The Encyclopedia of Arda - an interactive guide to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien
Location
Widespread throughout Middle-earth1
Species
Bos taurus
Meaning
From Old English cu, ultimately from an ancient root gwou
Other names
Often referred to by the collective noun 'cattle', or by the old word 'kine'; larger kinds were also known as oxen

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About this entry:

  • Updated 25 February 2020
  • Updates planned: 1

Cows

Cattle and kine

Domestic beasts kept throughout Middle-earth. The most famous were the eastern variety known as the Kine of Araw.


Notes

1

Specifically, we know that cattle were kept by Beorn in the Vales of Anduin and by the Men of Lake-town, and farther away in the East, the wild Kine of Araw wandered the plains. We can presume that cows were kept across Middle-earth, because they are regularly invoked in a metaphorical sense. They were evidently well known to the Hobbits of the Shire and of Bree, because a cow jumps over the Moon in a rhyme known to those people.

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 25 February 2020
  • Updates planned: 1

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