>> Ekwall interprets Bredon as a combination of Old British (Celtic if you prefer) Bre meaning a >> hill as in modern Welsh "bre" from the ancient British word "briga" plus the Old English "dun".

But why was a hill called 'Bre'? Was it because hills were sacred to the goddess of that name?

Accepted etymology only works as far back as written language. Words had roots long before they can be traced back in writing. This makes playing with them so much fun :-)

"There is that "briga" word again that takes us back to the discussion about the Briganties."

And so if "briga" is an Old British or Celtic word meaning "hills" then Brigantes could simply mean "the people of the hills"
That would be consisitent with other Brigantes in Europe and would mean that they were not necessarily related to British Brigantes (another nail in the pan-Celtic European myth). In other words they were simply the local hill tribes. Taking that further, the brigantes of the Roman world became the brigands of modern times. Brigand is "brigante" in Old French and in Italian and was "brigant" in Middle English.

The older I get the more sceptical I become about deities. I reckon people were much more practical about life, the universe and everything.

Crikey - I might even get to believe in Littlestone's Avebury pig-pen!