Meaning
What does Pondering My Orb mean?
Pondering my orb refers to a viral exploitable meme format, depicting an illustration of a wizard meditating upon a Palantir or a crystal sphere.
“Pondering my orb” may be a valid course of action, should one be attacked by The Wicked Witch of the East Bro, before warning her: “Do Not Cite the Deep Magic to Me Witch.
Origin
What's the origin of Pondering My Orb?
The illustration, seen on the meme originates from Angus McBride’s artwork, depicting Saruman, created for the 1988 tabletop role-playing game, titled Middle-Earth Quest: A Spy in Isengard.
It later appeared in 1993, on the cover for a supplementary book for Middle-Earth Role Playing, titled Valar & Maiar.
The first “Pondering my orb” caption was posted on Twitter by @thatsgoodweb on October 15th, 2021, paired with the illustration.
Spread & Usage
How did Pondering My Orb spread?
“Pondering my orb” quickly became a popular meme format, appearing in posts on Twitter, Reddit, Instagram as well as iFunny and FunnyJunk by November 2021.
It was often featured on photoshop edits, crossing it over with other memes such as Are Ya Winning Son, with a still growing popularity as of December 2021.
External resources
- Mashable.com – Why is everyone on Twitter ‘pondering the orb’?
- Dicebreaker.com – The original Orb Ponderer talks sourcing memes from an old Lord of the Rings RPG
- Polygon.com – I’ve pondered the orb and now I can’t go back