# LOTR question: Are the lighting of the beacons based on reality? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 9, 2015, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-question-are-the-lighting-of-the-beacons-based-on-reality/737128 "2015-11-09T19:13:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-question-are-the-lighting-of-the-beacons-based-on-reality/737128/1 "2015-11-09T19:13:23Z")
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](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6LGJ7evrAg) 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. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Gothic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Gothic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gothic)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-question-are-the-lighting-of-the-beacons-based-on-reality/737128/2 "2015-11-09T19:18:00Z")
It is my favorite scene from the movies. As to the question, how about smoke signals? > **[Smoke signal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_signal)** > > The smoke signal is one of the oldest forms of long-distance communication. It is a form of visual communication used over a long distance. In general smoke signals are used to transmit news, signal danger, or to gather people to a common area. > In ancient China, soldiers along the Great Wall sent smoke signals on its beacon towers to warn one another of enemy invasion. The colour of the smoke communicated the size of the invading party. By placing the beacon towers at regular intervals, and sit... ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-question-are-the-lighting-of-the-beacons-based-on-reality/737128/3 "2015-11-09T20:43:30Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![moldmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@moldmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moldmonkey)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lotr-question-are-the-lighting-of-the-beacons-based-on-reality/737128/4 "2015-11-09T20:47:36Z")
Actual thing going back a long time: > **[Beacon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beacon)** > > A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location. A common example is the lighthouse, which draws attention to a fixed point that can be used to navigate around obstacles or into port. More modern examples include a variety of radio beacons that can be read on radio direction finders in all weather, and radar transponders that appear on radar displays. > Beacons can also be combined with semaphoric or other indicators to provide important informa... > [@](#): > > In Aeschylus’ tragedy Agamemnon,[6] a chain of eight beacons manned by so-called lampadóphoroi inform Clytemnestra in Argos, within a single night’s time, that Troy has just fallen under her husband king Agamemnon’s control, after a famous ten years siege. Later mirrors were used: > **[Heliograph](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heliograph)** > > A heliograph (from Ancient Greek ἥλιος (hḗlios) 'sun' and γράφειν (gráphein) 'to write') is a solar telegraph system that signals by flashes of sunlight (generally using Morse code) reflected by a mirror. The flashes are produced by momentarily pivoting the mirror, or by interrupting the beam with a shutter. The heliograph was a simple but effective instrument for instantaneous optical communication over long distances during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its main uses were m There we... > **[Telegraphy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telegraph#Optical_telegraph)** > > Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pigeon post is not. Ancient signalling systems, although sometimes quite extensive and sophisticated as in China, were generally not capable of transmitting arbitrary text messages. Possible messages were fixed and predetermined, so such systems are thus not ...