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Location
Widely known in Middle-earth; specifically stated to have been kept in Bree
Species
About thirty different species of large waterfowl in the genera Anser and Branta
Meaning
From an ancient root-word *ghans-, thought to have been onomatopoeic (that is, representing the 'honk' of the goose)
Note
'Geese' is a plural; the singular form is 'goose'1

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 22 July 2023
  • Updates planned: 1

Geese

Various types of large birds related to ducks and swans, often fierce and aggressive in temperament. They were known to have been found in Bree, and they do seem to have been widely known in Middle-earth; at one point Gandalf used the phrase 'wildgoose chase' to describe a potentially hopeless chase.2


Notes

1

'Geese' is one of only a handful of plurals in English that is formed, not by adding the usual '-s', but my modifying the vowel sound. So, singular goose becomes plural geese (rather than, following the conventional rule, 'gooses'). This will be familiar and obvious to English-speakers, but it is worth noting here because the same approach is commonly used in Sindarin Elvish, which modifies the vowels in a word to make a simple plural. So, for example, Sindarin orod 'mountain' becomes ered 'mountains', or Dúnadan (from 'dûn adan, Man of the West') becomes Dúnedain ('Men of the West').

2

In The Two Towers III 6, it's discovered that Gríma attempted to ban Éomer's pursuit of Orcs in northern Rohan on the grounds that it was a 'wildgoose chase', though in fact it turned out to be critical to victory in the War of the Ring.

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 22 July 2023
  • Updates planned: 1

For acknowledgements and references, see the Disclaimer & Bibliography page.

Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 2009, 2023. All rights reserved. For conditions of reuse, see the Site FAQ.

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Geese

Location
Widely known in Middle-earth; specifically stated to have been kept in Bree
Species
About thirty different species of large waterfowl in the genera Anser and Branta
Meaning
From an ancient root-word *ghans-, thought to have been onomatopoeic (that is, representing the 'honk' of the goose)
Note
'Geese' is a plural; the singular form is 'goose'1

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 22 July 2023
  • Updates planned: 1

Geese

Various types of large birds related to ducks and swans, often fierce and aggressive in temperament. They were known to have been found in Bree, and they do seem to have been widely known in Middle-earth; at one point Gandalf used the phrase 'wildgoose chase' to describe a potentially hopeless chase.2


Notes

1

'Geese' is one of only a handful of plurals in English that is formed, not by adding the usual '-s', but my modifying the vowel sound. So, singular goose becomes plural geese (rather than, following the conventional rule, 'gooses'). This will be familiar and obvious to English-speakers, but it is worth noting here because the same approach is commonly used in Sindarin Elvish, which modifies the vowels in a word to make a simple plural. So, for example, Sindarin orod 'mountain' becomes ered 'mountains', or Dúnadan (from 'dûn adan, Man of the West') becomes Dúnedain ('Men of the West').

2

In The Two Towers III 6, it's discovered that Gríma attempted to ban Éomer's pursuit of Orcs in northern Rohan on the grounds that it was a 'wildgoose chase', though in fact it turned out to be critical to victory in the War of the Ring.

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 22 July 2023
  • Updates planned: 1

For acknowledgements and references, see the Disclaimer & Bibliography page.

Original content © copyright Mark Fisher 2009, 2023. All rights reserved. For conditions of reuse, see the Site FAQ.

Website services kindly sponsored by Discus from Axiom Software Ltd.
The Discus personality profiler itself is free to use; you only pay for the profiles you create using the system.