Heathen Wedding Rite. Weddings. Weddings (and Marriage) Marriage The purpose of a wedding is to mark the start of a marriage, so it is important to decide what, in the Asatru context, a marriage is.
Marriage can be seen (in part) as a cooperative economic endeavour. In the old days, the marriage (and the household, the farm, whatever) was a business. It was also seen as a commitment to produce and support children. Anglo-Saxon Marriage. The Proposal in Ancient Times Not much evidence exists on how weddings were performed by any Germanic Heathen folk, much less the Germanic tribes of what is now England.
However by borrowing elements from the Icelandic sagas, and incorporating elements that may be Heathen in origin, a reliable marriage ceremony can be reconstructed. The following ritual outline is drawn in part from an article by Gunnora on Viking weddings, an unpublished article by Eric Lord Wednesbury of the Winland Rice of Theodish Belief on Anglo-Saxon weddings, and two articles by Winifred Rose Hodge (see the bibliography for details) on weddings within Asatru and Paganism.