This legend about the escaped motorist who only afterwards discovers he's in possession of the severed fingers of his assailant has been documented in England as far back as 1960. Since then, numerous versions have circulated, with the event described as recent and local. People find solace in it not only because the set-upon, almost-victim escapes unharmed, but also because one of the toughs pays a heavy price for his belligerence. (The theme of the bad guy getting his just deserts is prized in urban lore, especially when his punishment comes about through his own rotten actions.)
The legend is much older than the 1960 date which only applies to the automobile version of it. Chamber's 1824 Traditions of England contains a tale about a party of drunks who smash upon the door knocker of someone's home. The next morning, part of a finger is discovered sticking to remnants of the knocker. A 1752 Swedish version tells of a crofter who, rowing home one evening, severs the fingers of a troll attempting to sink his boat.
Notably, a very recognizable version of the current legend was kicking about centuries earlier, as demonstrated by this excerpt from La Nouvelle Fabrique des Excellents Traits de Vérité, a French collection of 99 tall tales first published in 1579:
One day a man of the world, vigorous, alert, pleasing and as brave at least as Richard the Lion-Heart, was travelling along a narrow forest path when he saw a thief on the look-out, in among the trees, and he came out at him, putting his hand on the horse's bridle and saying: "Hold! Your money or your life!" The traveller, who was not easily frightened, immediately seizes his sword and gives him such a blow on the hand holding his horse that he cuts it clean off. Having done this, he spurs his horse and rides off so swiftly that he arrives home very soon after. His servant took his horse and led it to the stable; but when he came to unharness it, he noticed a hand hanging from the bridle, which gave him a nasty fright; surprised as he was, he dashed off into the house where, all a-tremble, he told him how he had found a severed hand still holding the horse's bridle. At first the master did not seem at all moved by his account, but after thinking about it for a while he recalled having hit out with his sword at a highwayman who had stopped his horse; whereupon he went to fetch the said hand, which he detached from the bridle with great difficulty and then nailed it on his front door as a trophy.
Oftentimes, folks are surprised to discover that accounts they've heard as recent horrific occurrences that capture so well the spectre of mindless random violence afoot in our society have existed as folklore not just all over the globe, but also well before the current century. This is the case here. Not only has the Severed Fingers tale made its way around the world in modern times, but it's demonstrably more than four centuries old. Another oldie of this ilk is the Hairy-Armed Hitchhiker legend, a version of which antedates the American Civil War.
Motifs are commonly shared among legends. Another tale featuring a bad guy's severed fingers is the Choking Doberman, a story about a distressed guard dog and the gruesome find dislodged from its throat. The urban legend classic The Hook shares the "menacing item afterwards found on the car they escaped in" element with the severed fingers legend.
Variations:
The horrifying find is variously reported as two, three, or four severed fingers stuck in the air vents at the back of the car (where they'd been cut off by the cooling fan), in a chain caught in the chrome trim, or in the window of the car.
The victim can be a lone male or female, or a mixed-sex couple.
What causes the punks to attack can be a remark directed their way, the driver's failing to stop to pick them up, simply the act of stopping at the wrong red light, or driving past a gang of motorcycle hooligans (who then set out in pursuit).
The legend is common to the United States, Canada, Britain, and Australia.
