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

[Deimos]

DIdn't know that about field hockey sticks (flat on one side).
I assume the same is true for Golf clubs.... there are "left handed" clubs and "right-handed" clubs. Also bowling balls.

 

[Deimos]

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.

I wonder.... a warrior typically wielded a sword/spear/mace in his dominant hand (almost always the right) and a shield with his left hand and/or supported on his left forearm. Any rings may have presented more of a problem while holding a shield rather than a sword.

 

[Elthir]

With respect to "left versus right" (and Elves), in a late text we read (I realize that JRRT didn't always hold this idea, but again this is a late text): "The Elves were ambidexters; consequently, the left hand was not to them evil in their imaginations. On the contrary. For if one turned the face Westwards as was usual, the left hand pointed away from Melkor (in the North), and if Northwards, it pointed towards Aman (the Blessed Land)."

JRRT, Eldarin Hands, Fingers, And Numerals, NOME [see also Vinyar Tengwar 49, IV. The Ambidexters Sentence]

Back in an earlier text (published in HOME, Morgoth's Ring) called: Of The Laws And Customs Among The Eldar Pertaining To Marriage And Other Matters Related Thereto: Together With (. . .) it is noted:
"The betrothed then received back one from another their silver rings (and treasured them); but they gave in exchange slender rings of gold, which were worn upon the index of the right hand."

Anyway. There's these.

 

[Olorgando]

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.

I've had the thought about a possible conflict between "weapons hands" and "ring hands" cropping up all the time while reading the posts in this thread ...

 

[Ent]

Any rings may have presented more of a problem while holding a shield rather than a sword.

True. But Gandalf is in my gunsights, not other warriors.
Gandalf is either staff in right, sword in left, or sword in right, staff in left.
The ring would present less difficulty for the staff.
But perhaps... just perhaps... he didn't wear it at all when he went into actual battle. (Though I'd hate to think he put it in the pocket inside his cloak.)

 

[Ent]

Anyway. There's these.

Important contributionns, thank you.

 

[Vorondil]

Any rings may have presented more of a problem while holding a shield rather than a sword.

That depends on the type of shield, if it had 2 straps that the user put his arm through, then a ring wouldn't get in the way.

 

[Ent]

if it had 2 straps that the user put his arm through, then a ring wouldn't get in the way.

all the shields I've seen with two straps, one is held in the hand-palm, with the other going over the forearm near the elbow.
would seem the strap in the hand-palm would have SOME kind of impact given a ring...
sword or shield strap... what I see is blisters.
(maybe there's a type of shield I'm not familiar with.)

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

Speaking of shields, this stripe is called a bend, in heraldry:

It runs from the wearer's top right to bottom left.

The opposite bend, from top left to bottom right:

Is called the bend sinister, and was a sign of illegitimate descendants of nobles.

 

[Ent]

Also bowling balls.

Fortunately, bowling balls come 'uni-hand'. No holes at all.
The purchaser has the ball fitted to their hand by a 'trained' driller.

(Of course, many are 'done in advance' and stuck on racks for use by the general public so they don't need to buy their own. But the original ball was still uni-hand. Good business for all involved. And many of those on the racks are drilled 'universally' so they can be handled by either left or right handed tossers of oversized marbles.)

Golf clubs have evolved. Many of these are mass-produced and 'unihand' in the shaft too... so clever artisans can mass produce tons of right hand club heads, fulfilling their financial greed, and smaller amounts of left-handed club heads, increasing the price to compensate for the lower volume, holding the lust fulfillment return up better than a same-priced object would.

 

[Vorondil]

all the shields I've seen with two straps, one is held in the hand-palm, with the other going over the forearm near the elbow.
would seem the strap in the hand-palm would have SOME kind of impact given a ring...
sword or shield strap... what I see is blisters.
(maybe there's a type of shield I'm not familiar with.)

That is correct, but remember that a lot of warriors would have gone into battle wearing gloves.

 

[Ent]

a lot of warriors would have gone into battle wearing gloves

Another good point. I suspect, for several reasons, many real 'warriors' would have gone into battle 'unadorned'.
After all, why leave their trinkets on the battlefield as plunder, when they can be left with the family 'in case....' for one example of 'why'.

Anyway, this all starts to get just a tad aside from my original need, so interesting and exemplary as it all is, I will just accumulate the wisdom shared for future reference.

Please don't stop sharing.

 

[Eljorahir]

Which hand do you think Gandalf would have worn Narya on, and why?

I like the idea of:

Those who use rings as weapons wear them on the right hand. (The bad guys.)
Those who use rings for good purposes wear them on the left hand. (The good guys.)
(Just for fun: Dwarves who might not be so affected by rings of power either way, wear them as scrunchies for a braid in the center of their beards--a neutral position.)

I thought maybe Gollum (at the Black Gate) revealed which hand Sauron used for the ring, but nope:

Frodo: 'It was Isildur who cut off the finger of the Enemy.'
Gollum: 'Yes, He has only four on the Black Hand, but they are enough...'

Gollum's statement has me wondering: Could either of Sauron's hands be referred to as "the Black Hand"? Or, is this a special title which would apply only to the hand which wore the ring? I'm leaning toward the latter being true.

 

[Ent]

scrunchies

just entered a new column in my research tracking spreadsheet:

"rings as scrunchies"...

 

[Ent]

Those who use rings as weapons wear them on the right hand. (The bad guys.)
Those who use rings for good purposes wear them on the left hand. (The good guys.)

Hum.
Kind of opposite the 'right hand / left hand' sharing earlier, where the left was the 'sinister side'.

That said, it has some real world charm, as most of the rings were worn by 'bad guys'... and there are certainly far more 'bad guys' (right handed people) in the world than there are 'good guys' (left handed people.)

Of course... that last statement is intended in 'representative' terms of numbers ONLY... no left handed or right handed people need take offense.
Ent is NOT saying all left handed people are good... (far from it)
Nor that all right-handed people are bad. ((not quite so) far from it.)

 

[Eljorahir]

Maybe of interest:

JRRT's illustration of Sauron at his moment of destruction shows us a hand with all the fingers. The thumb and forefinger seem to be in the foreground relative to the other three fingers. That would make this the left hand. However, looking at the arm, it kinda looks like the right arm. As usual, I'm left wondering.

Edit: The more I look at the image the more it looks like the left arm and hand. So, this would be consistent with the right hand with the missing finger being back out of view.

 

[Ent]

Edit: The more I look at the image the more it looks like the left arm and hand. So, this would be consistent with the right hand with the missing finger being back out of view.

good eyes and point...
but I do see it as the right shoulder and upper arm obscuring the upper torso... so we're looking at the right hand... with all 5 fingers.
if it were the left arm outstretched it wouild by nature twist the body 'to the right', presenting a little more of the upper torso in addition to the lower portion.

p.s. - i also see the thumb and forefinger as being 'behind' the other 3 fingers... so right arm/hand doesn't present my eyes with a disparity.

thanks for the pic.. first time I've seen this one.

 

[Deimos]

True. But Gandalf is in my gunsights, not other warriors.
Gandalf is either staff in right, sword in left, or sword in right, staff in left.
The ring would present less difficulty for the staff.
But perhaps... just perhaps... he didn't wear it at all when he went into actual battle. (Though I'd hate to think he put it in the pocket inside his cloak.)

Only Gandalf?
Gil-galad wore Vilya before giving it to Elrond, and Gil-galad carried a shield.

Gil-galad was an elven-king,
Of him the harpers sadly sing...
...His sword was long, his lance was keen.
His shining helm afar was seen.
The countless stars of heaven's field
Were mirrored in his silver shield....

 

[Deimos]

....

Golf clubs have evolved. Many of these are mass-produced and 'unihand' in the shaft too...

Ummmm.... well, yes, ......except....except,.... EXCEPT Bandobras Took didn't use no "uni-hand" club when he took the head off Golfimbul the Goblin King!!!