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Harry Goatleaf
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Home(s)
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Language(s)
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People
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Time Period
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Third Age 3018
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Parents
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Unknown
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Siblings
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Spouse
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Frara Goatleaf
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Children
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Gil Goatleaf
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Harry Goatleaf was an old man of Bree.
The brother of bartendender Ned Goatleaf of the Prancing Pony, Harry was employed by the likes of Barliman Butterbur as the Gate-Keeper of Bree. A poor man, he struggled to put food on the table for his family and pay for the apprenticeship of his son, Gil Goatleaf, as a blacksmith.
Desperate for coin to make his living, Harry was recruited by the outlaw Doeth, an agent of "Sharkey", being tasked with providing a detailed list of those who entered the town and allow ill-favoured men from the South in. For a time, this did not trouble Harry, for the outsiders did not seem a problem then.
Harry, however, soon came to realize that Sharkey was subservient to another unseen power and that the southerners were part of a plan to eventually take over Bree. Though he tried to warn the town's influential figures, word reached Doeth of Harry's betrayal and he resolved to teach him an unforgettable lesson and make him play by his rules till the very end of his devious designs.
Back home, Harry was confronted by his treacherous brother, Ned, and Euog, both of whom held his wife and his son with a knife at their throats. As instructed, they killed Frara but let Gil live. Devastated and afraid, Harry begged for his son's life and submitted to the demands of Doeth and his lords. The two rogues took Gil with them as a hostage, leaving the Gate-Keeper to mourn his wife.
During the Hunt for the Ring, Bill Ferny kept his watchful eyes on Harry, to ensure everything went according to plan. Despite being commanded to intercept a fugitive precious to both Sharkey and his master, the Gate-Keeper allowed Frodo Baggins and his companions to enter Bree, implying in his brief conversation with them that there was talk of "strange folk" (corrupted southerners) on the roads. This was the last straw and Doeth had Ned turn his brother in to the Black Riders. Upon their arrival, the cloaked wraiths mounted on their horses trampled Harry, as he made to see who it was behind the gate.
His son, Gil, would ultimately escape the clutches of Doeth and settle in Combe, where he honoured his parents' deaths by forming a group of patriotic Breelanders to hunt down Doeth's company and foil the plans of Sharkey's master in Eriador. Ned used his brother's name as an alias for his crimes and alliance with the Ruffians, for which he was tracked and killed by Gil, his nephew, during an attack on Bree by the outlaws.
Items:[]
- blackjack
- cape
- cowl
- lantern
- sandals
- scarf
- trousers
- waistcoat
References:[]
- The Lord of the Rings:The Fellowship of the Ring