'Good' uses of technology?

[Estelyn Telcontar]

A question that fits into this thread came up while I was rereading the first chapter of LotR for the CbC discussion: some of the toys, Dwarven-made, that were given away at Bilbo's birthday party were said to be magical. I don't remember reading anything about magical abilities of Dwarves elsewhere - of what nature would Dwarven magic be?

Dwarves would of course also be another example of power in metal crafts, including the connection to Aule.

[The Might]

Ah, good point .

I personally think that the whole "magic" was probably some mechanism that was beyond the understanding of Hobbits or Men.

Say...something like the toy cars with a spring insde that once pulled back go forward with quite some speed.
A Hobbit would probably think it's magical that once you pull the car it then moves forward by itself.

I know that we already have many examples of great smiths, just wanted to add two other important ones - Celebrimbor and the legendary Enerdhil of Gondolin.

[William Cloud Hicklin]

some advanced technology, probably similar to the Middle Ages way of building cathedrals.

Hardly advanced technology at all- just scaffolding and basic hoists.

[The Might]

WCH...it's relative.

[skip spence]

In "The Hobbit" Bilbo actually reads a newpaper when Galdalf arrives. This of course indicates that there were quite advanced printing presses in the Shire, which IMO is remarkable. Someone already mentioned his clock too.

I'm quite certain Tolkien regretted this however and wouldn't have included it had he written the book later when his mythology had evolved.

[Eönwë]

Originally Posted by Estelyn Telcontar

I don't remember reading anything about magical abilities of Dwarves elsewhere - of what nature would Dwarven magic be?

What about the dragon-fire-proof shields

Also, I think the building of great places like Orthanc were meant to be mystery, just the way the pyramids were in his time and still are today. If in the context of 4000 years ago, someone could build something 146.6m tall and 231m wide, with an accuracy on each side of 0.1%, then someone in the later periods should be able to do better. I know it didn't actually work like this, and in each stage technology got worse, e.g. Egyptians, Greeks, Romans. Maybe this is where Tolkien got his idea of a faling world from. And these were the equivalent of Atlanteans, which in this sort of theory lapsed onto the Egyptians. So they would definitely have the skill to do things like Orthanc. This was when they came straight form Numenor, so they would be fresh with knowledge. Also, if you think about it, the Egyptians were the first doctors (which says a lot about Gondor, and things, for example, like Athelas). I think Gondor is what it would be like if the Egyptians passed alll their knowledge to the Greeks and Romans, and they improved it, and only then did it start to fail.

Sorry for the messy layout of this postt, but I had too many ideas.

[The Might]

Not sure what it has to do with the topic though, but still good analogy there.

[Eönwë]

Originally Posted by zxcvbn

1.Astronomical instruments. The Gondorians astudied astronomy. Perhaps they created telescopes, astronomical calculators etc.(in real life, astronomical clocks for studying the position of heavenly bodies date back to ancient Greece, so why not?)

2.Navigation aids for mariners and travelers. Compasses, astrolabes etc.(once again, these have been used since early medieval times, so they wouldn't be too advanced for Middle-earth)

Antikythera?

Originally Posted by Estelyn Telcontar

I don't remember reading anything about magical abilities of Dwarves elsewhere - of what nature would Dwarven magic be?

In the Ut, on the Druedain, it says, comparing themto dwarves:

Originally Posted by UT

In some ways they resembled rather the Dwarves: in build and stature and endurance; in their skill in carving stone; in the grim side of their character; and in their strange powers. But the 'magic' skills with which the Dwarves were credited were quite different; and the Dwarves were far grimmer, and also long-lived

so clearly they were associate dwith some magic, probably the whole smithing thing.