Wife and companion of Tom Bombadil She lived with him in a house near the source of the Withywindle between the Old Forest and the Barrow-downs.

Goldberry was sometimes described as River-daughter or child of the River-woman although the term ‘daughter’ may be open to interpretation. She met Tom Bombadil when she playfully pulled him into the river by his beard and stole his hat. He later carried her off to be his bride. Tom was devoted to Goldberry and treated her with great reverence, surrounding her chair with bowls of lilies and always eager to hurry to her side, saying. “Goldberry is waiting.” Goldberry was tall and slender with golden hair. She was a welcoming hostess and a singer of ancient songs that transported her listeners to other times and places.

Goldberry was not an elf but, as with Tom, it is never made clear exactly what kind of creature she is. She is ever associated with water: rivers, rain, and aquatic plants. In Letter 210 to Forest J. Ackerman in 1958 Tolkien says “We are not in ‘fairy-land’ but in real river-lands in autumn. Goldberry represents the actual seasonal changes in such lands”

NOTE: Additional information from Cirdaneth and Turvainiel
Encyclopedia entry originally written by admin