Beacons

this article from torn says that tolkien might have been inpired by beacons from the bible or something (must admit i haven't read it, i'll get back to it, i just skimmed through as i have a bus to catch) but i kinda laughed a bit, because beacons on the coast here around the middle age was kinda a thing. (i'll see if a can find some references, i am certain i read about it in history and laughed cus LOTR)

http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2013/05/21/71803-the-biblical-beacons-of-gondor-did-tolkien-know/?fb_source=pubv1

so, anyone else know where els in the world they might have used beacons as a way to communicate.

That article made me lol when I read it. Beacons are hardly exclusive to Biblical times, and there are countless historical examples that bear a far greater resemblance to LOTR than the Bible story. I'm not familiar with the use of beacons in Scandinavia, but they have a long history of being used as part of defensive systems in the British Isles, similar to how they were used in Gondor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beacon#For_defensive_communications

http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/ASH/Beacons.htm

i know, i kinda had more fun in history class humming "lighting the beacons" and NOBODY got the reference..

Beacons were used by the Romans as a means of surveying , thats probably how the use of them started in Britain . Scandanavia & China also have roots of their use , Also native Americans used smoked signals as a form of signaling and communication . They have long been used as a tool of navigation .I used to do land surveys when I was in my twenties that was where i learned about the use of beacons by the Romans . they used a simple form of triangulation to build roads from one point to another when line of sight was not possible . I imagine the roots of beacons for communication purposes lie farther back in History than one can imagine .

yepp, beacons were used here in viking times and after, so that the armies of "farmers" (not really, they knew what to do) could be called for quickly, only took a day or two for them to ansemble..

talking of it, i actually do have my history book. let me check what it says.

lol, i couldn't find it, but i know it's there

we used Beacons where I lived in England and one of them still survives. although this is a Victorian reconstruction it had been there since the Roman times to warn of danger.



The inscription above the tower's entrance reads "Look well at me Before you go And See You nothing at me throw".

Lovgivningen om leidangen hadde også to distinkte deler, nemlig hva som skulle skje hvis kongen kalte ut leidangen, og hva som skulle skje hvis leidangen ble mobilisert ved angrep på landet. Når det gjaldt selve mobiliseringen fikk Håkon den gode i gang ett varselsystem. Heimskringla beskriver dette som et system med varder på høye fjell, hvor man kunne se fra den ene til den andre. Det skrives at dette systemet kunne varsle folk fra ene kanten av riket til den andre på syv dager. Fra Håkons tid hadde systemet en vanskelig innkjøringsperiode; blant annet så bøndene med uvilje på vakttjenesten på vardene. Etter hvert ble allikevel systemet innarbeidet, og nær på 800 stedsnavn i Norge forteller om gamle vardeplasser. Så sent som under Napoleonskrigene på 1800-tallet var vardesystemet i drift

wikipedia article and run thorugh google translate it says:
Legislation on rented hymn also had two distinct parts, namely what would happen if the king called out rented hymn, and what would happen if hired hymn was mobilized at the onset of the country. Regarding the mobilization did Hakon the Good running one notification system. Heimskringla describes this as a system of cairns on the high mountains, where one could see from one to the other. It entered that this system could warn people from one edge of the empire to the other seven days. From Håkons time the system had a difficult start-up period, including as farmers with reluctance on call service in cairns. Eventually, the system still incorporated, and close on 800 place in Norway tells of old boulevard spaces. As late as the Napoleonic wars in the 1800s boulevard system in operation


erm.. haven't read through it..

The Scotts also used them to warn everyone of British Invaders .{{ Petty may have one stashed in his back yard }}

I found this about a place near me.

Ditchling Beacon is located 7 miles to the north of Brighton and just south of the village of Ditchling. At 248 metres above sea-level, Ditchling Beacon is the highest point in East Sussex and offers commanding 360 degree views from its summit. Look south out to sea, north across the Weald or east-west across the Downs.

As the name suggests, Ditchling Beacon was once the site for a warning beacon. Visible for miles around, the Beacon would be maintained ready to light in times of imminent invasion.

The site is also of archaeological interest, with remains of an Iron Age hillfort.

Neighbouring Ditchling Down lies to the west of Ditchling Beacon, and is a prime example of chalk downland. Walk the path along the scarp slope, passing through the disused chalk pits grazed by sheep and dotted with wild flowers throughout spring and summer.

I smell it in the air

My local beacon is on Castle Hill at the heart of town-



there are several other beacons that can pick it up in all directions, this one is at Greenock on the other side of the River Clyde from the Dunoon beacon-



They are still used at times of celebration now, the last time was for the Queens Jubilee.

Eldorion wrote:I smell it in the air

i need some, get me some.

I KNEW YOU HAD ONE!