Gandalf and Pippin see the beacons of Gondor
Event Type: General
Age: 3rd Age - Ring War
Date: March 8, 3019
An event in the prelude to the Siege of Minas Tirith; see that entry for an overview:
A light kindled in the sky, a blaze of yellow fire behind dark barriers. Pippin... saw that it was the moon rising above the eastern shadows, now almost at the full. So the night was not yet old and for hours the dark journey would go on. He stirred and spoke.
'Where are we, Gandalf?' he asked.
'In the realm of Gondor,' the wizard answered. 'The land of Anórien is still passing by.'....
'What is that?' cried Pippin suddenly, clutching at Gandalf's cloak. 'Look! Fire, red fire! Are there dragons in this land? Look, there is another!'
For answer Gandalf cried aloud to his horse. 'On, Shadowfax! We must hasten. Time is short. 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.'
But Shadowfax paused in his stride, slowing to a walk, and then he lifted up his head and neighed. And out of the darkness the answering neigh of other horses came; and presently the thudding of hoofs was heard, and three riders swept up and passed like flying ghosts in the moon and vanished into the West. Then Shadowfax gathered himself together and sprang away....
Pippin... paid little attention to Gandalf telling him of... how the Lord of the City had beacons built on the tops of outlying hills along both borders of the great range, and maintained posts at these points where fresh horses were always in readiness to bear his errand-riders to Rohan in the North, or to Belfalas in the South. 'It is long since the beacons of the North were lit,' he said; 'and in the ancient days of Gondor they were not needed, for they had the Seven Stones.'
The Return of the King, LoTR Book 5, Ch 1, Minas Tirith
Elena Tiriel 18Oct06, 25Oct06