Chapter 33: Tribal Wedding (3)
Almost all the Viking tribes have similar wedding ceremonies. In addition to the Ross tribe, they also have their own characteristics.
All the thirty couples, before the wedding, they have understood the simple vows that need to be said during the ceremony.
They were asked by Veria to kneel on the ground holding hands on one knee, take away the warm fur coats, and look at Aurora in the sky with their heads in a rather thin and simple image.
The north wind blows and supports the forest, and the tall pine trees are rustling.
The oil lamp was also trembling by the wind, and these plainly dressed newcomers felt the biting cold.
According to Veria's explanation, cold is also a test for Odin. A warrior who can enter Valhalla dares to swim in the winter!
They held their heads up, and piously told Tianyu's Valkyrie about their vows.
Their voices are loud, as if the louder they are, the more they can express their courage.
Peravina did not understand why the Varangians had to come up with so many weird rituals, like their hometown, offering worship to the gods of the mountains and the fields is basically the job of the priests.
Only when welcoming the god of spring and the god of sowing, the people of the manor will wear flower crowns and perform ceremonies praying for good weather at the altar.
What is it like tonight, Peravina feels that if she wears it like this, if she stays for a while, her whole body will freeze!
Her hands and feet were already cold.
All the newcomers shouted vows, and after the ceremony, the most crucial "sword gift ceremony" officially began.
Almost all the oaths above are for this moment.
The Priest Veria with a cane commanded: "You all stand up, the Valkyrie has already sent down the oracle, you can proceed to the next item."
The most senior priest can communicate with the Valkyrie, and people are convinced of this.
The newcomers and all the onlookers all stood up, and all the torches were raised high.
"Boys! You have passed the coming of age ceremony, and it's the wedding now! Now, kneeling on one knee in front of your newlyweds, and pass the sword you inherited from your ancestors into her hands!"
Rurik, who had already stood up, couldn't care about the soreness of his leg, he saw his cousin kneel down again.
The scene he saw now became quite familiar.
"It's really interesting. If it is kneeling and putting a wedding ring on the wife, it is still very interesting. They actually handed the sword to the wife."
Rurik continued to observe, he knew it very well.
Standing Peravina saw her husband's smiling face.
No one has ever kneeled to herself in her life, only she kneeled to other noble people.
Am I becoming a noble person?
She didn't have time to think, she stretched out her hands and took her husband's heavy sword.
Veria looked around and saw that all the women were already carrying swords.
"Now, hold your sword high and show it to the Valkyrie!"
They obeyed and raised their swords, and Veria instantly pronounced the next oath.
They repeated what Veria said one by one.
"Odin, Brunhilde, Valhalla heroic testimony! I am a woman of the Ross people, the wife of a warrior, I hold the sword of the warrior in my hand, I will give birth to a new warrior, and will personally hand it over in the hands of the next generation."
It means such a meaning, because they are all Novgorod people, they are good at speaking ancient Slavic, and they only understand part of the meaning of the entire Norse oath.
No one expect them to speak the retelling Norse very well. To put it bluntly, their retelling is quite bad.
Veria's wrinkled face concealed her discomfort, but they had already made an oath and showed the sword to God.
She continued to order: "Now, put the sword on the ground!"
"Woman! Take off your necklace and hang it on your husband's neck!
Man! Take off your necklace and hang it on your wife's neck! "
If there are any local characteristics of the marriage of the Ross tribe, this is for the exchange of necklaces.
In many tribes, there is a ceremony where the wife gives the husband a short sword.
The Ross tribe deleted this item and replaced it with a necklace to show that "the lover's token is always on you."
The female residents of Novgorod have the habit of wearing necklaces, and they are all naturally beautiful. The Ross tribe likes necklaces of amber and shells, and the women of Novgorod like turquoise.
Turquoise, it is not a gem of much value, and the texture is not very hard, but it is more beautiful in color.
The Priest of Veria kept reading, the so called husband's gift is the wife's wealth from now on, and vice versa.
Peravina was so excited that she has forgotten the cold!
She knew very well the preciousness of the heavy amber that was polished into smooth balls on her neck.
To be honest, compared to the betrothal gift of the tribal leader to his biological parents, that is just four pieces of unpolished amber, but on the new necklace he obtained, there are actually ten pieces!
Through this gift, Peravina completely trusts her husband's trust and love for herself. Similarly, because of this string of amber, she also feels that her status has been greatly improved.
In fact, for Arik, he wears his wife's necklace on his neck, and his inner excitement is beyond words.
Mutual gift necklace is to give a token to each other, just for the two parties to remember each other.
The next step is just as important and the final project drinking a cup of wine.
Good wine, any people who can make wine need to prepare hard to get this deliciousness, and it has been waiting for a long time.
It is always a flavoring agent for various lively occasions, and it is suitable for important events such as weddings.
Quite a few ethnic groups have a tradition of drinking a cup of wine, and the same is true for the Ross people.
They fermented the wheat they bought into distiller's grains, and added some dried petals to increase the aroma. In the end, the turbid, raw beer with low alcohol content was poured into a wooden wine glass, and then blended with a little precious honey. The mead loved by the Ross tribe was completed.
Arik and Peravina, and even some newcomers, under the instigation of all the onlookers, they all took out the wine glasses. The couple looked at each other and drank the wine.
So far, there are no complicated projects, only people's carnivals are left.
Aurora is still shining in the sky. In Rossburg in the fjord, people have forgotten their sleepiness. Taking advantage of the joy of tonight, each small family did not hesitate to take out their own wine barrels to enjoy a drink.
Originally, quite a lot of wine is to be used during the period of total darkness, which is the short pure night time that Rossburg will encounter, and enjoy it at that time.
Because that is Hanukkah of the Ross tribe!
I am afraid that today's event is more important to them than Hanukkah. It also needs wine and grilled meat sprinkled with sea salt to enhance joy.
Ordinary residents are basically ignorant of calendar matters. Only the priest Veria has relevant knowledge. The most important thing is that she understands the jesus calendar, which is implemented by people in the southern part of the Danish controlled area and people in more distant countries. Kind of dating method. In fact, this calendar was later the Gregorian calendar, the world Gregorian calendar.
That is the birthday of another group of people, their god's apostle, and this is the beginning of everything. Veria is very knowledgeable about current affairs. The priests know people in the far south, and their calendar can also be applied to the Ross tribe in the far north. Good things are naturally used.
The Ross tribe before migrating to Rossburg, those ancient priests had encountered Roman black robed men who worked tirelessly to spread their faith in the north. The Ross tribe still believes in Odin until now. They have not embarrassed the black-robed people, but obtained certain knowledge from the black-robed people through trade.
For example, those black robed people have come up with a set of dating system, even accurate to every day. The priests who knew its significance immediately learned it. From the perspective of the general public of the tribe, the priests simply "got Valhalla's knowledge" because they can always accurately predict climate changes.
The most important thing is that the priests predict the time of Hanukkah very accurately, and they have never made mistakes for decades!
Late in the night of today's wedding, when the moon leaves the middle of the sky, it was already November 7, 828.