Judth. 10; Thw. 21, 18; Jud. 23. Ðá hlýddon hig and cwæ-acute;don at illi invaliscebant dicentes, Lk. Skt. 23, 5. Ða hé geseah hwistleras and hlýdende menigeo cum vidisset tibicines et turbam tumultuantem, Mt. Kmbl. 9, 23. Hlýdende clamando, Past. 15, 2; Swt. 91, 22, 23. Hlýdende swíðust innan sounding chiefly from within, L. M. 2, 46; Lchdm. ii. 258, 19. Se ðe wylle drincan and dwæslíce hlýdan drince him æt hám ná on Drihtnes húse he who wants to drink and make a foolish noise let him drink at home, not in the Lord's house, L. Ælfc. C. 35; Th. ii. 357, 40. Hét hí mid handum sleán on ðæt hleór ðæt heó hlýdan ne sceolde he bade strike her with their hands on the face that she should not declaim, Homl. Swt. 8, 70. [O. Sax. a-hlúdian: O. H. Ger. hlútian sonare, clamare, concrepare: Ger. lauten.]

Note the presence of the river in the account of the Germanus battle.

Could it be that Badon and the Alleluia Battle are one and the same?

If so, the Arthur date of c. 516 for Badon would have to be abandoned, and his being attached to the place ascribed to later legend-building.  This would also mean that my claim for Ambrosius Aurelianus as a 4th century figure, and not a 5th century one (see https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2020/05/why-ambrosius-aurelianus-was-put-in.html), should be given more credence.  However, if I'm right that the son of Elafius is Arthur (see https://mistshadows.blogspot.com/2019/12/why-i-ultimately-decided-on-ceredig-son.html), then the legendary hero was a contemporary of St. Germanus - although, admittedly, too young to have been the leader at Badon.