[MLD-Grounds-Keeper-Willie]

Well, I know what you're talking about, but I disagree with your no-no's [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] . I think that people can have contradicting personalities, but they have to be on separate planes. I know a person who absolutely lacks common sense. He will do and say some of the stupidest things, however, he can get almost perfect grades and score extremely high on tests like the SAT and others. So, obviously this person is a genius, but he is also an idiot, an extremely stupid one. But which do we call him? Well, we call him stupid on a normal basis, just joking around, or when he does or says something stupid, but when we see or hear of a high score or some outstanding academic achievment, we praise him for his intelligence.

Everybody has a talent, or has something that they are good at. And most of the time, not many, if any, know that person has that talent. Barliman probably did not show his shrewdness most of the time. He was clumbsy, no doubt, but many other smart people can be too.

And I would trust Gandalf on this. Gandalf has a knack for noticing potential qualities, and catching hidden talents. Remember Bilbo in the Hobbit? No one thought he would be the right person for the job, but just look at what he did. And even better yet, look at Pippin. Pippin, at the beginning of LotR, was a curious playful hobbit who didn't have the sense to think before he acts and he didn't take things seriously. Would you say he was impulsive and immature? Well, Gandalf saw through that when not many would. Elrond didn't want him going on the journey, but Gandalf insisted. Gandalf saw through those qualities of Pippin, just as Gandalf knew that Barliman was wiser than he looked or acted.

But why do you have this annoyance over Barliman and not over Pippin? Because we saw teh transformation with Pippin. We saw what he could do, but with Barliman, we didn't really. But based on Gandalf's quote, I believe that Barliman really is shrewd.