Tolkien Names in Other Media

[Radaghast]

Two come to mind almost immediately.
1. Endor, the planet that the Ewoks lived on in Star Wars.
2. The Haradrim in the original Diablo video game, which were a race of wizards of sorts if I recall correctly.

In Diablo, it's actually Horadrim, though that was likely influenced by the Tolkien word.

 

[Beytran70]

The word Adûn, I've seen it in both Star Wars and Starcraft. I'm not sure if Tolkien invented this word but i would definitely like a confirmation, he probably did though.

There is also a mining world in Starcraft called Moria, and plenty of easter eggs and references to Tolkien in WoW.

 

[Culaeron]

I remember a smooth jazz / new age band from the late 80s named Shadowfax. I had one of their CDs. I’ve quite a few songs in my music collection with Tolkien names. Works from Rush, Led Zeppelin, a metal band named The Summoning (in particular, they have a song named Menegroth, and another named Bauglir), and many other groups

 

[Radaghast]

Today I learned that there is a character named Balrog in the Street Fighter video game franchise.

He was played by the late Michael Clarke Duncan in the 2009 movie Street Figher: The Legend of Chun-Li.

I wonder why Capcom was able to use the word but TSR couldn't.

 

[Erestor Arcamen]

My Xbox gamer tag is BalrogWing 😈

 

[Deimos]

Two companies come to mind:
Palantir... Palantir Technologies is a public American company that specializes in software platforms for big data analytics. Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, it was founded by Peter "PayPal" Thiel, among others... PLTR (NYSE)

Athelas...Athelas develops technology to monitor chronically ill patients in their homes.... founded by Tanay Tandon when he was 17

 

[Tyelkormo the Fair]

Caranthir Ar-Feiniel from the Witcher.

 

[Radaghast]

This doesn't really qualify and is rather iffy in any case, but I saw a question on Quora that pointed out the similarity between a character from A Song of Ice and Fire, Arthur Dayne (a famous knight of the past at the time of the story), and the Arnorian realm Arthedain. I could find no information about whether the Tolkien name inspired the ASoIaF one, but it seems plausible.

 

[Radaghast]

Continuing to scrape the bottom of the barrel, as it were, but there are a couple of names that rhyme with Morgoth. One is Borgoth, a demon in the video game Diablo III. He's s a unique 'Warscarred Ravager' pictured below (could pass for a D&D Balor):

The name is also used in Raid Shadow Legends; has the title of the 'Scarab King'.

The other is Korgoth of Barbaria, a hilarious one-off parody of Conan that aired on Cartoon Network in 2006 but that unfortunately was never picked up.

 

[Radaghast]

Just stumbled on this company: Anduril Industries

Wikipedia: Anduril Industries

 

[Radaghast]

There's a redwood named Iluvatar by botanist Stephen C. Stillett (doesn't say when). It's the third-largest redwood in the world, estimated to be 20.5 feet (6.2 m) in diameter and 320 feet (98 m) tall.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iluvatar_(tree)

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

The third company to produce fantasy miniatures, and the first ones specifically of LOTR characters, appeared in 1974:

http://www.miniatures-workshop.com/lostminiswiki/index.php?title=Der_Kriegspielers_Fantastiques_%281000%29

(You can click on any title to see photos)

I won't go into the full story behind these, except to say the original idea was approved by Tolkien himself, though he died before they came out. I don't know if that's why some names are changed, but you'll see "Dumblings", "Hareds", and "Men of Ruin".

I bought some of these at the time; the funniest to me was the change of the Variags of Khand to "Various of Khan" (though I could have sworn they were originally called "Various of Kind").

 

[Radaghast]

Just found out about this company.

🙁

 

[Deimos]

Just found out about this company.

View attachment 42284
🙁

Note the logo is copied from the pommel of the movie sword (I inverted the logo to better show the similarity)
The real way it is displayed , of course, shows it as a stylized 'A'.
All in all a very inspired logo. 👍

 

[grendel]

[I hope this is the right place for something like this...]

Apparently someone involved with the Huygens project (the probe that landed on Titan) was a Tolkien fan.

 

[Deimos]

[I hope this is the right place for something like this...]

Apparently someone involved with the Huygens project (the probe that landed on Titan) was a Tolkien fan.

I queried AI on this (not that I disbelieved it, just curious about it.)

AI response (which got its answers from NASA Science, Reddit, and The Tokienist):
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has strict, highly specific naming conventions for the planetary nomenclature of features on Saturn's moon Titan, and J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth is the dedicated source for two major types of terrain.
If you look at a topographic map of Titan, you will find its highest peaks and rolling landscapes sound entirely like a journey through Arda.

The Naming Rules
The IAU explicitly divides the Tolkien inspiration into two specific categories of geological features:

1. Montes (Mountains and Mountain Ranges)​

By official convention, all mountains on Titan must be named after mountains and peaks from Middle-earth. The data gathered by the Cassini spacecraft’s radar has revealed dozens of these ridges.

• Doom Mons: Named after Amon Amarth (Mount Doom). It is a massive structure that scientists suspect may be a cryovolcano (an ice-spewing volcano).
• Erebor Mons: Named after the Lonely Mountain from The Hobbit.
• Misty Montes: A prominent range named after the Misty Mountains.
• Mithrim Montes: Named after the Mountains of Mithrim in Beleriand (The Silmarillion). This range contains some of the highest elevated points found on Titan.
• Angmar Montes: Named after the Mountains of Angmar.

2. Colles (Collections of Small Hills or Knobs)​

While the majestic peaks get the geographical names, clusters of smaller, low hills on Titan are named strictly after characters from Tolkien's works.

• Arwen Colles (Arwen Undómiel)
• Bilbo Colles (Bilbo Baggins)
• Faramir Colles (Faramir, Captain of Gondor)
• Gandalf Colles (Gandalf the Grey)
• Handir Colles (Handir, a Chieftain of the Haladin from The Silmarillion)
• Nimloth Colles (Named both for Nimloth, Elven Queen of Doriath, and the White Tree of Númenor)

I pointed out to AI that it neglected to mention the Mindolluin Montes.
It agreed with me, but also added this:

Since the IAU relies heavily on Tolkien's geography for Titan's montes, they didn't stop with Mindolluin. They actually named several neighboring features after other prominent peaks from that same regional system in Middle-earth:

• Irensaga Montes: Named after Irensaga (Iron-saw), the jagged mountain overlooking Dunharrow and the valley of Harrowdale.
• Rerir Montes: Located just southwest of Mindolluin Montes, named after Mount Rerir (a northern peak near Thargelion from The Silmarillion).
• Taniquetil Montes: Located immediately west of Mindolluin Montes, taking its name from the highest peak of Arda, home to Manwë and Varda.

 

[Radaghast]

In the 'Tolkien Moments' thread, @Erurávennë mentions this orchid, Bretonia shelob. I don't know if naming species falls into the realm of 'media' but I figured it should be acknowledged here.

I think other species have been given Tolkien names but I don't remember any ATM. Also, I see I've already posted about a tree earlier in this thread.

 

[Radaghast]

Two companies come to mind:
Palantir... Palantir Technologies is a public American company that specializes in software platforms for big data analytics. Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, it was founded by Peter "PayPal" Thiel, among others... PLTR (NYSE)

'Sauron' would be a more fitting name... 😵‍💫

 

[Deimos]

'Sauron' would be a more fitting name... 😵‍💫

What have you got against Paypal .. or maybe Peter Thiel?....

 

[Radaghast]

What have you got against Paypal .. or maybe Peter Thiel?....