If you ask me the key is Gandalf's qualification 'on his own ground. As somebody said a successful innkeeper, (which Butterbur is) has to have a certain business sense and people savvy. But in the matter of the Ring he is out of his depth and knows it. Yet it must be remembered to his credit that he is 'more willing than ever' to do whatever he can to help against the Dark Lord himself. Whatever else you can say about Barliman Butterbur he is not lacking in guts, or a sound sense of priorities.
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