Crossposted from https://lemmy.world/post/50177243
this post was submitted on 01 Aug 2026
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Many people don't know this, but that was intentional! Laputa was invented by the English author Jonathan Swift. In his book Gulliver's Travels, the floating city of Laputa oppresses the country below it (literally). The oppressed finally manage to ground it by having the towers of their capital collapse inward when Laputa descended on it. The place where it happened is called Lin Lin. Lin Lin = double Lin = Dublin. The oppressed country is Ireland and Swift was calling his own England "the whore".
Wow, that is an insane trivia pull. I didn't even know Castle in the Sky was partially based on Gullivers Travels, let alone the additional lore. I gotta put some extra respect on Jonathan Swift's name. I had previously mainly associated him with A Modest Proposal, which is an incredibly clever satirical work in its own right.
HOLY CARUMBA
Sources: The Conversation, "8 things it's time you knew about Gulliver's travels", see number 2.
Wikipedia page on Laputa