Combe

A combe (/kuːm/; also spelled coombe or coomb and, in place names, comb) can either refer to a steep, narrow valley, or to a small valley or large hollow on the side of a hill; in any case, it is often understood simply to mean a small valley through which a watercourse does not run. The word "combe" is derived from Old English cumb, of the same meaning, and is unrelated to the English "comb". It derives ultimately from the same Brythonic source as the Welsh cwm, also of the same meaning. Today, the word is used mostly in reference to the combes of southern and southwestern England, of Wales, and of County Kerry in Ireland.

Examples

The following is a list places in the British Isles named for having combes:

Bree (Middle-earth)

Bree is a fictional village in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, east of the Shire and south of Fornost Erain. It was inspired by the Buckinghamshire village of Brill, which Tolkien visited regularly in his early years at Oxford. (Supposedly Tolkien also lived in Brill for a short while). Bree was also inspired by Tolkien's passion for linguistic puns, as 'bre' is often a general Celtic word for "hill".

Bree was a very ancient settlement of men in Eriador, long established by the time of the Third Age of Middle-earth. After the collapse of the kingdom of Arthedain, Bree continued to thrive without any central authority or government for many centuries. As Bree lies at the meeting of two large roadways, the Great East Road and the (now disused) Greenway, it had for centuries been a centre of trade and a stopping place for travellers, though as Arnor in the north waned Bree's prosperity and size declined.

Tolkien wrote of two different origins for the people of Bree. One was that Bree had been founded and populated by men of the Edain who did not reach Beleriand in the First Age, remaining east of the mountains in Eriador. The other that they were stemming instead from the same stock as the Dunlendings. These two origins are not completely contradictory as the Dunlendings were descended from the Haladin who were counted the second house of the Edain.

Combe brianus

Combe brianus is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae, and the only species in the genus Combe. It was described by White in 1858.

References