What Hand Were the 🧝Elven Rings of Power Worn On?

[Ent]

Working on some Gandalf artwork, and wanting Narya to be shown, as well as correct a thing often missed in Gandalf pictures done. (We'll see how that goes.)
Researching the Lore, whether it be the Elven 3 or the One Ring, this Ent has not found anything relating to which hand the rings were worn on. The only mention relates to them being on a finger.

Which hand do you think Gandalf would have worn Narya on, and why? I have some suspicions of my own but would like your input as well.

(Feel free to speak to the others and where they might have worn theirs as well.)
Thank you.

 

[ZehnWaters]

I believe they describe the hand Galadriel wears hers on but I don't have access to the book at the moment.

 

[Vorondil]

I believe they describe the hand Galadriel wears hers on but I don't have access to the book at the moment.

I just checked, but it only says "on her hand" or "on her finger. The same goes for Gandalf and Elrond.

 

[ZehnWaters]

I just checked, but it only says "on her hand" or "on her finger. The same goes for Gandalf and Elrond.

I'm sorry! You could look up on which hand, historically, rings were worn. Not wedding rings, but royal or papal rings?

 

[Vorondil]

I'm sorry! You could look up on which hand, historically, rings were worn. Not wedding rings, but royal or papal rings?

All I could find is that the pope traditionally wears his ring on the right hand. But I only made a quick search of it.

 

[Ent]

Yes, it's not mentioned which hand Bombadil put the ring on, nor which hand Sauron's finger was cut from either.
Nor the Nine, nor the 7 of the Dwarves.

No help in "Of The Rings of Power" from SIL either. I've not checked the Letters yet... that's next.

So far I don't see anyone making a strong case one way or another... which COULD mean it's a matter of opinion without a 'right or wrong.'

Historically, I see two things: the 'strong vs. weak' hand, i.e. the 'hand of power', always considered the 'right hand' (sorry, Lefties)... and the Papal ring as mentioned above.

Oue COULD say Tolkien may well have had the Papal ring of power in mind given his bent... particularly with relation to Gandalf perhaps... but 'rings of power' are fairly common in myth and fantasy, so it's certainly not an overly compelling argument in itself given his steeping in the fantastical world as well.

But except for 'wedding rings', a later trapping of man with little bearing on the present 2nd and 3rd ages, I feel that of little consequence.

As a result, of 'all of the above,' I've been favoring the right hand.

Unless someone comes up with some 'hard-core evidence' of some similar discussion among Fandom settled otherwise, I'm likely just to go with that.

Anyone have any compelling thoughts about the 'left hand'?

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

No, but one thing to consider in relation to the rings and art: they were likely invisible to viewers, unless the owners allowed them to be seen.

 

[Ent]

Curiouser and curiouser.

401 references to 'ring' in Letters. No mention of left or right.

However, in Hobbit... though almost no mention... we do read "Bilbo put the ring in his pocket almost without thinking'. Later, we read he reached in his pocket and felt the ring, asking the Riddle game question "what have I got in my pocket."

Finally, we read:
“What have I, I wonder?” he said to himself, as he panted and stumbled along. He put his left hand in his pocket. The ring felt very cold as it quietly slipped on to his groping forefinger." Tolkien, J.R.R.. The Hobbit: Or There and Back Again (Lord of the Rings) (p. 83). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

So when Bilbo put the ring in his pocket initially, it was with his left hand. (It would be unnatural to put the ring, cross-body, into a pocket unless one had only one pocket.) And it's his left hand he uses to extract it.

Our Bilbo may well be left-handed. Most people naturally 'do things' with their predominant hand.

And, the ring goes on his forefinger. another intriguing point. Yet we do know the ring expands and contracts to suit the wearer, from another read... so this alone isn't very meaningful.

It also doesn't mean Biblo ALWAYS wore it on his left of course...nor that he's left-handed... it's just quite 'suggestive' as Sherlock Holmes would say. Sadly Tolkien didn't tell us how many pockets and on which sides the clothes Bilbo was wearing had.

Most people would wear a (non-wedding) ring on their 'strong' hand. But the ring may be 'acting on its own' here too... Bilbo only 'had it' in his left pocket... he did not consciously choose to put it on his left hand.

On with mroe readings of Bilbo's use, then all Frodo's 'putting on' of the ring - and the one or two by Sam.

Then I'll have exhausted the rest of the "lore" I hadn't checked yet.

A completely alternative theory could be suggested however, concluding he's right handed - he simply stumbled on the ring with his left hand in the dark, and rather than bothering (or risking) to switch hands with it, he simply stuffed it into his left side pocket.

Tolkien was SO imprecise..! 🤣

 

[Ent]

More. Hum.

"A pang of fear and loss, like an echo of Gollum’s misery, smote Bilbo, and forgetting even to draw his sword he struck his hands into his pockets. And there was the ring still, in his left pocket, and it slipped on his finger,

So though Bilbo thought he'd had the ring on and was invisible while he was scuttling down the passageways as fast as he could go, it seems he did not. OR, the ring had the power to vanish from his left forefinger, and appear 'magically' back in that pocket. (Or of course, Bilbo had unthinkingly stuffed his left hand back into his left pocket, and the ring had slid off. An unusual move, however, when running as fast as one can run. Another of Tolkien's missed opportunities to put the tiniest bit of detail into his woerk..!)

 

[Ent]

Hum Hroom. Harambumbabar.
Frodo also slips the ring on the forefinger of his left hand.

He felt Sam looking at him, as if he knew that his master was in some great trouble, but he could not turn towards him. He shut his eyes and struggled for a while; but resistance became unbearable, and at last he slowly drew out the chain, and slipped the Ring on the forefinger of his left hand. Tolkien, J.R.R.. The Lord Of The Rings: One Volume (p. 195). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

Other than this there are 490 more references to the Ring in LoTR I yet need to research. No time now. Back later...

And of course, the 'One Ring' does not speak to the wearing for them all.

I fear I"m on a hopeless quest... creating my own entry into The Great Halls of Speculation.

 

[d4rk3lf]

Sorry for not reading all the posts in full, but sometimes there's just not enough time, and sometimes I am simply too hasty.

I might be very, VERY wrong, but I always thought that it's a more of a possession, then a "I wore it, thus I possess it", thing.
That being said, I always thought (again, I might be very wrong), that simple having the ring is like 70% that you get from all the effect of the ring, and another 30%, if you wore it, and you let everyone know you wore it.
Of course, this might not fully apply (or the same rules) for The One Ring.

Please, of anyone remembers, can you remind me if Saruman knew from the start that Gandalf is wearing Narya?
I think I read something about it in Unfinished Tales, and that he was jealous, but I am not sure if Saruman knew that from the very start.

Sorry if I went slightly off topic.

 

[CirdanLinweilin]

Sorry for not reading all the posts in full, but sometimes there's just not enough time, and sometimes I am simply too hasty.

I might be very, VERY wrong, but I always thought that it's a more of a possession, then a "I wore it, thus I possess it", thing.
That being said, I always thought (again, I might be very wrong), that simple having the ring is like 70% that you get from all the effect of the ring, and another 30%, if you wore it, and you let everyone know you wore it.
Of course, this might not fully apply (or the same rules) for The One Ring.

Please, of anyone remembers, can you remind me if Saruman knew from the start that Gandalf is wearing Narya?
I think I read something about it in Unfinished Tales, and that he was jealous, but I am not sure if Saruman knew that from the very start.

Sorry if I went slightly off topic.

Wasn't in one of Tolkien's works that Thror's ring had to be forcefully taken from him and that it was incredibly traumatizing? This leads me to believe he was wearing it at the time.


CL

 

[Deimos]

When Sam awoke on the Field of Cormallen, and seeing Frodo lying next to him, apparently asleep, he thought he had dreamt the entire episode of the trek to Mount Doom and the destruction of the Ring.
On closer look: Frodo's "one hand [was] behind his head, and the other was resting upon the coverlet. It was his right hand, and the third finger was missing."

The third finger was either the ring finger or the middle finger.
However, I looked up "fourth" finger, the finger monarchs (including English monarchs and the Pope) traditionally wear their coronation/Papal ring on and it is what we call the "ring finger" , the thumb being the "first finger"**. It was always worn on the right hand.***

Hence, I think there could be some debate, where Frodo is concerned, as to what finger it was on.
However, what is is clear from the book and also historically, is that rings of significance were worn on the right hand, and on what we call the "ring finger", and not the pinky.

**If asked "how many fingers does a human have" all but the most pedantic person would answer "ten"... not "eight and two thumbs".

*** I have my own theory about right vs left for a ring of significance or importance.
Latin lesson (bear with me)... Right = dexter ... left =sinister.
For those who wear corrective lenses, whether spec or contacts, look at your prescription.
It will say O.D. (and some numbers) and O.S. (and some numbers) O stands for oculus =eye.
OD = Oculus Dexter (right eye) and OS = Oculus Sinister (left eye)....sometimes they are in English as RE and LE

Now we are familiar with the word sinister as being untrustworthy or sneaky or flat out evil.
But it wasn't always so. Anyone who is familiar with [English] heraldry know how the word sinister is used in describing a coat-of-arms.

It acquired its current meaning because most people are right handed (dexter manus) and not left handed (sinister manus).
In meeting a stranger or messenger of assumed goodwill the parties opened their right hand and held it upward palm out, to show they held no weapon.
But a person of evil intent or treachery who was left handed could do that and yet still capably if not expertly wield a weapon (dagger) in his left hand.

And that apparently happened enough that anyone who was left handed was considered untrustworthy at best.
So the word sinister came to have a pejorative meaning.
Therefore (I reason) that no monarch who wants his subjects to trust him /her would wear a coronation ring on his/her left hand.
Tolkien, being very familiar with monarchies, would, I think place any Good Guy ring on the person's right hand. ... (just my opinion)

 

[Vorondil]

It acquired its current meaning because most people are right handed (dexter manus) and not left handed (sinister manus).
In meeting a stranger or messenger of assumed goodwill the parties opened their right hand and held it upward palm out, to show they held no weapon.
But a person of evil intent or treachery who was left handed could do that and yet still capably if not expertly wield a weapon (dagger) in his left hand.

And that apparently happened enough that anyone who was left handed was considered untrustworthy at best.
So the word sinister came to have a pejorative meaning.
Therefore (I reason) that no monarch who wants his subjects to trust him /her would wear a coronation ring on his/her left hand.
Tolkien, being very familiar with monarchies, would, I think place any Good Guy ring on the person's right hand. ... (just my opinion)

So that's where the thing that left handed people are criminals comes from! I've wondered about that for years.

 

[Deimos]

So that's where the thing that left handed people are criminals comes from! I've wondered about that for years.

Don't read too much into this.
I was only explaining my take on left vs right hand for rings of significance.
Also the word sinister becoming associated with not being trustworthy or with treachery.

Historically most western cultures did not treat lefties well. ( I don't know about eastern/Asian cultures.)
Think about it... people are predominantly right handed the world over.
Things, especially tools, are made for right handed people (when orientation matters).
Ask any southpaw what it's like to have to use a pair of scissors, or an angled spatula.
There are still people around (my age) who were forced to learn to write with their right hand because there was a veiled stigma associated with being left-handed.

 

[Ent]

Historically most western cultures did not treat lefties well.

they were, in fact, discriminated against. at certain times it was considered a 'malady' to be corrected, and great efforts were made to 'break the bad habit'.
even today there is a certain 'discrimination' against left handed people.
it's still hard to find things specifically made for them.

but given a capatalistic where everything is evaluated in terms of its ability to 'provide financial gain' for the tyranny of money, suc a small percentage of the population of any kind is going to find themselves 'on the outside'.

They just don't represent a source of much power to the insatiably greedy.

 

[Ent]

Tolkien, being very familiar with monarchies, would, I think place any Good Guy ring on the person's right hand. ... (just my opinion)

"one hand [was] behind his head, and the other was resting upon the coverlet. It was his right hand, and the third finger was missing."

It acquired its current meaning because most people are right handed (dexter manus) and not left handed (sinister manus).
In meeting a stranger or messenger of assumed goodwill the parties opened their right hand and held it upward palm out, to show they held no weapon.
But a person of evil intent or treachery who was left handed could do that and yet still capably if not expertly wield a weapon (dagger) in his left hand.

all great additions to the discussion, thank you.
and all the more reason for me to hold to my current 'right hand' predilection.

The 'good guy/bad guy' concept is consistent in many themes through history, but I'd never associated it with the origin of the word sinister, nor by extension with right vs. left.

Common in things like 'bankers should not wear green suits'... (many people have an inherent and unconscious distrust of the color green and finances).
Also with 'red cars get more eyeballs from police and higher insurance rates than other colors'... because red is associated with anger, rage, aggression etc.

There are many others.

Thank you much.

 

[Ent]

I might be very, VERY wrong, but I always thought that it's a more of a possession, then a "I wore it, thus I possess it", thing.
That being said, I always thought (again, I might be very wrong), that simple having the ring is like 70% that you get from all the effect of the ring, and another 30%, if you wore it, and you let everyone know you wore it.
Of course, this might not fully apply (or the same rules) for The One Ring.

I think this definitely applies to the One Ring. But in reverse, I'm not sure about the others.

Tolkien writes in one letter 'as long as the ring existed Sauron was not 'diminished'... but he did not have his 'full strength' unless he was wearing it.

But then Sauron had poured the greater part of his power into the ring itself... something Celebrimbor did not do with the 3 rings.

Clearly Galadriel wore her ring in Lothlorien...but not openly. her statement 'it cannot be hidden from the ring-bearer'. (but he'd never noticed it before, so I do not think she speaks literally there, but symbologically... and, without WEARING the One Sauron had no clue where the Three were, but when he put it on, they would be revealed.)

This matches up with Gandalf and Narya, where at his departure from Middle-earth we read it said "he was now wearing his ring OPENLY." This implies he wore it 'hidden' previously... at least some times, maybe all the time.

Of Elrond's ring, I don't think we ever read of it being exposed.

The Three had no concern about being worn as long as Sauron didn't have possession of the One, as once he put it on... (note, he has a real body, he's not just a big Eye)... the three would then be revealed to him (and controlled by him).

I think the only 'power' of the One working on others when not worn, was the lust to put it on and use it... slowly destroying their wills etc. Other than this, it's always said Sauron "feared someone might USE it..." i.e. put it on and claim it... against him. Only then was its 'power' outside of corruption able to be wielded.

I fear I don't have time to put up all the citations for the above, and anybody having any bringing about a conflict with what I've said, please feel free to bring them along.

So now I've gone off-track too.
Have a good day everybody.

 

[Olorgando]

There are still people around (my age) who were forced to learn to write with their right hand because there was a veiled stigma associated with being left-handed.

My mother (born 1928) was left-handed. She wrote, being forced to learn so (entering school in Germany in 1934 😖) with her right hand.
Both of my parents were members, first as children and later as adults, in a prominent tennis and (field) hockey club in Cologne.
My mother played tennis (her better sport) with the left hand. Field hockey sticks, it appears, were uniformly for right-handers, as the flat side (the only side legal for playing the ball, contact with the ball with the rounded side is a foul) was / is uniformly on the left side when looking down at the stick with the toe facing away. So my mother was used to this kind of sporting equipment when my parents took up golf in India in the 1960's, and she played golf right-handed.

Interesting contrast was a buddy of mine from the 2000's, with whom I played recreational tennis. He was a bit past his mid-20's at the time, but he had played more seriously in his youth. At which time he played a two-handed backhand, which he later abandoned for the single-handed version. He had also started playing baseball at some time (very much a tiny niche sport in Germany), and his two-handed tennis backhand had an interesting effect on his baseball batting. Being right-handed, his two-handed tennis backhand's grip was the same as a left-handed grip on a baseball bat. Which is why it felt natural for him, though throwing right-handed, to bat left-handed. Ty Cobb, baseball's unrivaled lifetime batting average champion, likewise threw right but batted left, but through a conscious decision, because batting left put him a step at least closer to first base.

As to rings, I'm quite certain that both tennis players and baseball batters never wore any on any hand having contact with their hitting equipment. 😬

 

[Ent]

As to rings, I'm quite certain that both tennis players and baseball batters never wore any on any hand having contact with their hitting equipment. 😬

Quite frankly, I have been considering this very issue in my somewhat extensive musings on the possibilities.

Which hand did Gandalf wield Glamdring with? The right? Then maybe unlikely he wore a ring on the right. And yet... he was not a constant wielder of the sword, though he wore and brandished it often to good effect, and just pulling it out seemed to make some Orcs die in droves....(kidding).

So I've added research of which hand Gandalf may have used for what, to my research list on the matter.
Unlikely the knowing will change my predilection...but it's the knowing I seek. The knowing. (Color me an obsessed Ent, whatever color obsessed looks like.)

No stone left unturned, as some say.