Decimum (gessit bellum) in littore fluminis (,) quod (nos) vocamus/uocatur(e) Tribruit/Tribuith.
in dechmead in Robruid;
The 10th (battle (he fought)) / (was) at/on (the shore/bank(s) of the river [which/it is] called / Trat) Tribruit/Treuroit/Tribuith/Ribroit/Arderit ./; (- HB, Irish HB, LF.)
"… they formed a camp in Cair/city Trigguid. The men of Gwrynydd, hiding themselves in woods and thickets and holes and caves of the earth." (- Saints Lives.)
Checklist of identification details of Tribruit from the source texts: - Number/order 7th/10th/1st of a set of 9/12/7 (HB, LF, PG) (Two different numbers/orders in the PG) - in a triad of hills (HB, O'Toole, infopedia) - Trbruit 2 is near to Agned/Bregion/Ystawinguin & Legionis/Dissethach or Guinnion/Eidyn 2, Tribruit 1 is near to Dubglas/Linnuis/Eidyn 1 (HB, PG) (Tribruit & Eidyn 2 different ways around in the PG) - a shore/bank - a river/bank or 3 rivers - (Trat) Tribruit/Ribroit/Arderit name/meaning (HB, LF, PG) - a battle or 3 battles fought there (HB, Irish HB, LF, HRB) (British victory) - Arthur/Britons fought there then (HB) - fought against Saxons "from Germany" (HB, LF) and "specifically Kentishmen" (HB, Collingwood, Jackson) - date during/after Hengist/Octa & before/until Ida "547" (HB) - is "history" (HB, HRB) - in "(the island of) Britain" (HB) - in the HB which also contains the Wonders (HB, us) - true site was masked (Henry of Huntingdon) - may be from an original poem source (Hustwit) - Manau/Manawyddan (PG) - Pierced Shield (PG) - fell a 100 at a time - Bodwyr (PG) - ribs/timbers (PG) - Garwlwyd (PG) - 7th site similar to 1st site (PG).
Meaning match:
The origin and/or meaning of the name (Trat) Tribruit has been variously suggested to be either:
Trat/trah/traith/traigh/tracht(h)/traeth(eu) "road/shore/bank(s)", "a litus fluminis", "a strand, the strands", "river strand", "(not a river but a) beach", "(the sands of the shore between high- and low-tide marks; and as applied to a river, the sandbanks of a) tidal estuary (... it does not mean the bank of an inland river)", "river + wider geographical context like a bay", "not properly a river but an inlet of the sea, a tract of marsh, or other shallow and sandy place usually covered with water… such as… a quagmire".
tri/try "three", or "crossing", or "through, thorough, excessive". tre "a village, a house". tref "fern".
bro "a district". brwyd "blood stained, nightmare", "bespattered (with blood)", "variegated/decorated". bruit/broit/brwyd(r) "broken/piercing/pierced (through)", "battle, perhaps from the piercing/breaking of the ranks" bruit "brook". ffrwyd/frut "stream". brut/brit/brute/briw "running (streams), rushing (as a river)". -wruid / guerit / gweryd. brisare "press out". roit / goit.
Triguerit Trifrut "3 running streams/estuaries" Tryvrwyd/Trib(r)uit/Tribroit/(Tr)euroit/Trevro(it) / Ribroit/Robroit "a place where three rivers empty into an estuary", or "Pierced or Broken (Place), referring to some natural feature".
Tractheuroit "a place where 3 rivers meet the surf", "on the river-strand which is called Tribruit", "a strand or stretch of beach beside the sea at a place where three rivers come together", "(the) strand(s) of Tribruit, (the) strand of the pierced/broken (place)", "((the) pierced or) broken (through) shore", "somewhere round the mouth of a tidal river; and there was some natural feature there, such as a channel or gully", or "many coloured strand, (very) speckled (shore)". Traethtrevrhwydd "the firth, or marshy channel, of the open or unenclosed habitation".
(Tribruit is also associated with Manawyddan the god of the sea.)
For the main favoured "strands" etc meaning(s): Some critics claimed that our site doesn't match this because in our present times the area is not like a sea indentation. However, sources say/show that in Roman times our site's area was an inlet/indentation of sea or marsh.
"... Rother/Limen to Llif Menai (fast flowing or striking flood, seemingly in reference to the strong estuary tides)."
"... when it [Stutfall/Lemanis fort] was built it was reached by an arm of the sea ... but continuous siliting has spearated it from the coast by two miles of marshland." "Stutfall Castle seems to have occupied a broad point of land forming the north shore of a strait separated by a wide tract of marsh and sandbank from the mainland. This sea channel gradually disappeared to become part of Romney Marsh but excavation has demonstrated that the shoreline was originally 1.8 meters below the present level of the marsh. The siting of the fort and its Classis Britannica predecessor, with the command of this narrow estuary, made good strategic sense enabling it to control all shipping entering the harbour…."
"A few centuries ago it was covered by the sea, which came right up to the foothills, so that all of Romney Marsh is reclaimed land. And from those hills you get the most marvellous view away towards Dungeness and Lydd.... .... It has a clear sweep for miles right out to sea.... .... The only considerable towns are Rye and Winchelsea—which can hardly be said to be on Romney Marsh at all. Rye is set on a sort of conical hill, and must in the olden days have been almost completely surrounded by water."
"Britain was once a land of lakes and isles. The draining of the marshes of the Vale of York, the Fens, and southern England, and the filling of many of our lakes with sediment since the end of the last ice age ~18-10 thousand years ago has left only Scotland, Cumbria and the Broads as lakeland areas."
One of the finds at Stutfall was an altar dedicated to Neptune by an admiral of the Roman British fleet.
We found that Lemanis/Lympne/Romney/Tribruit seems to also match Loch Lumonoy/Lomond in the wonders of Britain. Loch/lough can mean "a lake, arm of the sea". (The portage and loch of ships connected with Loch Lomond in Scotland might also be analogous to our site which was a port?) The HB & HRB said Lumond had 60 rivers/islands/rocks/eagles' nests.
There are also still reminiscent traces of all this in the names and descriptions of area, eg: Romney Marsh (name from aet thaere riman e "at the broad river"), Denge Marsh, Rye harbour/bay (name from "aet thaere iege' "at the island"). Sandtun (tidal inlet), Rother river/banks (tidal estuary), Tidebrook, Brede (tidal channel), Lympne haven / Lemanis (intertidal areas) / Lymne (banks), Ripp (Wood)? Rhee wall (late 3 stages)? Dungeness headland, "Great bay formed by the ports of Romney, Hithe & Folkstone."
For the 3 streams/rivers or battles meaning: Historical maps show in our site's area 3 rivers (Brede being one), and/or a 3 pronged inlet of sea in Roman times. Possibly compare 3 stages Rhee wall? Geoffrey of Monmouth said Lumond (Lemanis/Lympne/Romney) was after "3 several battles"?
For the "pierced/broken" meaning of Tribruit: The Romney/Lympne area seems to have had a lot of water cracks & indentations (in some historical maps)? (Loch Lumonoy (Lemanis/Lympne/Romney) had 60 rivers in the HB/HRB.)
For the alternative "blood/bespattered/coloured/speckled" meaning: This could match Senlac, which orignates from "sangue lac, of the blood there shed, which by nature of the ground seems after rain to wax red" … "the small stream here is of chalybeate origin, containing iron, and actualy does turn red after heavy rain." Also compare these descriptions of some other Sussex sites not too far away from Lemanis: "the field of blood", "near Battle Abbey after any shower, presently sweateth forth very fresh blood out of the earth", and/or "in chalk countries after rain run rivulets of milk".
Name match:
Possible matches for the name (Trat) Tribruit/Treuroit/Ribroit/Arderit in our site's area include:
(Thetis) Rhutupinaque/Rhutupine littora/shores (Saxon Shore & Lemanis, neighboring shores of Rutupi) & Triputienses/Trutulensis/Trucculensis/(T)rutulensem /Rutup(i)ensem/Rutupinus/Rutupina from Rhutupinove/Rhutupia(n)/Rhutupi(s) port(us) (tituli/titulus ripam)? Turnacensium at Lemanis SS fort?
Trebeurden (Nord on other side of the Channel)? Tidebrook [compare Tory Brook of another location theory?] Classis Britannica/Britannos/Brutus? Atrebates (border near there)? Romney/aet_thaere_ruman_e ("broad river")? Rother(bridge)/Robertsbridge, or East Rothbury? Ripp (Wood)? Bibroci/Bibrocum (or Bebryces?) (border there)? Brede? Pryffetesflodan/"Privett" ("Hampshire", "near Anderida/Weald", 756)? Parrett (connected with Pen(selwood) & the sea & Centwine/Kentwin & Anglia, 658/682)? Ypres Tower (Rye)? Anderida/Andred(es weald)? Neptune/(trident), at Folkstone? Trumbert/Trumwin/Picts/Kentwin/sea 681/685 (ASC)? Deusdedit/Rochester/Canterbury 655/656/664?
River(s) match: Tribruit 2: The river (of) (Tribruit) could match either the river Brede (one of 3 main rivers in the area), or East Rother river, or the Lymne/Lemanis/Lemanum/Limen/Limden, or Romney (meaning "broad river"), or Tidebrook, or Senlac stream (at the west edge of our site's area), all of which are in the general area of Lemanis/Lympne/Romney. The "3 rivers" could match that there are/were 3 main rivers in the Lemanis area (River Rother, River Brede, River Tillingham). Tribruit 1: There are 3 or so rivers that meet near the Great Yarmouth area (Yare, Waveney, Ant, Bure/Bute). "Gariannonum overlooks the confluence of the Rivers Yare & Waveney at the opening of the major estuary Breydon Water, with the River Bure joining not far to the north".
Shore/banks match: The "banks of the river Tribruit" could match the "banks of the Rother, Lymne…." The "shore of the river Tribruit" could match "the shore which Lemanis occupied"? It could also/alternatively match with the Rutupian shore, &/or litus Saxonicum "Saxon Shore" which Lemanis was part of? [Possibly the shore of Tribruit could be connected with Cymenshore of the South Saxons in the ASC which latter name is perhaps similar to Lemanis/Lympne?]
Number/order match: The 9 battle sites of the HB and the 9 SS sites both have 9 sites and the sites of both all match all in order. Tribruit (2) is 7th battle of 9 in the HB & PG. Lemanis/Stutfall is 7th fort of 9 in the HD/SS. Tribruit is near Legionis/Dissethach & Eidyn/Guinnion & Agned/Bregion/Ystawinguin in the HB & PG. Lemanis/Stutfall (Tribruit) is not far from Rutupi/Richborough (Legionis/Dissethach), Dover (Guinnion/Eidyn), and Anderida/Pevensey/Agned/Bregion/Ystawinguin. (Eidyn has been supposed to match Agned, but it actually really matches Guinnion/Dover. In the Pa Gur the fact that the 1st & 2nd sites Tribruit 1 & Eidyn 1 and the 6th & 7th sites Eidyn 2 & Tribruit 2 are different numbers/orders, and are different ways around, and that Eidyn on the border is different name to Mynydd Eidyn indicates that the two Tribruits and Eidyns are different sites, plus the fact that (the 3rd site Celli and) the 7th site Tribruit 2 of the PG match (the 4th site Celidon and) the 7th site Tribruit of the HB, and that Eidyn 2 comes before not after Tribruit 2 indicates that Eidyn 2 matches Guinnion not Agned. At any rate there are 2 or 3 Eidyns/Edens near our site's area. There is an Edinburgh Hill at Dover, and an Eden in the upper Medway area.) Tribruit 1 is the 1st of 9 sites in the PG. Great Yarmouth is the 1st of 9 SS sites excluding unmatched 1st fort Branodunum/Brancaster. Loch Lumonoy is the 1st of "13" Wonders of Britain. 1st site Tribruit 1 was near 2nd site Eidyn 1 in the PG, 1st site Glein was near 2nd site Dubglas, 1st site Great Yarmouth is not far from 2nd site Othona/Bradwell in the SS. 1st site Tribruit 1 and 7th site Tribruit 2 in the Pa Gur must be somewhat similar sites. Our 1st site Great Yarmouth does have similarities with 7th site Lympne (rivers, sea/lake/marsh indentations).
Arthur/Britons there match: Arthur was fighting Saxons "from Germany", and "specifically Kentishmen". We have shown that the 5 of the 9 battle sites of Arthur certainly seem to match 5 sites in Kent. Vortimer and Ethelbert are among the primary candidates for being the historical person "(King) Arthur", and both of these persons were in Kent. Kent is a British/Welsh name. St Martin's church in Canterbury was a British church. "glass vessels were used by the Britons in the 6th century". There is a glass vessel at Dover (Guinnion). Lewes may possibly be a British/Celtic name (is disputed among academics/scholars/linguists)? "The name "Eccles" comes from the Latin word "ecclesia" meaning church, suggestions that a post-Roman Christian community existed in the village beyond the Roman withdrawal and into the Saxon period are ...." Arthur had access to coast/shore port sites eg: trat "strands", "the Porter", ship Pry(d)wen, Avalon, crossed to France, drove enemy out of the land. Traditional Athurian sources mention south & east places including London, Kit's Coty, Canterbury, Chislehurst, Thanet, Rutupi, Dover, Winchelsea, Saxons, Hamo's Port, Gaul/France/Brittany.(Other names like Dubricius, Riculf/Raculf, Kentigern, Gwent, Cadbury, etc are also similar to names in Kent.) Mari Lwyd in Caerleon is similar to Hoodening in Padstow (Petroc's, Cornwall), & in Kent, & in Cheshire. A tradition says that Appledore (near our Lemanis site) was "built by King Arthur"? [It is perhaps interesting that Tribruit has also been suggested by others as being near Appledore in Devon.] Mintz's paper suggested possible connections between Arthur/Merlin and Ares/Mars and St Martin. There is a church of St Martin le Grand in Dover, and a St Martin's in Canterbury, plus "St Martin's at London" in the HRB. Cadwallon/Cadwaladr was in Kent, Sussex & Wight in 661 & 686 in the ASC? The Weald may have been a refuge to Britons. "It is by no means impossible that some of the Kentish distinctions are based in part on Romano-British influence.... It is difficult in any other manner to account for the fact that Kent alone preserved a resemblance to its Roman past.... ... may hold a memory of pre-Saxon agricultural arrangements ... due to the presence of peasants of Romano-British descent...." Frankish influence in Kent 510-570 (Evans). "ASC silent on Kent 488-565" (Evans). An orthodox scholarly source said that there were "few/little or no Saxon cemetaries in Canterbury". "Even in Kent, an area of rich early Anglo-Saxon archaeology, the number of excavated settlements is fewer than expected. However in contrast the counties of Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire are relatively rich in early settlements." "... for neither archaeology nor place-names provide any evidence whatever of early Saxon settlement south of the North Downs." (Evans.) Sussex "remained a coastal settlement hemmed in by natural boundaries". "there is no archaeological evidence for occupation by Anglo-Saxons in that area of Sussex between the 5th and 8th century."
Hill match: There is a theory that the 9 battle sites in the HB may be 3 groups of 3, with the first 3 all being rivers, the middle 3 maybe all being settlements/towns and the last 3 maybe all being hills/mountains, which if true suggests that the Tribruit (2) site had a hill/mount? This seems to be true since our last 3 battle sites are all in the South Downs, and there was a hill or hills at Lemanis which is described as "… hanging on a clay slope…. … slipping downhill…. … the steep slope of a hill…." & "stands on a hillside…. …the greensand of which the hill is composed…." [Also possibly compare Senlac Hill to the west of the Lemanis area?] (The camp/cair/city in the Saints Lives version matches well with Kent.)
Ribs/timbers match: The "ribs/timbers/planks" (or "blue spears"?) mentioned in the Pa Gur in connection with Tribruit could possibly relate to the Weald, or Broadoak (in the Lemanis area), or Ripp (Wood) (in the Lemanis area), or the Classis Britannica (at Lemanis), or Cissa's wooden palace (in the wider east Sussex / west Kent area)? (Compare the "woods and thickets" in the Saints Lives version. Tribruit's alternative spelling of Arderit is similar to Anderida and Andredes weald.)
Manauid/Manaw(yd) match: The Triads and/or Pa Gur mention Manawyd(dan) (the sea god) in connection with Tribruit. Others have previously supposed Manawyd to be linked with Manau Gododin in the Firth of Forth area. Manawyd might connect with Lliff Menai in our site's area, &/or the 2nd half of the name of Lemanis/Lympne/Romney and loch Lumonoy/Lomond? (Le is "the" in French.) Also note the Neptune at Stutfall/Folkstone, and the British Fleet at Lemanis.
Nennius match: Collingwood & Jackson agreed that the HB's words imply that Arthur was fighting Saxons and "specifically Kentishmen". Evidence that "Nennius" knew of the Lemanis area includes: The 9 battle sites certainly match the 9 SS sites. Alot of the Wonders of Britain also seemingly match the same 9 sites. Those Wonders which might our Tribruit 2 site's area include: - loch Lumonoy/Lomond. - Trahannon? - Appled ash? (Appledore, Abulcorum, Ashdown?) - Well of bones?
Gwrgi (Gwlwyd) / Garwl(l)wyd/Garvluid/Gwrynydd / Lloyd "the (were)wolf / man-dog / rough-grey" (compare the cynbyn of Eidyn?) might connect with either Lydd in our site's area, or the Jutes who were called "sea wolves/dogs", or Romney (Roman wolf)? (Compare the grey-coated wolf bays at Finnesburg battle between Frisians & Jutes. Frisians "dogheads"? Wolf cult of Woden. Lombard dog-heads.) Dog is a term for infidel in Judaeo-Christian, which implies pre-Christian Anglo-Saxons.
Other scholars agree: Collingwood identified Tribruit with Chichester at other end of Sussex, which is maybe similar to our site. He also located another battle site (Linnuis) in the Lympne/Lemanis area. Charles P. suggests that "Arthur's war in England was fought in Kent and the East Midlands, perhaps as far north as Lincolnshire, but not in the West Country."
Tribruit/Lemanis under various names (or analogies) in different sources: Plinlimmon Loch Lumonoy/Lomond (Wonders) * Limmingce (Pa Halgan) Tribune La(m)bienus/Laberius/Labius? Earl Limours? Luimnech 575? * Argoed Llwyfain? * Lemanis/Stutfall/Lympne/Romey/Liffmenai 3rd/7th of 9/12 (ND/SS) * Repetun 4th/9th of 12 Monasteries list * Tribruit 7th/10th of 9 (HB) * Tribruit 1st/7th of 7/9 (PG) * Cair Trigguid (Sts Lives)? * Tudwal/Treguier/Tregor or Brioc one of 7/8/9 (Breton) * Tribuet/Trebuchet (smith reforge sword Perceval, lived near castle Cothoatre that stood above river) * Tairgwaedd? Marsh Terra of Gwallawg's battles (Taliesin) * TudwalTudelyd/RhydderchHen 8th of 12 (Hen Ogledd) TudwalTudglyd 8th or Rhygenydd 10/11th of 13 treasures Morewenna/Morwenstow 10 of 15 children of Brychan? Maximus/Gratian/Aequantius 7th of 9 emperors (HB) Kinmare of Dorobernia 7th of 11 (HRB) 3 several battles (HRB).
