Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1891-10-14
NORWEGIAN WEDDING GUS
TOMS

| of long defunct generations SO thor.
oughly maintained, and nowhere have
modern ways and fashions exercised
| 80 little influence as in Norway. The
peculiarly wild and romantic character
of the country, and the very limited
intercourse OF the people with neigh.
boring nations caused the character
and individuality of the Norwegians to
be almost preserved in its originality
since thousands of years. The present
customs observed at weddings are
mainly derived from ancient times, and
| no trueN orwegian would dare to neg
lect a single part of the time honored
habits. Engagements and marriages
take place during the winter season,
which lasts fully eight months, and
| offers the only means of intercourse be-
tween the inhabitants of frequently
very distant villages and small towns.
Snow and ice make the sledge avaIlabl,
to cross densely wooded forests as well
as frozen lakes and rivers. whereas dur
ing the open weather the difficulties of
moving from one part of the country
to the other are almost unsurmounta-
BILE. Consequently life in summer is
much lonelier than IN winter, when
friends and relations meet and give the
young people the opportunity of fire.
quent intercourse and of appreciating
their mutual qualities.
A traveller describes a wedding at
Hardanger, a very lively and pleasant
little place in the heart of Norway, IN
about the following terms: The bride
retains her festival attire during the
whole time of the wedding festivities.
This includes massive gold or silver
- L.
but much-valued decoration, put on as
well by peasants as by girls of the
higher classes of society. on the morn
ing of their wedding day. The feast
lasts, as a rule, number of DAYS, dur
ing which eating and drinking is only
interrupted by dancing, the expense
being shared by the bridegroom and
the brides parents. The guests ar
rive from many miles distance, each
bringing gift, according to his means
ticles required in the young couples
household. On the last day, just be-
fore the hour when the party is break |!
ing up, the brides girl friends take off
the metal crown from her head In the |
presence of the whole company and
then undo her hair, letting it fall down |
dance with the happy bridegroom, and
the music suddenly stops as a sign for |
the guests that is time to leave. Then |
everybody withdraws, but without say
ing goodbye to the newly married |
people. as their matrimonial life would |
otherwise be unhappy - so custom
says.
The interval between an engagement |
nd 10
Parents like the delay, as they want |
about each other before the irrevoca-
BILE step is taken. The Norwegian poet
Bjornson dwells in many of his tales |
with satisfaction upon the curious |
ceremonies observed at engagements |
Many a romance, and now and then
tragedy, is enacted between farms at a !;
few miles distance, but on the other +,
hand, a poor peasant earns, not seldom,
the reward for his perseverance and
fathfulness by winning tie hand of |
rich maiden. Engageme nts are rarely |
broken off, and both parties consider
themselves fully tied to each other
though they live apart. During the
honeymoon - viz, the first three
months after the marrlage-the hus-
He prepares the dinner, takes care OF
the linen, and even sews and knits, ,
whereas his wife is not permitted to do
any work. Later on, however, the
household affairs are silently trans
ferred to the bride, and the bridegroom
only attends to outdoor work. All
Norwegian girls are aware that-unless
they are exceptionally rich-their mar
IN fa ha hot Il |
laborlous, and thus the only NJ olive for
their parents house, as vel as the
friends of their youth, is true love.
This feeling alone can induce girl to
follow stranger to his distant farm
house, where she is entirely separated
from her earlier friendships and
habits.
The same simplicity of manners ex-
lists in Iceland and on the Farce Isles,
belonging to Denmark, but inhabited
by the descendants of Norwegians.
The people still wear the old national
costume, viz, women are walking about
in coats and skirts, made in one, either
blue or red. Fringes and gold or sill
yer ornaments-or brass rings and
bracelets for the poor - are much
1
covered with red, tight fitting cap,
which is by no means unbecomiag ID
The character and manners of living of
the Norwegians are as simple as their
at ire, and being almost entirely sepa. I
rated from any contact with the outer :
world, their family attachment is very
pronounced. 1he traveller already lt
tells of a woman who earned 1
her poor living under great hardships,
and who, being asked why she did not
go with her family to the nearest town,
where she might do much better, re-
piled in these terms: MY husband is
an industrious fisherman, and as for !,
myself, L am doing work for the rich !,
people in the winter time, whereas !
during the summer 1 am attending to /,
my small piece of ground, for which
pay very moderate rent Thus day T
goes by after day, and at the end OF
the year we find that we are neither :
short of barley for oar nourishment,
6 II s. Il -