You are browsing your social media of choice and unexpectedly stumble upon a meme notifying you that you've just touched some sort of beacon. The uneven off-white crystal compels to do something in the name of a higher power, but first you need to figure out what it is.

So what is this Meridia's Beacon from Skyrim and how did the infamous item find its way into memes? Find all you need to know before you embark on your quest.

What Is ‘Meridia's Beacon’?

Meridia's Beacon is an item that is randomly found in a chest in the 2011 role-playing video game The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. Taking the item, which looks like an orb with an irregular surface, from the chest starts the quest "The Break of Dawn" in which Daedric Prince Meridia demands the player to bring the beacon back to her statue. As the player picks up the item, Meridia loudly announces, "A new hand touches the beacon."

A new hand touches the beacon. Listen. Hear me and obey. A foul darkness has seeped into my temple. A darkness that you will destroy. Return my beacon to Mount Kilkreath.

Successfully completing the quest awards the player with Dawnbreaker, a unique one-handed sword, as well as with a one-on-one chat with Meridia high up in the sky with a glorious view.

How Did 'A New Hand Touches The Beacon' Become A Meme?

Given that the quest can start at any given point after the player reaches level 12, and that the quest is quite lengthy and tedious to complete, "The Break of Dawn" and Meridia's Beacon got quite an infamous reputation among Skyrim players. The natural reaction was, of course, to create memes about how annoying it was to randomly find Meridia's Beacon at an unfortunate time.

The format started in early 2020s as memes about finding the Beacon spread on YouTube and Reddit. One other detail that found reflection in memes is just how loudly Meridia announces the start of the quest.

What Are 'A New Hand Touches The Beacon' Bait Posts?

In 2023, a new variation of the meme emerged: users made posts which told the reader that they just found the beacon, with one version telling the reader to tag their friends so they could also be "beaconed." An entertaining take on the classic You Have Been Visited By X meme format, all things considered.

Then on X / Twitter, users discovered that the spoiler tag works perfectly to set up a joke: posting an image of Meridia's Beacon obscured by spoiler blur, and then, as soon as an unsuspecting follower clicks on the image to reveal it, they are hit with "A new hand touches the beacon" message. Delightfully devilish.

---

For the full history of Meridia's Beacon, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.