The mystery of Sauron's lost finger

[Kransha]

Well, I have a theory, which would only be appropriate in a mirthful forum...

Sauron (read: Gorthaur) was, as is known, Maiar. When, beneath the flames of Orodruin, he was slain inadvertantly by Isildur, the son took the Ring, forgetting rather absent-mindedly to dump it in Mt. Doom's fires. The finger most likely lay where it fell, severed from Sauron along with the Ring. Sauron was forced, when he returned an age later, to re-use the same body, as his spirit had 'fled far away and hid in waste places,' since Gollum notes in The Two Towers that the body, new or old, of the Dark Lord had nine fingers, leading us to believe that the same bereft, semi-disintegrated cadaver of Sauron was used again. But, that corpse was, as I said, 'bereft of life' (pining for the fjords, really).

What was not so bereft, was the finger, leeching Sauron's essence. It survived, lived on, after Sauron's body was removed from its moved moveliness, so to speak (senseless, I know). Thus, the Finger of Sauron remained living and probably crawled off cautiously while Elrond and Isildur babbled on about rings and things and Balrog wings. Over the years, and with the return of Sauron, it obviously decided not to return to its master, for he remains minus a finger, and lived reclusively, much like Shelob in Cirith Ungol.

As far as I know it, one can deduce the whereabouts of the Finger from the more conjectural sections of The History of Middle-Earth. In the north, near the foundation of Angmar, west of Carn Dum, sits a small pass in the upermost Misty Mountains known as Cirith Knukol, or The Pass of the Finger. Why else would it be named thus unless something finger-like lurked there? The roaming Khazad who ventued there in search of petroleum nitrate where never heard from again, now were the elusive 'company of Halfling Archers' sent to the aid of Earnur to retake Arthedain from the Witch-King. The Elves and Men who fought the Witch-Kings orcs tell no tales of Hobbit bravery, and deny openly that the hobbits were present. We must conclude that the hapless perrianath went astray and were devoured by the Finger. What say ye all?

[One of the Nine]

I think an orc ate it, personally. It may not have tasted to good to him, but it was food that he needed. That's my opinion, although Kransha does have a point, I'm sticking with the meeting with an orcs stomach.

[Bombadil]

Ah yes Kransha, I see you possess a great knowledge of what happenned to the ring. But your story ends too soon. You see the finger then crawled to the Old Forest and became Tom Bombadil. Mystery solved! When Tom refers to being around before the dark lord came from the outside he simply forgot about his former lord Melkor, noting Sauron as the only dark lord. Thus Sauron must've come into Arda hands first.

Now, this is why when Tom puts on the ring he is not affected, for it's old news to him. He had worn the thing for years before, and never went invisible either may I note. So there you have it: Tom Bombadil is not a Maia, Vala, Eru, a forest spirit, nor an enigma. It's simple- he is the finger of Sauron.

[Firefoot]

You see, when the Finger cut off, Isildur took it and put it in his pocket, where he promptly forgot about it. When he returned to Minas Tirith, he had it mummified and placed in a small box. He brought the box with him on his way up the Anduin, where he was as everyone knows, waylaid by Orcs and killed. The Finger was not given to Ohtar to take to Rivendell, as Isildur was in the middle of battle and had much more important things to think about than Sauron's Finger. When Isildur tried to swim to safety, the box with the Finger floated out of his pocket to shore, where an Orc found it. The said Orc was actually one of the Goblins of Moria, and he took it back to the caves in the Misty Mountains. However, being a dim-witted sort of creature, he could not figure out how to open the box, and abandoned the box, for he had no use for something that he could not understand. The box laid in the tunnels until several hundred years later Gollum found the box and took it to his little island underneath the mountains. When he left to find Bilbo and his precious, he happened to take the little box with him. Miraculously enough, he was able to hide the box from Sauron when he went to Mordor, though he was not so lucky when he was captured by Aragorn and taken to Mirkwood. The Elves discovered the trick to opening the box, and realized what it actually was. Legolas then took it with him when he went to the Council of Elrond. It was there decided that it should be destroyed along with the Ring, as long as Frodo was going to Mt. Doom anyways. So Frodo took it with him, and when he got to Mt. Doom he had no trouble casting the Finger into the Fire (alas that the same could not be said of the Ring!). So ended the journey of Sauron's finger.

[Elennar Starfire]

Who would've thought a mere finger could be so amusing?

[One of the Nine]

Ok, I've abandoned the orc eating the finger thing. It seems to improbable for me, now that I think about it. I think that the finger, being cut off from Sauron, ceased to be evil. It then crawled around not knowing where it was going. It was then picked up by an orc who, on finding it, threw it as far as it would go down a stream because he did not find it amusing and had no use for such a thing. The finger floated down the stream and ended up in the open sea where a giant fish ate it. The fish then swam northward for it's annual mating season, and spit up the finger. The finger then floated to the shore and continued in an easterly route, somehow managing to stay away from all of the towns. It then fell into a river, the same river that Isildur would soon be killed in, and just sat at the bottom for awhile. When Deogle found the Ring, he also found the finger, and Smeogle having killed him, took it as an extra birthday present. He took the finger to the caves when all his family and friends abandoned him, and set it on his island along with the Ring. Now, when Gollum lost the Ring, he also lost the finger, because he always put the Ring on the finger when he took it out with him, taking it off when he used it to catch and eat a goblin. The sinnews that held the finger onto him snapped. When Bilbo found the Ring, he also found the finger. So, he took it as an extra, maybe wierd, token of chance. He left the finger out when he finally let out the secret of the Ring, thinking nothing of it. But, when he passed the Ring on to Frodo, he was in fact very attached to the finger, and brought it along with him and kept it close to him. He then spent many years regreting keeping it, because the finger was very lively, and hard to keep from the elves ever watchful eyes. When he crossed over to Valinor, he dropped the finger into the ocean. It then sank to the bottom of the ocean and was forgotten forever. It is now under 10 feet of sand and still sinking. So ends the tale of Sauron's finger.

[Nimrothiel]

Personally, I'm rather partial to Bombadil's version, and he should know more about this matter than anyone, shouldn't he?

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

He, after all, is Sauron's finger.

But I've been wondering? How could a finger like Bombadil get Goldberry for a wife? Perhaps Goldberry was Ungoliant's mouth - I don't think even she could eat her mouth - who crossed Eriador, and fell into a river.

Now I'm totally lost. How did a spider's mouth become a person?