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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Hand of Glory is the dried and pickled hand of a man who has been hanged, often specified as being the left (Latin: sinister) hand, or else, if the man were hanged for murder, the hand that "did the deed."

According to old European beliefs, a candle made of the fat from a malefactor who died on the gallows, virgin wax, and Lapland sesame oil (the candle could only be put out with milk), and the hand having come from the said hanged criminal, lighted and placed in the Hand of Glory (as in a candlestick) would have rendered motionless all persons to whom it was presented. (In another version the hair of the dead man is used as a wick, also the candle is said to give light only to the holder.) The Hand of Glory also purportedly had the power to unlock any door it came across. The method of making a hand of glory is described in "Petite Albert", purportedly written by Albertus Magnus. ^[1]

The legend is traceable to about 1440, but the name only dates from 1707. It was originally a name for the mandrake root (via French "mandragore" and thus, "maindegloire"^[2] - "hand of glory") that became conflated with the earlier legend. The confusion may have occurred because mandrakes are said to grow beneath the bodies of hanged criminals.

Contents 1 Hands of Glory on display 2 Hand of Glory in Popular Culture 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Hands of Glory on display

The following organizations possess a Hand of Glory:

• Whitby Museum, North Yorkshire, England ^[3]
• Walsall Museum, Walsall, England ^[4]

[edit] Hand of Glory in Popular Culture

• In the television adaptation of The Dresden Files, a slightly altered version of the Hand of Glory appears in the episode "Walls". It allows a group of college students to go through walls in order to carry out robberies.
• In the Harry Potter book, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", Draco Malfoy uses a stolen Hand of Glory in the invasion of Hogwarts school.

[edit] References

• James George Frazer, The Golden Bough.

[edit] External links

• The Hand of Glory and other gory legends about human hands - Edited by D. L. Ashliman.
• Hand of Glory - Manufacture and use of the Hand of Glory.