Hangman's Knot

The hangman's knot or hangman's noose (also known as a collar during the Elizabethan era) is a well-known knot most often associated with its use in hanging a person. For a hanging, the knot of the rope is typically placed under or just behind the left ear. When the condemned drops to the end of the rope, the force is supposed to break the neck. The knot is non-jamming but tends to resist attempts to loosen it. Hangman's knot and hangman's noose are not synonymous in the United Kingdom, where the noose used for capital punishment was a simple loop as part of the kit in the executioners' box. This is shown in some detail in the 1997 film Hanging with Frank.