5 ms·
What’s up with Maga people using LotR names for their military/panopticon companies? Anduril, Palantir, Lembas have I seen so far.
by Y-bar 1y ago
What’s up with Maga people using LotR names for their military/panopticon companies?
Anduril, Palantir, Lembas have I seen so far.
- JoshTriplett 1y agoLembas seems unrelated to the MIC, or is there some investor or board member in common? (EDIT: thanks to a reply for researching; it is the same people.) As for the rest, I think because it's many of the same people and the same VCs.
- Y-bar 1y agoLembas LLC is owned by Peter Thiel.
- qchris 1y agoHere's a 2022 from Quartz article that might have some context on this. Anduril isn't on the list according to the footnote, but Thiel and Lucky have since had a history collaborating on projects with the same naming scheme. [1] https://qz.com/1346926/the-hidden-logic-of-peter-thiels-lord-of-the-rings-inspired-company-names https://qz.com/1346926/the-hidden-logic-of-peter-thiels-lord... [2] https://fortune.com/2025/07/07/peter-thiel-palmer-luckey-erebor-digital-bank-lord-of-the-rings-dark-history/ https://fortune.com/2025/07/07/peter-thiel-palmer-luckey-ere...
- dgunay 1y agoIs it a MAGA thing, or is it just a Palmer Luckey thing?
- NedF 1y ago[dead]
- mmooss 1y agoIt's especially interesting because their philosophy is the opposite of Tolkien's. They seek power at all costs, trying to create 'rings' and dallying with bad people. One common rhetorical tactic, commonly used by their political allies, is to use their (perceived) enemies' most powerful words and ideas against them, to disarm and counter-attack. 'Woke' was a term on the left; racism became descrimination against white people, diversity becomes affirmative action for conservatives, banning and mocking and even embracing discussions of Nazis, etc.
- scandox 1y agoI don't know what Tolkien's personal philosophy was but I think a reasonable reading of LOTR would put it at centre right. The culture it valorizes has military capability and heroism at its core.
- mmooss 1y agoThe LoTR had a great distrust of power as dangerous and corrupting - the Ring corrupted everyone who tried to use it - and a rejection of those who abided with evil. The mission was to destroy the power, not build a super-army.
- scandox 1y agoWell in fact the raising of a huge army is indeed one of the goals of the protagonists. Of course for them the goal is to defeat evil. I'm sure that the people behind Palantir, Anduril and other such companies also believe they are building a military capability that will allow the United States to defeat what they see as evil. Every centre right libertarian I've encountered also has a "great distrust of power". All I'm saying is that it only takes a small shift of perspective to see how the LoTR will appeal broadly to anyone who believes in good vs evil narratives - whichever side they appear to be on from one's own point of view.
- herewulf 1y agoThis is an excellent interpretation but I would put forth that it is also possible that these people simply want to use "cool names" and get on with their business without any kind of deep understanding of the literature.
- kchoudhu 1y agoIt's the only book they've read, most likely.
- mellosouls 1y agoNerd culture. Def not maga, more silicon valley and tech startup types.
- Y-bar 1y agoI'm not so sure, JD Vance created a company called Narya after Gandalf's ring and Viggo Mortensen has more than once had to call out far-right groups trying to co-opt the fandom or litterature: https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-48187786 https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-48187786 https://www.reddit.com/r/Fauxmoi/comments/1litq7h/viggo_mortensen_on_lord_of_the_rings_parallels/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Fauxmoi/comments/1litq7h/viggo_mort... https://www.brego.net/article/viggo-mortensen-interview-3/ https://www.brego.net/article/viggo-mortensen-interview-3/
- kragen 1y agoNarya was a Thiel investment vehicle; Vance is a Thiel employee.
- Y-bar 1y ago> James J.D. Vance and Colin Greenspon have co-founded a new venture firm called Narya Capital and have already raised $93 million toward a target of $125 million. That's not employee status.
- kragen 1y agoOfficially he's an employee of the US government now, of course.
- Centigonal 1y agoThiel gave Vance his first real job. Thiel introduced Vance to Colin Greenspon (who was the managing director at Thiel's VC firm and now runs Narya with Vance). Thiel supported Vance's book. Thiel supported Vance's governor run. Thiel introduced Vance to Donald Trump. Thiel supported Vance's VP run. It's not an employer/employee relationship, so maybe patronage is a better word.