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Magic’s just science we don’t understand yet. — Arthur C. Clarke (It used to be that making a drainage system under a tower required consultations of magicians

Magic’s just science we don’t understand yet. — Arthur C. Clarke (It used to be that making a drainage system under a tower required consultations of magicians and terminology used was including dragons.)

er4hn 3y ago
Please cite the wizards and dragons comment. Sounds fascinating!
- mock-possum 3y ago
  It sounds like a reference to “Merlin and the dragons” - I don’t know whether it’s canon or apocryphal, but young Merlin (then called Emrys) has his village invaded by a warlord, who intends builds a battle tower on a nearby mountain. Uther Pendragon eventually shows up to save the day. I remember my mom reading it to me when I was a kid - and the story itself was framed as Merlin telling Arthur himself a bedtime story when he was a newly-crowned king.
  - bryanrasmussen 3y ago
    this is however not the story. From my rather vague memories of Geoffrey of Monmouth - Vortigern, the ruler of a part of Britain that he probably claimed was all of Britain had a good deal of problems with the Saxons, whom he had made some disadvantageous deals with. He was building himself a tower in Cornwall - Tintagil https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/tintagel-castle/ https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/tintagel-ca... which had some problems with the foundations. His soothsayers said he find a young man fathered by a demon (incubus) on a virgin and soak the foundations in his blood. So Vortigern found Merlin but Merlin was so cool he talked everyone into thinking he knew better than the soothsayers and he had them drain the foundations and there were two dragons fighting there at which point Merlin told some prophecies the gist of which I do not recall, but which caused him not to get killed and Vortigern to leave the tower and get killed shortly thereafter. This story was basically used with embellishments making it logical and realistic in Mary Stewart's Merlin Books - I think the second one the name of which escapes me but plus 1, they are a great read if you like Merlin stuff.
    - mock-possum 3y ago
      Oh no that’s it, absolutely, that’s the story! I think The dragons’ colours represent Vortigern and Uther Pendragon, and when they fight, the one representing Vortigern loses, and Merlin informs him that it portends Vortigern’s impending loss against Uther in battle.
    - startupsfail 3y ago
      Yes, that was the one :) Next time you are adding a vision tower to your foundational model, feel free to draw upon this legend ;)
- hnfong 3y ago
  This is the Asian version, not directly related, but you probably would be interested as well. (Warning: the practice is a bit sick) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitobashira https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitobashira
devjab 3y ago
> (It used to be that making a drainage system under a tower required consultations of magicians and terminology used was including dragons.) It still does. I'm part of a hobby community that builds basically every part of houses from the ground up, but the one thing we never touch is plumbing. A lot of people aren't too keen on electrics which I guess is fair enough considering the dangers of getting it wrong, but the real dragon is water.

er4hn 3y ago

Please cite the wizards and dragons comment. Sounds fascinating!

mock-possum 3y ago
It sounds like a reference to “Merlin and the dragons” - I don’t know whether it’s canon or apocryphal, but young Merlin (then called Emrys) has his village invaded by a warlord, who intends builds a battle tower on a nearby mountain. Uther Pendragon eventually shows up to save the day. I remember my mom reading it to me when I was a kid - and the story itself was framed as Merlin telling Arthur himself a bedtime story when he was a newly-crowned king.
- bryanrasmussen 3y ago
  this is however not the story. From my rather vague memories of Geoffrey of Monmouth - Vortigern, the ruler of a part of Britain that he probably claimed was all of Britain had a good deal of problems with the Saxons, whom he had made some disadvantageous deals with. He was building himself a tower in Cornwall - Tintagil https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/tintagel-castle/ https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/tintagel-ca... which had some problems with the foundations. His soothsayers said he find a young man fathered by a demon (incubus) on a virgin and soak the foundations in his blood. So Vortigern found Merlin but Merlin was so cool he talked everyone into thinking he knew better than the soothsayers and he had them drain the foundations and there were two dragons fighting there at which point Merlin told some prophecies the gist of which I do not recall, but which caused him not to get killed and Vortigern to leave the tower and get killed shortly thereafter. This story was basically used with embellishments making it logical and realistic in Mary Stewart's Merlin Books - I think the second one the name of which escapes me but plus 1, they are a great read if you like Merlin stuff.
  - mock-possum 3y ago
    Oh no that’s it, absolutely, that’s the story! I think The dragons’ colours represent Vortigern and Uther Pendragon, and when they fight, the one representing Vortigern loses, and Merlin informs him that it portends Vortigern’s impending loss against Uther in battle.
  - startupsfail 3y ago
    Yes, that was the one :) Next time you are adding a vision tower to your foundational model, feel free to draw upon this legend ;)
hnfong 3y ago
This is the Asian version, not directly related, but you probably would be interested as well. (Warning: the practice is a bit sick) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitobashira https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitobashira

devjab 3y ago

> (It used to be that making a drainage system under a tower required consultations of magicians and terminology used was including dragons.) It still does. I'm part of a hobby community that builds basically every part of houses from the ground up, but the one thing we never touch is plumbing. A lot of people aren't too keen on electrics which I guess is fair enough considering the dangers of getting it wrong, but the real dragon is water.