Item from The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Seeing-stones — seven indestructible crystal spheres that allow communication and far-sight across vast distances, now corrupted into instruments of Sauron's will.
The palantíri were created as tools of governance — a communication network for the kings of Númenor and later Gondor, allowing rulers to see events across their realms and speak mind-to-mind across vast distances. They are magnificent technology, the masterwork of Fëanor's craft, and they are not inherently evil. But Sauron possesses one, and through it he has corrupted the network. Anyone who uses a palantír now risks direct mental contact with Sauron. The Dark Lord cannot force the stones to show lies, but he can choose what truths to reveal — showing only despair, only the overwhelming size of his armies, only the hopelessness of resistance. Denethor used the Minas Tirith stone for years and was driven toward madness by the selective truth Sauron fed him. Saruman was ensnared through the Orthanc stone. Pippin's accidental contact with the Orthanc palantír nearly revealed the Ring's location to Sauron. The stones amplify the viewer's existing fears and desires, making them the perfect psychological weapon.
Dark crystal spheres, each roughly a foot in diameter, that seem to contain swirling depths when looked into. The surface is perfectly smooth, warm to the touch, and seems to absorb rather than reflect light. When activated by a strong will, the interior blazes with shifting images — landscapes, faces, events — visible only to the one touching the stone. The stones are virtually indestructible — only a direct fall onto stone from great height might crack one.
Also known as: palantíri, palantír, Seeing-stones, the Seven Stones