elder days n. The heroic age of hackerdom (roughly,
pre-1980); the era of the {PDP-10}, {TECO}, {{ITS}}, and the
ARPANET. This term has been rather consciously adopted from
J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy epic "The Lord of the Rings".
Compare {Iron Age}; see also {elvish} and {Great Worm,
the}.