Behold! Another “Lord of the Rings”-inspired company is revealed

When it comes to tech startups, what’s in a name?

Today, a lot of them end with “AI.” Sometimes, you pivot and change the name to reflect your company’s new focus. And sometimes you just want to evoke a mythic power and flex your nerdy bona fides.

There’s one source of inspiration that tech startups have turned to more than others: the works of JRR Tolkien. Especially when venture capitalist Peter Thiel is involved.

This week the Financial Times reported that Thiel, along with Palmer Luckey, the cofounder of weapons and surveillance systems manufacturer Anduril, returned to Middle Earth for the name of the new national bank they’re starting to take the place of Silicon Valley Bank, which served a large part of the tech startup and venture capital world before collapsing in 2023.

“Erebor Bank” takes its name from Erebor, otherwise known as the “Lonely Mountain,” which featured prominently in Tolkien’s 1937 novel “The Hobbit.” Erebor is home to Smaug the dragon, who, like President Trump, surrounds himself with gold.

Let’s see if you can pick the real company names inspired by Tolkien’s works from the fake ones we made up.

(If you need some help, we’ve got two spoilers below the quiz)

Palantir, cofounded by Thiel, is named for the cursed seeing stones that allowed Sauron to pry into the minds of the Hobbits in “Lord of the Rings.”

Luckey’s Anduril is named for the mystical sword reforged from the legendary Shards of Narsil, a name chosen by Aragorn, which translates to “Flame of the West.”