That is, was there a pre-phone type of communication used by countries where beacons were lit one by one to signal the other over vast distances? For reference, here’s the scene from the movie. Of course, in real life they wouldn’t be located on the top of mountains, that was a movie change to make them look cooler. Tolkien wrote that the beacons were on small underlying hills next to the mountains, where people can easily access.
Did Tolkien base this on real life? Or did he make this up? Seems like a great idea if you don’t have wi-fi coverage.
Yes , if you look up "Beacons " in Wikipedia there’s an article about how burning fires on hilltops have served as warnings and communications in various parts of the world , for instance the Brecon Beacons in Wales .
Fiery crosses were also used to summon Scottish clans in times of danger
