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Where Knowledge Junkies Get Their Fix
In case you missed the first couple editions of Found Objects, the idea of this feature is pretty simple: I’ll be posting some sort of visual representation of an object, equation, theory or idea that inspired or made its way into a book, film, song, poem, or painting.
Your job is to name it and tell us where it’s found. Today’s visual, found below, is from a very famous work of fiction. Can you name the objects, the book and the author?
Unless I miss my guess, those are either dwarf or elf runes from Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkien.
posted by Dan on 10-13-2006 at 4:08 pm
Dan: Good guess… But not unless they were lifted from another book! Buzz, sorry, try again… (PS — you got the rune part right, though)
posted by David on 10-13-2006 at 4:10 pm
Looks like Norse runes. Is it Beowulf?
posted by Jason! on 10-13-2006 at 4:19 pm
You guys definately have the Runic part right… but these specific letters spell an entirely different tale…
posted by David on 10-13-2006 at 4:23 pm
clan of the cave bear?
posted by croptilldawn on 10-13-2006 at 4:50 pm
They are runes from the Sherlock Holmes story The Adventure of The Dancing Men by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. What do I win??
posted by creesto on 10-13-2006 at 5:02 pm
They are certainly Runic letters… but so far, no one has deciphered them correctly.
Yes, the Found Objects feature is getting harder by the post, folks… ’cause you guys were getting them too quickly before. And that’s no fun, right?
Here’s a hint: these Runic letters were originally found on a piece of parchment and form something of a cryptogram.
posted by David on 10-13-2006 at 5:10 pm
Is it from The Gold Bug by Poe?
posted by John on 10-13-2006 at 5:18 pm
I believe those are Dwarvish runes found in J. R. R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit or There and Back Again.”
posted by Asa on 10-13-2006 at 5:25 pm
So easy. It’s the cover of the book that Nic Cage wrote based upon his work in the movie “Windtalkers”.
posted by Alan on 10-13-2006 at 5:45 pm
Journey to the Center of the Earth by Verne
posted by john on 10-13-2006 at 5:54 pm
John nails it! It’s the facsimile of that piece of parchment that spells out the secret passage to the center of the earth!
posted by David on 10-13-2006 at 6:00 pm
the script is cuneiform and it is from the Book of Gilgamesh
posted by cervantes on 10-14-2006 at 9:43 am