Barliman Butterbrain

[doug*platypus]

Well said, O Dread Horseman!

I think he lives up to the slight praise that Gandalf gives him.

This is the key to the whole discussion, in my opinion. Gandalf never says anything along the lines of "Barley? He's the smartest man within a day's ride of the Chetwood!". No, he is far too cautious and wise for that. Gandalf neither underrates nor overrates Butterbur's worth, and that is how his statement can be so believable.

Even Gandalf forgot the entry spell at the gates of Moria.

I don't like to nitpick... well, okay I do, but only because it might make me seem more intelligent! Gandalf never knew the opening spell to the West-Gate of Moria. Even if this cannot be proven by the Tale of Years, it is (I believe) inferred in the text outside West-Gate. While Gandalf does prattle on about how many opening spells he once knew, he does not say that he knew the spell for this door. In the days of the Gwaith-i-Mírdain the door was always open, and since Khazad-Dûm became Moria, Gandalf entered only once, from the East-Side.