Beacon
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{{Dablink|This page discusses beacons, fires designed to attract attention. See also [[radio beacon]]. For other uses of the word, see [[Beacon (disambiguation)]].}}
[[Image:Karl-dahl-vardetenning.jpg|400px|right|thumb|A [[Scandinavia]]n beacon being lit.]]
'''Beacons''' are aids to [[navigation]] devices. Intentionally conspicuous, beacons help guide navigators to their destinations. Beacon types include radar reflectors, [[radio beacons]], and sonic or visual signals. Visual beacons range from small, single-pile structures to large lighthouses or light stations and are located on land or in water. Lighted beacons are called lights; unlighted beacons are called daybeacons.
Classically, beacons are fires lit on hills or high places, used either as [[lighthouse]]s for navigation at sea, or for signalling over land that enemy troops are approaching, and alerting the defense. In the latter iteration, beacons are an ancient form of [[optical telegraph]]y, and were always parts of a [[relay league]].
Systems of this kind have existed for centuries over much of the world. Indeed, in [[Scandinavia]] many [[hill forts]] were parts of beacon networks to warn against invading pillagers.
In [[Israel]] beacons were used to show the beginning of the month.
In [[Wales]], the [[Brecon Beacons]] were named for beacons used to warn of approaching [[England|English]] raiders.
In England, the most famous examples are the beacons used in [[Elizabethan England]] to warn of the approaching [[Spanish Armada]]. Many hills in [[England]] are named [[Beacon Hill]] after these beacons.
Beacons have often been abused by [[pirate]]s. A fire at a wrong position was used to direct a ship against [[cliff]]s or [[beach]]es, so the cargo could be looted after the ship sank or ran aground.
In ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', a series of seven beacons are used as a signaling device between [[Gondor]] and [[Rohan]]. [http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/b/beaconsofgondor.html] In the [[The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (film)|film adaptation of ''The Return of the King'']], [[Gandalf]] has [[Peregrin Took|Pippin]] light the beacon closest to [[Minas Tirith]]. The series is then lit, thereby notifying Rohan's King [[Théoden]] that Gondor calls for help in the battle against [[Sauron]].
==See also==
*[[Aerodrome beacon]]
*[[Marker beacon]]
*[[Distress radiobeacon]]s (ELTs, PLBs & EPIRBs)
*[[Strobe beacon]]
*[[Beacon, New York]]
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[[Category:Early telecommunications]]
[[Category:Fireplaces]]
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