- "See! The beacons of Gondor are alight, calling for aid. War is kindled. See, there is the fire on Amon Dîn, and flame on Eilenach; and there they go speeding west: Nardol, Erelas, Min-Rimmon, Calenhad, and the Halifirien on the borders of Rohan."
- —Gandalf, in The Return of the King
A fire on a Beacon-hill as depicted in Peter Jackson's The Return of the King
The Beacon-hills of Gondor were a group of foot-hills which the Gondorians placed great fireplaces on to act as an alarm system to warn the Kingdom of Gondor in the event of an attack.[1]
Description[]
The Beacon-hills of Gondor were seven outlying foot-hills along the north and south borders of Ered Nimrais on which were established two series of permanently manned stations maintained by the lord of Minas Tirith for raising the alarm in northern and southern Gondor respectively. The stations kept signal fires in readiness and stabled fresh horses for couriers on their way to Rohan north of Ered Nimrais or Belfalas south of Ered Nimrais.[1]
The Beacon-hills north of Ered Nimrais from east to west were Amon Dîn, Eilenach, Nardol, Erelas, Min-Rimmon, Calenhad, and Amon Anwar[1] with a distance of twenty to thirty miles between each Beacon-hill.[2]
The locations of the southern Beacon-hills are not recorded, but based on the description of them,[1] the distance between each of the northern Beacon-hills,[2] and them having posts for mounted messengers, there may have been as many as ten Beacon-hills starting from Minas Tirith west along the southern foothills of Ered Nimrais and then from the southwestern spur of Ered Nimrais between the river Gilrain and the river Ringló southwest along the mountains in Dor-en-Ernil.
History[]
Isildur buried his father Elendil on the summit of a hill,[3] which was called Eilenaer, that was near the center of Gondor.[4] After that, the hill was called Amon Anwar.[4]
It is not recorded when the other foot-hills on the sides of Ered Nimrais were established as Beacon-hills. While the Palantíri were still used for communication between Osgiliath, Minas Ithil, Minas Anor, and Angrenost without the necessity of messages or signals, no beacon was built on Halifirien.[3] The oldest Beacon-hill on the northern side of Ered Nimrais was probably Amon Dîn, which served as a fortified outpost that kept watch over any movement from Dagorlad into North Ithilien or over the Anduin into Anórien.[5] The beacon-hills of Eilenach and Min-Rimmon were the next two oldest. It was not allowed to build a beacon on Amon Anwar while Elendil was still buried there.[3] The other Beacon-hills north of Ered Nimrais, were probably established after the settlement of the Rohirrim in Calenardhon[6] because the population of Calenardhon had decreased so much that there would be little need for Gondor to request aid from them.[3]
After Steward Cirion had granted Calenardhon to Eorl, the casket of Elendil moved to the Hallows of Minas Tirith, because the hill was now no longer near the center of Gondor. In the beginning the guarding and maintenance of Amon Anwar was shared by Gondor and Rohan. Later when Gondor declined and the population of the Rohirrim increased, only men from the Eastfold of Rohan guarded Amon Anwar and called it Halifirien in their language.[4]
During the War of the Ring, the beacons on the northern Beacon-hills were lit on March 9 when news came to Minas Tirith from Lebennin that a large fleet of the Corsairs of Umbar were coming near to the Ethir Anduin.[1] As the Rohirrim rode to Gondor's aid through Anórien they travelled close to all seven northern Beacon-hills on their way to Minas Tirith.[7][8]
In adaptations[]
In The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King[]
The beacon on Eilenach as seen in The Return of the King film
One of the major changes made to the story by Peter Jackson's 2003 film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is that when Gandalf and Peregrin Took ride to Minas Tirith, the beacons are not lit since the despairing Denethor II has decided not to send messengers to ask for help. In the film, there is a beacon just above the city, and to summon the Rohirrim, Gandalf asks Pippin to evade the guards and light it. Once he has done so, the film depicts the other beacons being lit one by one until the last is sighted by Aragorn II who is in Edoras, and it is this (and not the Red Arrow which is not mentioned in the film) which finally helps him to persuade Théoden to muster the Rohirrim to Gondor's aid.
Another change is that in the film, there are seemingly at least thirteen Beacon-hills as opposed to the seven described in the book.[9] However, the filmmakers actually displayed each beacon being lit from several angles, such that beacons shown up-close are seen again in the distance of the next shot. The film does differ from Tolkien's writings in placing the first beacon directly above Minas Tirith, instead of atop the separate hill of Amon Dîn. The beacons are seen situated at considerable altitudes that would make permanent manning impractical, and generating sufficient flame very difficult. The last beacon, Halifirien, is not within view of Edoras in the books.
In The Lord of the Rings Online[]
In the video game, The Lord of the Rings Online, Halifirien is visible in the distance from the Rohirrim town of Beaconwatch in the Eastfold. The regions of Western, Central and Eastern Gondor together featured ten southern Beacon-hills running from Belfalas to Lossarnach. These are, from west to east: Amon Lontir, [[w:c:lotro-wiki:Nendath Nendath], Maegond, The Fallen Beacon, Eilendoth, Dol Brannor, Amon Anglebed, Sirthanc, and Minlos. In addition, there appears to be an unnamed inaccessible Beacon-hill across the river from Pelargir.
Translations[]
| Foreign Language | Translated name |
| Afrikaans | Baken-heuwels van Gondor |
| Albanian | Kodrat e fenerit të Gondorit |
| Arabic | تلال بيكون في غوندور |
| Armenian | Գոնդորի փարոս բլուրներ |
| Azerbaijani | Gondorun Mayak Təpələri |
| Basque | Gondorreko Baliza muinoak |
| Belarusian Cyrillic | Маяковыя пагоркі Гондара |
| Bengali | গন্ডোরের বীকন পাহাড় |
| Bulgarian Cyrillic | Бийкън хълмове на Гондор |
| Catalan | Turons de balises de Góndor |
| Chinese | 刚铎的灯塔山 |
| Croatian | Svjetionik brežuljci Gondora |
| Czech | Majákové kopce Gondoru |
| Danish | Gondors Ledestjerne-bakker |
| Dutch | Bakenheuvels van Gondor |
| Esperanto | Signostangomontetoj de Gondor |
| Estonian | Gondori majakamäed |
| Faroese | Gondors Ljósmerkifjøllunum |
| Finnish | Gondorin kokkovaarat |
| French | Collines balisedu du Gondor |
| Frisian | Beaken heuvels fan Gondor (Western) |
| Galician | Baliza-outeiros de Gondor |
| German | Leuchtfeuerberge von Gondor |
| Greek | Υφαλοδείκτης λόφοι του Γκόντορ |
| Hebrew | גבעות הביקון של גונדור |
| Hindi | गोंडोर की बीकन पहाड़ियाँ |
| Hungarian | Gondor Jeladó Dombjai |
| Icelandic | Vegvitar hæðirnar í Gondor |
| Indonesian | Bukit-bikit Rambu suar Gondor |
| Italian | Colline di Segnalazione di Gondor |
| Japanese | ゴンドールのビーコンヒルズ |
| Kannada | ಗೊಂಡೋರ್ನ ಬೀಕನ್ ಬೆಟ್ಟಗಳು |
| Kazakh | Гондордың Маяк төбелері (Cyrillic) Gondordıñ Mayak töbeleri (Latin) |
| Korean | 곤도르의 등대 언덕 |
| Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Гондордун Маяк адырлары |
| Latvian | Gondoras Bākukalni |
| Lithuanian | Gondoro Švyturių kalvos |
| Luxembourgish | Beaken hiwwele vu Gondor |
| Macedonian Cyrillic | Ридовите на светилникот на Гондор |
| Malayalam | ഗോണ്ടോറിലെ ബീക്കൺ കുന്നുകൾ |
| Malaysian | Bukit-bukit suar Gondor |
| Maltese | Għoljiet xempju ta' Gondor |
| Maori | Nga Puke rama rama o Gondor |
| Marathi | गोंडोरच्या बीकन टेकड्या |
| Nepalese | गोन्डोरको बीकन पहाडहरू |
| Norwegian | Gondors Fyrtårn-bakker |
| Pashto | د ګونډور د بیکن غونډۍ |
| Persian | تپه های فانوس دریایی گوندور |
| Polish | Wzgórza latarniane Gondoru |
| Portuguese | Colinas Baliza de Gondor |
| Punjabi | ਗੋਂਡੋਰ ਦੀਆਂ ਬੀਕਨ ਪਹਾੜੀਆਂ |
| Romanian | Dealurile Far din Gondor |
| Russian | Сигнальные холмы Гондора |
| Sanskrit | गोण्डोरस्य बीकनपर्वताः |
| Sardinian | Colinas de su farru de Gondor |
| Serbian | Светионик брда Гондора (Cyrillic) Svetionik brda Gondora (Latin) |
| Sicilian | Collini di faro di Gondor |
| Sinhalese | ගොන්ඩෝර් වල බීකන් කඳු |
| Slovak | Majákové kopce Gondoru |
| Slovenian | Svetilnik griči Gondorja |
| Spanish | Almenaras colinas de Gondor |
| Swahili | Vilima ya Mwangaza ya Gondor |
| Swedish | Gondors Fyrbåk kullar |
| Tajik Cyrillic | Теппаҳои машъали Гондор |
| Tamil | கோண்டோர் பெக்கான் மலைகள் |
| Tatar | Гондорның Маяк калкулыклары |
| Telugu | గోండోర్ యొక్క బెకన్ కొండలు |
| Thai | เนินเขาบีคอนแห่งกอนดอร์ |
| Turkish | Gondor'un Işaret Tepeleri |
| Turkmen | Gondoryň Maýak Depeleri |
| Ukrainian Cyrillic | Маякові Гори Гондору |
| Urdu | گونڈور کی بیکن ہلز |
| Uzbek | Гондорнинг Маёқли тепаликлари (Cyrillic) Gondorning Mayoqli tepaliklari (Latin) |
| Venetian | Colline de faro de Gondor |
| Vietnamese | Đồi Đèn hiệu của Gondor |
| Yiddish | ביקאַן היללס פון גאָנדאָר |
| Yoruba | Beakoni Òke ti Gondor |
| Beacon-hills of Gondor |
| Amon Dîn | Eilenach | Nardol | Erelas | Min-Rimmon | Calenhad | Amon Anwar (Halifirien) |
External links[]
- TheOneRing.net - The (Biblical) Beacons of Gondor … Did Tolkien Know? May 21, 2013
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 The Lord of the Rings, vol. III: The Return of the King, Book Five, Ch. I: "Minas Tirith", pgs. 747, 765
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Lord of the Rings, vol. III: The Return of the King, "Map of Rohan, Gondor, and Mordor"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, Part Three: The Third Age, II: "Cirion and Eorl and the Friendship of Gondor and Rohan", "(iii) Cirion and Eorl"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, Part Three: The Third Age, II: "Cirion and Eorl and the Friendship of Gondor and Rohan", "(iv) The Tradition of Isildur"
- ↑ Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, Part Three: The Third Age, II: "Cirion and Eorl and the Friendship of Gondor and Rohan", note 51
- ↑ Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, Part Three: The Third Age, II: "Cirion and Eorl and the Friendship of Gondor and Rohan", note 35
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, vol. III: The Return of the King, Book Five, Ch. III: "The Muster of Rohan", pg. 804
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings, vol. III: The Return of the King, Book Five, Ch. V: "The Ride of the Rohirrim", pgs. 833-5
- ↑ The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, "The Lighting of the Beacons"