would have chosen another way, a shorter one, over the hills between Alrnaş and Dăbâca". Based on toponymy, Madgearu argues that Dăbâca may have existed before the Hungarian conquest "the fact that the Dăbâca fortress bears a Slavic name is very important. If it had been built by Hungarians, its name would have also been Hungarian, like Şirioara and Cuzdrioara. Besides, we know that a place called Tiligrad (which means "complete fortress") exists 1.6 km away from the fortress. Dăbâca belongs to the group of early medieval Transylvanian fortifications with Slavic, pre-Hungarian names: Bălgrad (Alba-Iulia), Tiligrad (Blandiana), Moigrad. Since none of these names has any meaning in Romanian, it results that they were created when the Slavs were not yet assimilated". with his final conclusion about Dăbâca being that "the building of the Dăbâca fortress during the 9th century is not yet demonstrated, but remains possible. Even if this fortified settlement actually existed before the Hungarian attack, the identitfication with the residence located on the Someş is contradicted by its location, too far from the warzone described in Gesta Hungarorum. Most Hungarian historians (including István Bóna, Pál Engel and Gyula Kristó), opponing to Romanian theories, write that Anonymus had no real knowledge of the Carpathian Basin (including Transylvania) at the time of the Hungarian conquest and invented all the opponents of the Hungarians because he needed characters to be defeated by the conquerors. According to this view, Gelou is one of a half-dozen "imaginary figures"including Laborec, Menumorut and Zobornamed by Anonymus for a river, hill or settlement. If this theory is true, Gelou was named after Gilău (Gyalu in Hungarian), a Transylvanian village in which Gelou dies in the Gesta. According to Tudor Sălăgean, the village of Gilău was apparently named for the duke. Zoltán Kordé says that the names of the village and the duke may have Hungarian or Turkic origins. Dennis Deletant is of the opinion that "the cases for and against the existence of Gelou and the Vlachs simply cannot be proven". See also Glad (duke) Laborec Menumorut Romania in the Early Middle Ages Origin of the Romanians Footnotes Sources Primary sources Anonymus, Notary of King Béla: The Deeds of the Hungarians (Edited, Translated and Annotated by Martyn Rady and László Veszprémy) (2010). In: Rady, Martyn; Veszprémy, László; Bak, János M. (2010); Anonymus and Master Roger; CEU Press; . The Annals of Fulda (Ninth-Century Histories, Volume II)