Harry at the Gate

Harnuth

Member
Quite some time ago, I asked about Harry the Gatekeeper's villainy and where Tolkien tells us that he was among the bad guys who plagued Frodo and the guys in Bree.

I still cannot find any reference in J. R. R. Tolkien's work that indicates that the Bree gate-keeper was associated with any part of the Nazguls' evil schemes, or even that the LOTRO character named "Harry Goatleaf" has anything to do with him.

Searching the text of The Fellowship of the rings yields only two uses of the name "Harry":

‘All right, all right!’ said the man. ‘I meant no offence. But you’ll find maybe that more folk than old Harry at the gate will be asking you questions. There’s queer folk about. If you go on to The Pony, you’ll find you’re not the only guests.’

Tolkien, J.R.R.. The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings (p. 151). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Kindle Edition.​

… and...

‘What will happen?’ said Merry. ‘Will they [the black riders] attack the inn?’
‘No, I think not,’ said Strider. ‘They are not all here yet. And in any case that is not their way. In dark and loneliness they are strongest; they will not openly attack a house where there are lights and many people – not until they are desperate, not while all the long leagues of Eriador still lie before us. But their power is in terror, and already some in Bree are in their clutch. They will drive these wretches to some evil work: Ferny, and some of the strangers, and, maybe, the gatekeeper too. They had words with Harry at West-gate on Monday. I was watching them. He was white and shaking when they left him.’

Tolkien, J.R.R.. The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings (p. 174). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Kindle Edition.​

The way I read this, Harry the Gatekeeper is vindicated by Strider's words. At the time Frodo and company arrived in Bree, his only role in the tale was as the official gatekeeper. He greets the hobbits as he would all strangers arriving in the dead of night in troublesome times--friendly and informative, but cautious as any good gate-keeper must be.

He even warns the about "queer folk about." That is something a friend would say, not a villain.

Strider himself was clearly cautious about Harry because he saw the Nazgul confront him, but he also obviously had some reservation about concluding that Harry was a villain. He mentioned the possibility that he might have fallen under the control of the Nazgul ("... and, maybe, the gatekeeper too...") because he was scared out of his wits after his one encounter with them on Monday. Aside from that bit of speculation, which Strider might have meant to urge the hobbits to greater caution, we have no indication that Old Harry was part of any nasty conspiracy against the hobbits.

From that I would conclude that the obnoxious young LOTRO character with the nasal Brooklyn accent, Harry Goatleaf, has nothing at all to do with Old Harry the Gatekeeper.
 
Check out Return of the King, specifically "Homeward Bound":
"And Harry Goatleaf that used to be on the West-gate, and that Bill Ferny, they came in on the strangers' side, and they've gone off with them; and it's my belief they let them in. On the night of the fight, I mean."​
That's during Butterbur's report of the fighting that cost five Bree-folk their lives, which was "early in the New Year".

I'd say they've pegged Harry just about right.
 
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