Viking Weddings, Part 6

[Gunnora Hallakarva]

Courtship, Love and Marriage in Viking Scandinavia
Part V: Reconstructing the Wedding Ceremony, continued
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C. The Wedding Ceremony
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        Once all the preparations were completed, the stage was set for the
wedding itself on Frigga's-Day, or Friday.  The first order of business
would have been the exchange of dowry and *mundr* before witnesses.  Once
the financial considerations were out of the way, the religious ceremony
could then proceed.  Although small family temples appear to have existed,
probably the ecermony would have been held out-of-doors, either in the open
or at a site such as a grove or *ve* that was considered sacred.  Holding
the ceremony in the open would not only have provied better visibility for
the wedding guests and witnesses, but would also have been more appropriate
for a rite invoking the deities of fertility and marriage.  The bride was
escorted to the chosen location, preceeded by a young kinsman bearing a
sword that would be her wedding gift to her new husband (Ellis-Davidson,
Sword at the Wedding, p. 97).  

        The first part of the religious ritual was designed to summon the
attention of the gods and goddesses via invocation and possibly sacrifice.
If a sacrifice was to be held, an animal appropriate to the gods of
fertility would probably have been slected:  a goat for Thorr, a sow for
Freyja, a boar or a horse for Freyr.  It is possible that instead of
sacrificing such an animal, it was instead dedicated to the god as a living
gift, and maintained thereafter as a sacred beast (Ellis-Davidson, Gods and
Myths, p. 97.  See for example the stallion Freyfaxi.).  In a sacrifice, the
*go(dh)i* or *gy(dh)ja* performed the ritual by slitting the animal's throat
and then catching the blood in a bowl consecrated for that purpose (modern
day Asatruar generally use mead instead of a live sacrifice).  The flesh of
the sacrificed animal would later form a part of the wedding feast
(Williams, p. 387).  The bowl was then placed on an altar or *horgr* built
of heaped stones, and a bundle of fir-twigs dipped into the liquid.  This
branch, known as the *hlaut-teinn*, was then used to sprinkle the nuptial
couple and assembled guests in order to confer the blessings of the gods
upon them (this may have been done by moving the *hlaut-teinn* in the
"Hammer-sign,"  a gentle, short downwards movement followed by a swift
movement from left to right.  This would effectively spray anyone in front
of the gesture with the liquid.  From personal experience, it is amazing
just how much liquid a small fir bundle can hold.  If done properly, a very
minute amount of liquid hits each of the assembled observers.  See Williams,
p. 387).  

        Next, the groom would present his bride with the sword of his
ancestors which he had so recently recovered.  The bride was to hold this
sword in trust for her son, just as was done by earlier Germanic tribes as
described by Tacitus:  "She is receiving something that she must hand over
intact and undepreciated to her children, something for her sons' wives to
receive in their turn and pass on to their grandchildren" (Tacitus, p. 117).
She then gave her husband the sword which had preceeded her to the ceremony.
"This interchange of gifts typifies for them the most sacred bond of union,
sanctified by mystic rites under the favor of the prsiding deities of
wedlock" (Ibid., p. 116).  The ancestral sword signified the traditions of
the family and the continuation of the bloodline, while the sword given to
the groom by the bride symbolized the transfer of the father's power of
guardianship and protection over the bride to her new husband.

        Following the exchange of swords, the bride and groom exchanged
finger rings (Williams, p. 98).  These rings may have recalled the sacred
arm-ring in the temple upon which oaths were sworn (Foote and Wilson, p.
403).  These may also have been further consecrated to the wedding vows by
placing them on the *horgr* within the sacred arm-ring to strengthen the
link between the concept of the unbroken circle of the ring and the
unbreakable nature of the vow.  The bride's ring was offered to her on the
hilt of the groom's new sword, and his tendered to him in the same fashion:
this juxtaposition of sword and rings further "emphasizes the sacredness of
the compact between man and wife and the binding nature of the oath which
they take together, so that the sword is not a threat to the woman only, but
to either should the oath be broken" (Ellis-Davidson, Sword at the Wedding,
p. 95).  With the rings upon their hands, and their hands joined upon the
sword-hilt, the couple then spoke their vows.

D.  The Wedding Feast
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        After the conclusion of the wedding ceremony came the
*bru(dh)-hlaup* or "bride-running," which may have also been connected with
the *bru(dh)gumareid* or "bride-groom's-ride" (Williams, p. 97).  In the
Christian period, this consisted of separate, dignified processions by the
parties of the bride and the groom to the hall for the wedding feast,
however the term "bride-running" may indicate that in pagan times this
procession consisted of an actual race as is the case today in certain parts
of rural Scandinavia.  Whichever group arrived last at the hall had to serve
the ale that night to the members of the other party.  Of course, if the
groom's party was mounted for the "bride-groom's-ride," it was a foregone
conclusion that they would win the contest every time.

        When the bride arrived at the door of the hall, she was met by the
groom, who blocked her entrance into the house with his bared sword laid
across the entry-way (Ellis-Davidson, Sword at the Wedding, p. 96).  This
allowed the groom to lead his new bride into the hall, ensuring that she
would not stumble over the threshold.  Medieval homes, unlike those of the
modern day, often had a raised lip at the bottom of a doorway in order to
stop low, cold drafts, and which had to be stepped over in order to pass the
door.  Superstition concerning the bride's passage over the doorstep was
wide-spread throughout the pagan world, for a doorway was a prtal between
worlds.  Stepping over the threshold represented the bride's literal
translation from her life as a maiden to her life as a wife.  Spirits were
thought to gather around a doorway, and there are hints of a tradition in
pagan Scandinavia for the threshold of the home to be the actual grave of
the founder of the homestead, who guarded the door against evil influences.
Thus it was of great importance that the bride should not fall as she passed
the door, for that would be an omen of extreme misfortune.

        Once within the hall, the groom would plunge his sword into the
rooftree or a supporting pillar of the house, "to test the luck of the
marriage by the depth of the scar he made" (Ibid., p. 97).  This tradition
was connected with the concept of the *barnstokkr* or ancestral tree of the
family, the "child-tree" which was "clasped by women of the family at the
time of childbirth" (Ibid., p. 98).  Thus this custom reflected the
demonstration of the virility of the groom, with the "luck" of the family
being the children produced by the union (Ibid., p. 99).  

        These preliminaries over, the feast began.  The most important part
of the feast was the ceremonial drinking of the bridal ale, another of the
legal requirements set forth by *Gragas* for the marriage to be considered
valid (Frank, pp. 476-477).  Here the new wife would first assume the
foremost of her official duties as a housewife, the ceremonial serving of
drink.  She might present the mead to her husband in the *kasa*, a bowl-like
vessel provided with handles on either side in the form of animal heads, or
the heads and tails of birds: a variant of the *kasa* is still used today
for trophies and known as a "loving-cup."  Upon presenting this cup of mead
to her husband, the bride might recite a formal verse in oder to confer
health and strength to the drinker, such as this one recorded in *Sigrdrifumal*:

        Ale I bring thee, thou oak-of-battle,
        With strength blended and brightest honor;
        'Tis mized with magic and mighty songs,
        With goodly spells, wish-speeding runes.
        (Hollander, Poetic Edda, p. 109)

When he received the cup, the groom might consecrate the drink to Thor,
perhaps by making the sign of the Hammer over it, moving the hand in a
t-shaped pattern (Ellis-Davidson, Thor's Hammer, p. 123).  Before drinking,
the groom would make a toast to Odhinn, then sip and pass the cup to his new
wife, who would make a toast to Freyja before drinking (Herman Palsson and
Paul Edwards, trans.  Seven Viking Romances.  NY: Penguin. 1985. p. 220).
By drinking together, the bride and groom were made one in the eyes of the
law and the gods, symbolically affirming their new kinship.  A drop or two
of the blood from the morning's sacrifice may also have been blended into
the mead, further strengthening the notion that the couple were now related.
The couple would continue to formally drink mead together for a full four
weeks, for the honey in the beverage and the bees that produced the honey
were both associated with fertility and healing in pagan Scandinavia.

        Once the couple were seated together, the couple's fertility was
agin insured by hallowing the bride with Thorr's Hammer.  This may have been
performed by the husband, or by a *go(dh)i*, but in any case the procedure
was to lay the Hammer in the bride's lap, blessing her reproductive organs,
and Frigga, goddess of childbearing, was invoked as in the ritual enacted in
*Thrymskvi(dh)a*:

        Bring the Hammer the bride to bless:
        On the maiden's lap lay ye Mjolnir;
        In Vor's name [Frigga] then our wedlock hallow!
        (Hollander, Poetic Edda, p. 109)

After this ceremony, feasting and merriment would commence that would last
throughout the remainder of the week.  Dancing, wrestling, and good-natured
*flytings* or insult-contests provided the entertainment for the guests,
while some of the attendees presented *lygisogur*, the so-called "lying
stories" which they had composed for the occasion, featuring stories about
famous people, selections of verse, romance and the supernatural, often
revolving about the theme of a wedding (Julia H. McGrew and R. George
Thomas, trans.  "The Saga of Thorgils and Haflidi,"  in Sturlunga Saga:
Shorter Sagas of the Icelanders.  NY: Twayne.  1974. pp. 41-44).  

E.  The Wedding Night
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        The next legal requirement of the marriage was that the groom must
be put to bed with his wife, after being led there by witnesses "with
light."  The law is unclear in meaning at this point:  it is not certain
whether the bedding must take place in daylight, or whether the groom was
led to his wife's bed by torch-light (Frank, pp. 475-476).  The purpose of
the law was to ensure that the six legal witnesses could identify both bride
and groom, so if called later to testify to the validity of the marriage,
they would have no doubts.  Probably torchlight is indicated:  it seems
logical to assume that the bedding would take place after a long day taken
up with ceremony and feasting.  Prior to the groom's arrival, the bride was
placed in bed by her female attendants.*Goldgubber*, small gold plaques
depicting small embracing figures (perhaps the union of the god Freyr with
the giantess Gerd) may have been used to decorate the bed or the bride's
night-clothing, again as a token of fertility (Hilda R. Ellis-Davidson.
Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe:  Early Scandinavian and Celtic Religions.
Syracuse:  Syracuse U.P.  1988.  pp. 31-31 and p. 121).  The bride would
once again be arrayed in the bridal crown, which would be removed by her
husband before the assembled witnesses as a symbol of sexual union.  At some
point in antiquity, this ritual defloration may have been an actual one,
witnessed by the male and female attendants.  After the witnesses left,
presumably with much ribaldry and hilarity as is customary in country
nuptials, the wedding was consummated.  The bride's dream's that night would
be noted, for they were held to be prophetic of the number of children she
would bear, the fortune of  her marriage, and the destiny of her descendants
(Strand, p. 160).  

F.  The Morning-Gift
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        The next morning, the new husband and wife were once again parted
for a short time.  The bride was assisted by her attendants in dressing, and
at this time her hair was braided or bound up in the coiffure reserved for
married women.  The universal Scandinavian symbol of the wife was now hers
to wear as well:  this was the *hustrulinet*, a long, snow-white,
finely-pleated linen cloth.  There may have been several varieties of this
headdress.  The commonly-delpicted reconstructions showing a stark,
bandana-style affair worn on the head is a misconception (Christina Krupp
and Carolyn A. Priest-Dorman.  Women's Garb in Northern Europe: 450-1000 CE:
Frisians, Angles, Franks, Balts, Vikings and Finns.  Compleat Anachronist
59. Milpitas CA:  Society for Creative Anachronism.  1992. pp. 46-48)  The
*hustrulinet* might have been pinned to a fillet, a woven cloth band figured
with metallic brocaded threads which was tied around the forehead.
Archaeological evidence has turned up examples of a hood or long cap of silk
that may have been worn instead (Ibid., p. 48), and some female grave-sites
have been found to contain pins six to eight inches long laying alongside
the head at either temple, which might have fastened a veil-like
*hustrulinet* to a woman's coiled braids beneath, or to a fillet as
discussed above (David M. Wilson.  The Vikings and Their Origins.  NY:  A &
W Visual Library.  1980.  p. 33).  The head-covering was worn as a badge of
honor and as a token of the woman's new status as a wife, distinguising her
within her household from the servants and the concubines.  There is some
debate as to whether the custom of wearing the *hustrulinent* might not have
been introduced with Christianity in the tenth century, when grave finds of
various headcoverings increases sharply, however it is certain that
archaeologists have discovered head-coverings dating to the ninth century
and possibly earlier, placing the housewife's badge of office squarely in
the pagan Viking period (Krupp and Dorman,  pp. 46-47).  

        Once attired as a married woman, the new wife was escorted into the
hall to complete the final legal requirements of the marriage.  Before
witnesses, the husband paid his wife the morning-gift, signifying that the
marriage was now complete, and delivered into her keeping the keys to the
various locks of his house, symbolizing her new authority as mistress of the
household (Williams, p. 97).

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See the next post for the final portion of this paper, 
Part VI:Divorce in the Viking Period

If you wish to print any or all of this paper in a newsletter for the S.C.A.
or Asatru, please contact me for permission first.  In general, I will grant
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mailed to me for my files. 

::GUNNORA::


Gunnora Hallakarva
Herskerinde
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