The Encyclopedia of Arda - an interactive guide to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien
Dates
Originated at some point after III 1601 (the date of the founding of the Shire); known to be in existence by c. III 2760 at the latest1
Location
Near Tighfield in the Westfarthing of the Shire
Race
Culture
Family
Associated with the ancestors of the Galpsi family (better known as the Gamgees)
Pronunciation
ga'labas
Meaning
'Game village'
Other names

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About this entry:

  • Updated 2 April 2023
  • This entry is complete

Galabas

A village-name from the Shire

The name of a village of the Shire, in the language of the Shire-hobbits themselves. The name was composed from two basic elements, galab, 'game', and 'bas', meaning a small village or farmstead. This place is more commonly referred to in its anglicised form, Gamwich, which has the same meaning as the Hobbits' original name.

Little is known about the village itself, but Galabas, or Gamwich, was remembered as being the original home of a family that would later become famous in the Shire. That Hobbit-family from Galabas became known by the surname 'Galbasi', which was shortened to 'Galpsi'. The equivalent anglicised names were 'Gammidgy' and ultimately 'Gamgee': Galabas had been the original home of Samwise's ancestors.


Notes

1

III 2760 (1160 by the Shire-reckoning) was the year of the birth of Hamfast of Gamwich (or Ranugad of Galabas, as he would have been known in the original Hobbit-speech). We can be sure, then, that the village must have existed at that date for this Hobbit to have been born there.

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 2 April 2023
  • This entry is complete

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