'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').

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.