A ring turned on a small lathe or whittled and rubbed smooth from a close-grained wood — box, yew, or fruitwood. It costs almost nothing but the labour, which is why it is given as a token rather than sold as a valuable: a pledge between people with no silver between them. Wood swells in wet and splits in a hard knock, and a ring worn for years darkens with the oils of the hand.
Ring, wood
Ring turned or whittled from close-grained wood; a token, not a valuable.