The Gatekeeper in Summer Knight

[peregrine]

The wiki says it's dark robes with purple stoles rather than blue for the senior council.

[Mira]

The idea of the eye being made of the crystal of the gate wouldn't preclude it from being Odin's eye. Magic after all. However it is only a thought.

Jim has used color signaling throughout the books. And given that the Gatekeeper and Mab need to be close to function as a team, color signalling by robes is right up Jim's literary alley, as a hint that Rashid is allied with Mab.

page 338 Cold Days

One of his eyes was nearly black, it was so dark.  The other eye had been replaced with a crystalline material that was identical to that which had been used to create the gates and the walls around them..
"Steel,"I said.
"Pardon?" he asked.
Your, uh, other eye.  It was steel before."
"I'm sure it looked like steel," he said.  "The disguise is necessary when I am not here."

Harry goes on to say that Rashid's job is so secret his eye gets it's own disguise when he isn't at the gates.  This implies a whole lot of things, like just how old is Rashid?  How long has he had the job of Gatekeeper?  Who made the eye in the first place?  And when did Rashid receive it?  Since the eye is made of the same material as the gates, was it made at the same time? 

[morriswalters]

We won't know until Jim tells us.  But everyone seems to think Rashid can time travel, but I think that what he does, is use the link in the way that Harry uses his link Demonreach, except that it covers reality rather than just Demonreach island.

[Salusen]

page 338 Cold Days
Harry goes on to say that Rashid's job is so secret his eye gets it's own disguise when he isn't at the gates.  This implies a whole lot of things, like just how old is Rashid?  How long has he had the job of Gatekeeper?  Who made the eye in the first place?  And when did Rashid receive it?  Since the eye is made of the same material as the gates, was it made at the same time?

I like your questions a lot. There's a post on the dresden files wikia about how Rashid's name is one of the 99 names of Allah. Which might be a clue to his real identity if you consider that Jim does not lightly choose names for his characters. They always mean something.

Rashid's eye and the Outer Gates are made of the same crystal. But then we get a clue from Jim in Cold Days that the Outer Gates that Harry saw was just a dumbed down version that his mind could cope with. I think that the 'crystal' is actually a force of Creation much like soulfire. It's made of sheer will - which translates to magic in reality. The eye isn't really just something physical, it's a purely magical object that can manifest a physical form and has a specific purpose (opens ways, sees all things) like Odin's all-seeing eye.


I still disagree with Rashid being Odin's missing eye. But maybe Rashid has Odin's missing eye? If the beings of both the Greek and Norn pantheons guarded the Outer Gates before Winter took over, that means Odin must have had the eye then. He might've even been one of the first Gatekeepers.

And it's more likely that Rashid is Heimdall rather than Odin himself. As Jim is a huge Marvel fan, his description of Rashid fits in with the Heimdall in the comics. Rashid can Listen (like Harry) and he sees everything -- Heimdall. Plus, the dude who guarded the gates of Asgard was one of Odin's most trusted. Doesn't it make sense that he would guard the Outer Gates as well? And this theory would open up the other possibility that since the Gates of Asgard open up to other worlds and realms (realities), that means they mighty also open up to non-reality. And that they're an Asgardian version of the Outer Gates themselves.

[Mira]

   It is my opinion that if  Lea is Harry's godmother, Rashid is a good candidate for his godfather,
even if it is an unofficial title.  Why is it from the first time we meet him that Rashid always manages
to turn up when Harry is in trouble with the Council or to give advice when Harry is contemplating some very serious actions... Yet at the same time he appears totally outside of the usual politics of the Senior Council.. 

[Salusen]

   It is my opinion that if  Lea is Harry's godmother, Rashid is a good candidate for his godfather,
even if it is an unofficial title.  Why is it from the first time we meet him that Rashid always manages
to turn up when Harry is in trouble with the Council or to give advice when Harry is contemplating some very serious actions... Yet at the same time he appears totally outside of the usual politics of the Senior Council..

I think that's because Rashid has enough on his plate without adding White Council politics and that's why he stays away from them. Being the Gatekeeper is enough of a responsibility. Being Harry's godfather might be a good reason why he almost always shows up when Harry is in danger..? But I think the reason Harry ran into him all those books ago is because of the direct involvement of Nemesis and the Outsiders.

Remember, he's the Gatekeeper. And it's his job to make sure the Outsiders stay outside. Any Outsider working to dismantle to Gates has to go through Rashid's dead body first.

[morriswalters]

Rashid would be a very hardcore Godfather.  He has told Harry twice that he will kill him if Harry doesn't toe the line.  Which makes me believe he shares Mab's POV on tough love.  I wanna know where he hangs when he relaxes, I'm guessing Egypt.  It's just to good to pass up.

[Salusen]

I wanna know where he hangs when he relaxes, I'm guessing Egypt.  It's just to good to pass up.

Wasn't there a wikia post about how to get to his domain?? Egypt sounds like a great place to relax.

[Bad Alias]

like just how old is Rashid?

There was some comment by Jim about how Rashid killed some Arab wizard from, I think, some Lovecraft story. The wizard was from the 12th or 13th century, making Rashid at least 700 calendar years old. On the other hand, he spends a lot of time in the far reaches of the Nevernever, so it is likely that his actual age is much younger, but if he has some sort of mantle that prevents, or even slows, his aging, he could be even older.

[Mira]

Rashid would be a very hardcore Godfather.  He has told Harry twice that he will kill him if Harry doesn't toe the line.  Which makes me believe he shares Mab's POV on tough love.  I wanna know where he hangs when he relaxes, I'm guessing Egypt.  It's just to good to pass up.

Agreed, but even if he would kill Harry if he screwed up, he would do all that he could to see that
Harry be given a chance to do what is right.  This is basically what happened in Summer Knight.

[Avernite]

There was some comment by Jim about how Rashid killed some Arab wizard from, I think, some Lovecraft story. The wizard was from the 12th or 13th century, making Rashid at least 700 calendar years old. On the other hand, he spends a lot of time in the far reaches of the Nevernever, so it is likely that his actual age is much younger, but if he has some sort of mantle that prevents, or even slows, his aging, he could be even older.

If he was immortal/unaging but still reasonably human, it'd be quite epic if he was really Gilgamesh. Even if that's probably reaching back TOO far.

[Ulfgeir]

There was some comment by Jim about how Rashid killed some Arab wizard from, I think, some Lovecraft story. The wizard was from the 12th or 13th century, making Rashid at least 700 calendar years old. On the other hand, he spends a lot of time in the far reaches of the Nevernever, so it is likely that his actual age is much younger, but if he has some sort of mantle that prevents, or even slows, his aging, he could be even older.

Well, he took down the Mad Arab, who according to H.P. Lovecraft wrote the Necronomicon...
We also know that he is not the strongest wizard, but the most dangerous.

/Ulfgeir

[Bad Alias]

That's what I was talking about. I just couldn't recall any of the specifics. According to the great wiki, the Mad Arab died or disappeared in 738 A.D., so it's likely Rashid has an even older calendar age than I stated.

[Salusen]

So he's waaay old. Like maybe Vadderung old?

[Bad Alias]

So he's waaay old. Like maybe Vadderung old?

Or he could be regular wizard old, but has spent so much time in the Nevernever, that he has skipped hundreds of years. On the other hand, he may have spent hundreds of years in the Nevernever, but less time passed in the real world.

This and the "Our" thread by Yuillegan brought to my attention that Rashid says "a bit of questionable attention from the Fates and a ridiculously enormous tool." Then he taps his fake eye. In the "Our" thread, we were discussing how Harry summoned Mother Winter using the names of one of the Norse Fates (Norns) and one of the Greek Fates (Moirai). Moirai actually translates to "apportioners," not fates. At least according to wikipedia.