A lighthouse is a tower designed to emit light as a beacon for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.
Culture
According to a semi-canon source, the Hightower, the seat of House Hightower, is a massive stepped tower with a beacon on top to guide ships into the port of Oldtown.[1] The Hightower is thus both a castle and lighthouse.[2] The color of the beacon's fire is changeable, as green flame can be used to call House Hightower's banners.[3] Beacon of the South is one of the hereditary titles held by the head of House Hightower.[4]
Sharp Point has a large watchtower upon which a great fire burns atop.[5]
The Titan of Braavos acts as a fortress and lighthouse guarding the entrance channel to the Free City of Braavos.[6][7] In the eyes of the Titan's head, which is four hundred feet above sea level,[6] burn large beacon fires, lighting the way inside the lagoon for returning ships.[7] The watchmen within the statue can steer enemy ships onto the nearby rocks.[6]
When any sign of longships is spotted in the Shield Islands, elders in watchtowers light beacon fires, which in turn cause other watchtowers to light their own beacons and spread the warning to settlements further inland so they will not be caught unaware.[8]
Beacons burn along the shores of the Three Sisters to warn passing ships of danger. On stormy nights and foggy ones, however, some Sistermen use false lights to draw unwary captains to their doom.[9]
History
Antiquity
According to legend, Uthor of the High Tower commissioned Bran the Builder or his son Brandon Stark to rebuild the Hightower, turning it from a tall timber tower and a beacon to a structure of stone that rose two hundred feet above the Whispering Sound.[10]
The Kings of Mountain and Vale from House Arryn constructed numerous watchtowers with beacons to defend the Fingers from raiders.[11]
A thousand years after the time of King Brandon the Burner, ironborn sailing out of Great Wyk found a cluster of islands eight days' sail from the closest shore. Their captain built a tower and a beacon there, took the name "Farwynd", and declared the Lonely Light his seat.[12] Since then, a beacon blazes at all times on the roof of the island's namesake keep.[13]
Targaryen Era
During the events that led to the submission of Oldtown, the beacon fire atop the Hightower turned green to summon Lord Martyn Hightower's bannermen.[3]
In 54 AC, Alysanne Targaryen flew Silverwing to Oldtown for the funeral of the High Septon. The dragon alighted atop the Hightower, fanning the flames of the tower's beacon with her wings, which made the city gasp.[14]
Lord Godric Borrell intentionally caused shipwrecks by turning off the Night Lamp, one of the beacons in the Three Sisters. Lord Stannis Baratheon, master of ships, threatened to hang Godric should another ship sink because the Night Lamp had gone out.[9]
The beacon tower of the Whispers collapsed when Dick Crabb was a boy and now sits in the sea fifty feet below.[15]
Recent Events
A Storm of Swords
When Styr's band of wildlings burn Mole's town, the scouts of the Night's Watch light a beacon atop Weatherback Ridge to warn the defenders back at Castle Black of the impending attack.[16]
When Ygritte is awed by the towerhouse and holdfast of Queenscrown, Jon Snow explains that its lordling could light a beacon on the roof in case of a wildling attack.[17]
A Dance with Dragons
Jon Snow, the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, intends to establish a line of beacon towers along the top of the Wall.[18]
Tyrion Lannister sees a ragged row of beacon lamps along the Bridge of Dream in southern Chroyane, some of which are still aglow.[19]
Ser Barristan Selmy, the Lord Commander of the Queensguard, constructs a beacon at the apex of the Great Pyramid, where the harpy once stood. The beacon consists of dry wood, soaked with oil, and is covered to keep the rain off. Its flames will be the signal for the forces of Meereen to pour out of the city gates and attack their besiegers during the second siege of Meereen.[20]
Known lighthouses
- Hightower in Oldtown[2]
- Lonely Light in the Iron Islands[12]
- Night Lamp in the Three Sisters[9]
- Sharp Point in Massey's Hook[5]
- Titan of Braavos[7]
References
- ↑ So Spake Martin: The Arryns and the Hightower (May 9, 1999)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 A Feast for Crows, Prologue.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Fire & Blood, The Sons of the Dragon.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Appendix.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 10, Davos II.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 The World of Ice & Fire, The Free Cities: Braavos.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 A Feast for Crows, Chapter 6, Arya I.
- ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 29, The Reaver.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 9, Davos I.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Reach: Oldtown.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Vale.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Fire & Blood, Jaehaerys and Alysanne - Their Triumphs and Tragedies.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Iron Islands.
- ↑ Fire & Blood, Birth, Death, and Betrayal Under King Jaehaerys I.
- ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 20, Brienne IV.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 55, Jon VII.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 41, Jon V.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 7, Jon II.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 18, Tyrion V.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 70, The Queen's Hand.