TK-421 at 20:08, 14 April 2021

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	of solitude with one another.		of solitude with one another.

	{{Cat\|~~Book~~,Wedding books, Mountain Elf}}		{{Cat\|Books,Wedding books, Mountain Elf}}
	[[page type is::book\| ]][[race association is::elf\| ]]		[[page type is::book\| ]][[race association is::elf\| ]]

TK-421 at 20:08, 14 April 2021

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	of solitude with one another.		of solitude with one another.

	{{Cat\|Book,Wedding ~~Book~~}}~~[[page type is::book\| ]][[race association is::elf\| ]]~~		{{Cat\|Book,Wedding books, Mountain Elf}}
			[[page type is::book\| ]][[race association is::elf\| ]]

CARAAMON at 18:10, 23 January 2011

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← Older revision		Revision as of 13:10, 23 January 2011
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	=Marriage Among Elves=		=Marriage Among Elves=
	==Volume VII: The Mountain Clan==		==Volume VII: The Mountain Clan==
	-''An Investigation by Simon J. Bright''		-''An Investigation by [[Simon]] J. Bright''

	Mountain Elves are rigidly traditional in their observance of		[[race association is::mountain elf\|Mountain Elves]] are rigidly traditional in their observance of
	wedding rites. Children are betrothed soon after birth, generally with careful consideration taken for future alliances		wedding rites. Children are betrothed soon after birth, generally with careful consideration taken for future alliances
	designed to improve the bloodlines and improve both status and		designed to improve the bloodlines and improve both status and
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	of solitude with one another.		of solitude with one another.

		⚫	{{Cat\|Book,Wedding Book}}[[page type is::book\| ]][[race association is::elf\| ]]
	[[Category:Book]]
⚫	~~[[Category:~~Wedding Book]][[page type is::book\| ]][[race association is::elf\| ]]
	[[Category:Mountain Elf]]

Maintenance script at 18:11, 29 January 2009

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			[[Category:Mountain Elf]]

CARAAMON at 03:31, 23 October 2008

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	[[Category:Book]]		[[Category:Book]]
	[[Category:Wedding Book]]		[[Category:Wedding Book]][[page type is::book\| ]][[race association is::elf\| ]]

Maintenance script at 18:54, 10 May 2008

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	[[Category:Book]]		[[Category:Book]]
			[[Category:Wedding Book]]

Maintenance script: Marriage Among the Elves, Volume 7 moved to Marriage Among the Elves, Volume 7 (book)

2007-11-19T13:52:23Z

Marriage Among the Elves, Volume 7 moved to Marriage Among the Elves, Volume 7 (book)

← Older revision	Revision as of 08:52, 19 November 2007
(No difference)

Maintenance script: Book:RsbEM7 moved to Marriage Among the Elves, Volume 7

2007-11-09T12:44:47Z

Book:RsbEM7 moved to Marriage Among the Elves, Volume 7

← Older revision	Revision as of 07:44, 9 November 2007
(No difference)

Maintenance script at 03:24, 7 June 2006

2006-06-07T03:24:21Z

New page

=Marriage Among Elves=
==Volume VII: The Mountain Clan==
-''An Investigation by Simon J. Bright''

Mountain Elves are rigidly traditional in their observance of
wedding rites. Children are betrothed soon after birth, generally with careful consideration taken for future alliances
designed to improve the bloodlines and improve both status and
power through the union of the two families.

Once the children have come of age, the groom's family prepares
a lavish selection of gifts for the bride's family to indicate
their willingness to pay the bride price. Among the traditional
gifts are grain and seeds to symbolize wishes for fertility,
coins to symbolize wealth, and the finest bolts of silks. Fine
furs, gems, and jewelry are also usually added to the gifts,
along with some sweet chocolates to offer hopes of sweetness in
the marriage itself. This collection of gifts is placed inside
a carved silverwood box and locked with an ornate silver key.

The groom takes the box and key and goes into the streets of
town in search of the poorest, most ragged creature begging in
the streets. He offers the beggar a gold coin in return for the
safe delivery of the box to his beloved. Once the stranger
accepts the errand, the groom searches for an innocent child or
youth and offers a honeyed-nut pastry liberally sprinkled with
powdered sugar in return for delivering the key. The acceptance
of the box and key acknowledges the acceptance of the nuptials,
and often the silks contained within the box are used to fashion
the wedding garments.

Included in the box of gifts is a slender black silk cord strung
with a single black pearl and a small glass box containing many
tiny jet-black onyx beads. The fine black silk cord is partic
ularly auspicious for a joining of two in marriage. The black
pearl not only wards against any evil influences and brings
the bride luck on her wedding day, but also symbolizes the vow
of the groom to remain faithful to her. As the time of
engagement wends on, well-wishers offer the bride additional
black pearls, which she adds to the necklace, using the onyx
beads as spacers between the lustrous orbs.

An andu before the wedding, the bride withdraws from society.
She eats nothing during this time and drinks only the crystal
cold water of the mountains. On the day before the wedding, she
is bathed in three ritual baths -- the first drawn from the
steaming waters of the hot springs, laced with aromatic herbs
to draw all impurity from her flesh, the second of tepid water
laced with the dew of mountain blooms to cleanse the flesh, and
the third of the icy cold spring waters to revive and awaken the
spirit. She is dressed in a simple white robe and her hair is
brushed to a high radiance. She girds her hips with her long
necklace of black pearls and accepts from her family a small set
of silver shears.

Thus prepared, she is escorted by her female friends and
relatives in silence to the body of water called Morganae's
Sorrow, or the Pond of Tears. Before her bare feet are
scattered flower petals by her friends and relatives. They seat
her by the pond and set a large silver mirror by her feet,
setting upon its surface a goblet of a drugged wine.

Once she is alone, the maiden carefully braids a lock of her
long hair into an Elven love knot and cuts it close to the
scalp. She braids the end into the beginning to form a seamless
whole before casting it into the pond, only then lifting the
goblet and drinking of the mixture within. She sets the goblet
aside, taking up the mirror and laying it in her lap. For the
remainder of the night she keeps vigil, waiting for vision to
overtake her.

Much has been written of this ritual, most of it exaggeration
or fantasy. There has been little documentation of any maiden
dying from the experience or being driven mad by what has
visited her in the night. Most maidens born of the Mountain
Clan are cast of much sturdier material. However, that being
said, there is a common theme in many of the visions reported of
Morganae herself stepping from her pond to sit with the maiden
and share conversation and counsel with her.

On the dawn of the wedding, the maiden's friends return and
escort her back to her home. They come prepared with burial
garments, but finding her alive raise up their voices in songs
of thanksgiving and joy. The mirror and the shears are returned
to the household. The maiden is often carried back in the arms
of her friends, being too weak to bear her own weight. She is
given a fortified drink to restore her strength and then a light
meal before she begins preparing for the ceremony.

The groom also survives a vigil, traveling to the height of the
mountain to ask for an omen of his marriage after a full andu
when he allows no food to pass his lips and takes only small
sips of water to appease his thirst. Despite the chill at the
height of the mountain, he goes barefoot, clad only in a light
layer of clothing. In contrast to the bride, he takes no
drugged wine, but must meet whatever awaits him with a clear
head. He returns from this vigil with a token of some sort
given or found during his travail. This item is vested with
great significance, becoming the foundation for the marriage
that the couple will make.

The bridal procession is small. If the mountain fastness of the
clan is used for the ceremonies, all involved in the wedding
simply meet at the appointed place after offering their coin to
the ferryman who transports them there. If the ceremony has
been declared to be held elsewhere, other arrangements are made
for all to assemble at the appropriate time and place.

In comparison with other clans, the Mountain Elf faction dresses
simply. The bride's hair is brushed loose, her gown a simple
affair that descends from the silver clasp holding it secure at
one shoulder to graceful drapes about her bare feet. She wears
little or no jewelry. The groom wears darker colors and a white
shirt, enlivened only by a narrow crimson belt and the hilt of
his favorite throwing knife showing above its sheath in his high
boots. The ceremony of Bile Janis oc Hul Haizeani is followed
in a most solemn manner, with voices hushed and reverent.

Mountain Elves exchange either the traditional gelanto fashioned
in the Elven danto of joining or rings that complement one
another without being exact replicas. As time passes, the
custom among them of the gelanto appears to be dying out in
favor of rings, although the more traditional among these Elves
use the gelanto for the first mating and the ring for the
joining of the souls that may come later. Mountain Elves feel
the ring unequivocally seals a relationship that is declared to
last forever, for its continuous circle is a unilateral symbol
of endless love.

After the ceremony, the bridal couple traditionally gives every
guest an oval crystal as a remembrance of the mountain and their
joining. These crystals are pierced through the smaller end of
the oval, allowing them to be easily mounted on a chain or pin.

Another charming ceremony sometimes seen in this clan is the
gift by the husband to the bride of a pair of elaborate shoes,
usually worked in a tapestry pattern. This symbolizes his
desire to care for his new wife's needs and to be a good husband
to her in small considerate ways.

After the ceremonies, a simple but adequate feast is served.
The bridal couple generally leaves early, leaving their guests
to continue with the festivities while they withdraw for a time
of solitude with one another.

[[Category:Book]]

Marriage Among the Elves, Volume 7 (book) - Revision history

TK-421 at 20:08, 14 April 2021

TK-421 at 20:08, 14 April 2021

CARAAMON at 18:10, 23 January 2011

Maintenance script at 18:11, 29 January 2009

CARAAMON at 03:31, 23 October 2008

Maintenance script at 18:54, 10 May 2008

Maintenance script: Marriage Among the Elves, Volume 7 moved to Marriage Among the Elves, Volume 7 (book)

Maintenance script: Book:RsbEM7 moved to Marriage Among the Elves, Volume 7

Maintenance script at 03:24, 7 June 2006