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Places in Middle-earth

Hay Gate

Type: Fortresses, Towers, Defenses

Region: Bree/The Shire

Other Names
North-gate
Buckland Gate

Location: The gate in the High Hay at the northern entrance of Buckland, south of the Brandywine Bridge.

Description:

'[The Riders] could have reached here by now, of course, if they were not stopped at the North-gate, where the Hedge runs down to the river-bank, just this side of the Bridge. The gate-guards would not let them through by night, though they might break through. Even in the daylight they would try to keep them out, I think, at any rate until they got a message through to the Master of the Hall — for they would not like the look of the Riders, and would certainly be frightened by them. But, of course, Buckland cannot resist a determined attack for long.'

The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 5, A Conspiracy Unmasked

All about Crickhollow there was the sound of horns blowing.... But the Black Riders rode like a gale to the North-gate.... They rode down the guards at the gate and vanished from the Shire.

The Fellowship of the Ring, LoTR Book 1, Ch 11, A Knife in the Dark

'But there aren't any gates,' said Merry, 'not on the Road.... There's the Buckland Gate, of course; but they'll let me through that at any time.'

'There weren't any gates, you mean,' said Gandalf. 'I think you will find some now. And you might have more trouble even at the Buckland Gate than you think. But you'll manage all right.'

The Return of the King, LoTR Book 6, Ch 5, Homeward Bound

'If you don't know me, Hob Hayward, you ought to. I am Merry Brandybuck, and I should like to know what... a Bucklander like you is doing here. You used to be on the Hay Gate.'

The Return of the King, LoTR Book 6, Ch 5, Homeward Bound


Etymology
The word is derived from hay 'fence' (not 'grass').... Compare High Hay, Hay Gate, Haysend, place-names in Buckland.

"Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien
from A Tolkien Compass, compiled by Jared Lobdell
Chicago: Open Court Pub Co, June 1975

Contributors:
Lyllyn 11May04
Elena Tiriel 5May08, 14Mar10

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