3 ms·

Naming military technology after things in LOTR completely misses the point of the stories. Tolkien is spinning in his grave.

dlivingston 1y ago
Can you expand on this?
- _whiteCaps_ 1y ago
  Andúril is Aragorn's sword. Palantíri are the seeing stones. I think this article has a good summary of Tolkien's experiences in the war: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_War_and_Middle-earth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_War_and_Middle-earth
- rout39574 1y ago
  One of the important roles of the Palantir was that they were scrying devices. Sauron gained some influence over them warped the impressions of those who used them, by affecting what they could and couldn't see. It was part of the subtle misinformation he used to twist people into alliance with him.
  - roywiggins 1y ago
    it's at least a little funny to name your company in the business of secure communication products after a fictional communication device with a famous security flaw
- SJC_Hacker 1y ago
  The novels, and movies to some extent hint heavily that industry/technology was used for evil far more than good, and in general the "forces of good" were more "attune with nature" than their opponents Example - Saruman clear cutting a good portion of Fangorn forest in order to strip mine it and produce weapons. Paywalled article in the Atlantic on this subject https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/07/fall-mortality-and-the-machine-tolkien-and-technology/260412/ https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/07/fall-... Brief exerpt: 'So it makes sense, then, that the chief exponents of technology in The Lord of the Rings are a demonic figure bent on world domination (Sauron) and a wizard (Saruman). Treebeard, the Ent or tree-shepherd, says of Saruman, "He is plotting to become a Power. He has a mind of metal and wheels; and he does not care for growing things, except as far as they serve him for the moment." '
sebastos 1y ago
Ah yes, The Lord of the Rings, an allegorical tale about how it is always wrong to wage war. Anduril, the flame of the west, refers of course to an evil sword wielded by an evil king who wrongly stands up to protect the people of middle earth against the forces of Mordor (a misunderstood and vibrant economy that is merely protecting its own interests). It can be so frustrating when people misread Tolkien's unsubtle, moralizing polemic for some kind of expansive mythology with more than one thing to say.

dlivingston 1y ago

Can you expand on this?

_whiteCaps_ 1y ago
Andúril is Aragorn's sword. Palantíri are the seeing stones. I think this article has a good summary of Tolkien's experiences in the war: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_War_and_Middle-earth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_War_and_Middle-earth
rout39574 1y ago
One of the important roles of the Palantir was that they were scrying devices. Sauron gained some influence over them warped the impressions of those who used them, by affecting what they could and couldn't see. It was part of the subtle misinformation he used to twist people into alliance with him.
- roywiggins 1y ago
  it's at least a little funny to name your company in the business of secure communication products after a fictional communication device with a famous security flaw
SJC_Hacker 1y ago
The novels, and movies to some extent hint heavily that industry/technology was used for evil far more than good, and in general the "forces of good" were more "attune with nature" than their opponents Example - Saruman clear cutting a good portion of Fangorn forest in order to strip mine it and produce weapons. Paywalled article in the Atlantic on this subject https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/07/fall-mortality-and-the-machine-tolkien-and-technology/260412/ https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/07/fall-... Brief exerpt: 'So it makes sense, then, that the chief exponents of technology in The Lord of the Rings are a demonic figure bent on world domination (Sauron) and a wizard (Saruman). Treebeard, the Ent or tree-shepherd, says of Saruman, "He is plotting to become a Power. He has a mind of metal and wheels; and he does not care for growing things, except as far as they serve him for the moment." '

sebastos 1y ago

Ah yes, The Lord of the Rings, an allegorical tale about how it is always wrong to wage war. Anduril, the flame of the west, refers of course to an evil sword wielded by an evil king who wrongly stands up to protect the people of middle earth against the forces of Mordor (a misunderstood and vibrant economy that is merely protecting its own interests). It can be so frustrating when people misread Tolkien's unsubtle, moralizing polemic for some kind of expansive mythology with more than one thing to say.