Currently many people like to celebrate their wedding as if Odin himself had to officiate. And it is that Viking mythology in a celebration like that can play a spectacular role. This makes Viking weddings, set in these Scandinavian warriors, more and more in demand. But since Thorkel  We are wondering, What were Viking weddings really like? Since in reality, they are quite far from what today is a Viking wedding celebration.

Viking weddings in ancient times

This topic is complex to investigate, since the main support when making a historical reconstruction is archaeology. With Viking culture it happens that there are hardly any archaeological constructions that give clues, and are not steeped in Christian culture and details.

Since most of the known ancient architecture dates from after Christianity, one must trust and elaborate various theories through writings, historical data and information to be interpreted. Well, it's a something difficult to separate from Christian weddings that we know today.

Why did Viking weddings exist?

The first thing to note is that, not only in the Nordic culture, if not also in all ancient culture in general, weddings were not a celebration of love. It was not a day when you got together with the person you loved and decided to have a banquet with all your friends and family to worship love. The weddings in ancient times they looked more alike to the contracts than anything else today.

And it is that the marriages arose out of convenience. The act of getting married was done by economic, political or military interests. So it was a way to bring families together, unite their fortunes or kingdoms and perform different functions through this union of families.

Weddings before the Nordic culture

To understand the viking weddings, we must go back a little further to know what kind of weddings took place. existed on one side germanic Marriage, or marriage by purchase, where practically a trade Agreement, with a price and a payment, to carry out a marriage. The parents of the groom or the bride were the ones who agreed to this wedding, which was later carried out with all its consequences.

The other type of marriage that existed, It was marriage by capture. This was adopted by vikings, to make wives for the women they desired, after looting that they produced After a Viking revolt a marriage could take place, where the women's consent was not necessary.

The Viking Wedding Feast

But if there is something that it was admirable and enviable, was the party they gave to make this contract that we talked about previously real. This party normally took place at the bride's house, one year after making the necessary financial agreements.

In this party a special beer was served, along with a banquet with music, dances and guests. After having made a ceremony where the gods of prosperity (Frey and Freya) were asked that the marriage be prosperous in terms of economics and reproduction. They finished the wedding party viking yes seven witnesses they were present when the newlyweds went to bed.

Here we leave you our viking rings, in case you also want to celebrate a real Viking wedding.