What It Was Really Like To Attend A Viking Wedding | History for Sleep

Hey guys! We're now on Spotify 🎧 Join us here: https://open.spotify.com/show/1iLKLmP... Fall asleep at a Viking wedding on a farm beside the Sognefjord in western Norway, around 970. In this world a marriage began with a handshake before witnesses, and the old Norwegian law set the poor man's lowest bride price at 12 ounces. Sagas tell of grooms riding in with 60 men and of 100 guests bidden to a single bride-ale. And the Icelandic law said a wedding was lawful only when at least 6 witnesses saw the groom go openly into the same bed as the bride, in the light of the hearth. Subscribe to the channel: @oldhistorynights In this video, we talk about what it was really like to attend a Viking wedding, including the betrothal handshake and its witnesses, the bride price, the dowry and the ounce-for-ounce matching gift, who could give a woman in marriage and the widow's right to choose, the twelve-month betrothal, brewing ale with hot stones and bog myrtle, the Winter Nights feasts, riding round the district to bid the guests, the bridesmen crossing the fjord, the hall hung with cloth, the long benches and the women's cross-bench, the bride's linen, brooches and keys, the cauldron and the spit, drinking horns and why the Norse "drank" a wedding, the goblets and the cup of vows, the rules that kept a full hall at peace, Unn the Deep-Minded's last feast, the stone lamps, the hammer poem and the truth about sword exchanges, bridal crowns and honeymoon mead, the six witnesses and the bed in the light, the bed closet and its down, the guests asleep on the benches, the morning gift, and three nights of drinking out the feast. 🔔 Subscribe so the next long night in the old world finds you whenever you need it. 💬 Tell us in the comments where you're listening from, and which part of a Viking wedding surprised you most. 📢 Share this with anyone who loves the Viking Age or needs a gentle way to drift off, on Facebook, Reddit or in the family group chat. You're the reason these long nights keep coming. Chapters: 00:00 Opening 16:25 The maiden's say, and the widow's 36:02 The Winter Nights and the fattened beasts 55:21 Horses taken, cloaks taken 1:14:08 The women's bench at the end of the hall 1:35:00 The cauldron, the spit and the pit 1:54:42 The peace of a full hall 2:13:33 The hammer, if it was ever there 2:34:08 The benches become beds 2:54:41 Drinking out the feast 3:14:12 The house asleep around the wedding hearth Sources: Njal's Saga, tr. George Webbe Dasent (Project Gutenberg) https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/... Laxdaela Saga, tr. Muriel A. C. Press (Project Gutenberg) https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/... Thrymskvitha, The Poetic Edda, tr. Henry Adams Bellows (Sacred Texts) https://sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/poe1... The older Gulathing law on marriage, tr. K. Robberstad (University of Bergen) http://www.hist.uib.no/grunnfag/kjeld... Families and Demographics in the Viking Age (Hurstwic) http://www.hurstwic.org/history/artic... Bryllup, Audun Dybdahl (Store norske leksikon) https://snl.no/bryllup Viking homes (National Museum of Denmark) https://en.natmus.dk/historical-knowl... DISCLAIMER: This video is based on real historical events and figures, drawn from the sources listed above alongside primary archives, biographies, court records, period press, and leading historical scholarship. While every video is heavily researched, occasional minor inaccuracies in dates, quotes, or specific details may occur — historical sources sometimes disagree, and interpretation is sometimes required where the historical record is silent. Any errors are unintentional. #OldHistoryNights #HistoryForSleep #SleepHistory #BedtimeHistory #Vikings #VikingAge #VikingWedding #Norse #NorseHistory #Norway #Sognefjord #Scandinavia #Sagas #NjalsSaga #LaxdaelaSaga #Longhouse #MedievalHistory #SocialHistory #History #FallAsleepFast