The Posy Ring: Symbol of Patriarchal Control and Changeling Terror in Blood on Her Tongue

What Is the Posy Ring?

The posy ring is a gold wedding band from the seventeenth century, discovered by a peat cutter in the same field where the bog woman—later identified as Marianne—was staked down. The ring features a Latin inscription on the inside: “Et ipse dominabitur tui,” which translates to “He shall rule over you.” This exact phrase comes from Genesis 3:16, a biblical verse often used to justify wifely submission. In the novel, the ring is first brought to Lucy by groundskeeper Mr. Hooiman, who cannot read the words. Lucy takes it to Mrs. van Dijk, who identifies it as a posy ring—a type of love token usually exchanged between lovers or used as a wedding band. The inscription is kept secret, visible only to the giver and the wearer, creating an intimate bond that, in this case, encodes domination rather than devotion.

Where the Ring Appears and How Its Meaning Shifts

The ring recurs at several key moments, each time deepening its symbolic weight.

Chapter 12–13: The Discovery. Mr. Hooiman presents the ring to Lucy, saying it may belong to the bog woman. Lucy’s immediate physical reaction—her mouth going dry, her throat clicking—hints at the ring’s unsettling power. She wraps it in her handkerchief, treating it as something that must be contained.
Chapter 13: Identification by Mrs. van Dijk. Mrs. van Dijk cleans the ring, peers at the inscription, and translates it. She explains the history of posy rings, emphasizing the intimacy of wearing words against the skin. Katje immediately recognizes the biblical source, reciting the verse from Genesis. The ring is thus explicitly linked to the ideology of male rule over women.
Lucy Tries It On. Lucy slips the ring onto her ring finger. It fits her small hands “only barely,” and she notes that “the gold had taken on the warmth of her skin, as if eager to please.” This moment foreshadows Lucy’s own entanglement in the same system of domination—her affair with Michael, her submission to his will, and her eventual violent rebellion.
Chapter 24: Michael’s Rule. In the scene where Michael pressures Lucy to let him commit Sarah to an asylum, his words and actions mirror the ring’s inscription. He tells Lucy, “She is my wife, and wives must submit to their husbands.” He then physically dominates Lucy, kissing her, blowing on her eyes, and calling her “my sweet little fuck.” The ring’s message becomes embodied in Michael’s treatment of Lucy: he rules her, and she feels like “a cold thing, like a dead thing.”
The Ring as Clue. Lucy uses the ring to narrow down the bog woman’s identity. It provides a time frame (late Middle Ages to seventeenth century) and suggests the victim was Catholic (Latin inscription), likely a married woman. The ring drives Lucy to the archives, where she discovers the trial of “J.W.”—the farmer who killed his wife M.W. because he believed she was a changeling. The ring thus connects the physical object to the changeling accusation that led to Marianne’s murder.

Character Connections

Lucy Goedhart

Lucy is the primary inheritor of the ring’s symbolic burden. When she tries it on, the band “took on the warmth of her skin,” as if she is marked by the same patriarchal system. Her relationship with Michael—a secret affair that began after Sarah’s daughter Lucille died—places her in a subordinate role. Michael strokes her throat, blows on her eyes, and speaks of her “craving the meat and the madness of it.” Lucy later resolves to kill him, thinking “I shall kill you first” as he kisses her. The ring’s promise of male rule is what Lucy must break through violence.

Michael Schatteleyn

Michael is the living embodiment of the ring’s inscription. He believes he has the right to control his wife Sarah, and later to control Lucy through sexual and emotional coercion. He uses the language of duty and sanity to justify committing Sarah to an asylum. The ring’s words—“He shall rule over you”—are his unspoken motto.

Sarah / Not-Sarah

Sarah is the intended victim of Michael’s rule. Her madness stems partly from her horror at the bog woman’s fate—a woman staked down with a stone in her mouth, killed because she was thought a changeling. Not-Sarah, the violent alter, emerges to resist Michael’s control. After Lucy kills Michael, Not-Sarah drinks his blood and proposes to sink his body in the bog. The ring’s rule is literally overthrown.

The Bog Woman (Marianne)

The ring most likely belonged to Marianne. The trial record shows that J.W. killed his wife M.W. because he believed she was a changeling. The changeling belief—that a woman who did not submit to her husband’s rule or who showed signs of “madness” was actually a demonic replacement—directly parallels Sarah’s situation. The ring thus symbolizes the accusation that destroyed Marianne and that threatens Sarah.

Theme Connections

Patriarchal Control. The ring’s inscription is the novel’s most explicit statement of male domination. It appears in the context of a wedding, an institution designed to enforce women’s submission. Michael, Arthur, and the historical husband J.W. all assert this rule over women.
Madness and Social Control. The changeling belief was a tool for controlling women who deviated from expected roles. Marianne was killed because her husband deemed her not his “true wife.” Sarah is nearly institutionalized because her fever-induced delusions frighten Michael. The ring links both women’s fates.
Sisterhood and Codependency. Lucy’s obsession with protecting Sarah drives her to murder. She puts the ring in her handkerchief to keep it safe, but she also internalizes its meaning—she is both the object of Michael’s rule and the one who eventually destroys him to free her sister.
Female Desire and Agency. Lucy’s affair with Michael is, in part, an expression of her own desire, but it is also a submission to his rule. Later, her sexual fantasies imagine being “had rather brutally” by Michael. The ring’s inscription twists desire into domination. Only by killing Michael does Lucy reclaim agency.
Moral Compromise and Violence. Lucy murders Michael to prevent him from committing Not-Sarah. The ring’s message is so oppressive that violence becomes the only escape. The novel does not condemn Lucy; instead, it shows the ring’s ideology as something that must be shattered.

Study Questions and Answers

How does the posy ring’s inscription connect to the changeling belief that led to Marianne’s murder?
The inscription “He shall rule over you” is a biblical command for wives to submit. The changeling belief was used to explain women who resisted that submission—through madness, willfulness, or even illness. Marianne’s husband J.W. claimed he had killed a changeling, not his true wife. The ring thus materializes the expectation of obedience; when a woman failed to meet it, she could be labeled a changeling and murdered.
Why does Lucy try on the ring, and what does her physical reaction reveal about her character?
Lucy tries on the ring to confirm that it is a woman’s ring based on size. The gold “took on the warmth of her skin, as if eager to please.” This moment reveals Lucy’s empathy for the bog woman—she literally steps into Marianne’s place. It also foreshadows Lucy’s own experience of being ruled by Michael. The ring fits her small hand, marking her as a woman who will also be subjected to male control.
In what ways does Michael’s treatment of Lucy reflect the ring’s message of domination?
Michael repeatedly uses physical and emotional force to assert his will. He blows on Lucy’s eyes to soothe her, but that act also controls her. He holds her by the throat, digs his thumb into her jaw, and insists on kissing her even when she resists. He speaks of her “craving” him and treats her body as his to use. His language—“you have craved the meat and the madness of it”—mirrors the ring’s hidden command: he rules her.
What happens to the ring in the end, and how does its fate mirror the sisters’ escape from patriarchal control?
The ring is not mentioned directly in the final chapters, but it is left behind when Lucy, Not-Sarah, and Katje flee Zwartwater. The novel ends with a newspaper article speculating that the bog claimed the three women. By disappearing, they escape Michael’s rule—and all the rings and systems that enforce it. The ring, once a symbol of Marianne’s murder, is no longer needed because the women who survived have broken the cycle of control through their own violent agency.