Viking Weddings: Magic, Swords, Runes, Ritual Sacrifice, and More

Viking wedding traditions to inspire your marriage ceremony

 

We’ve gathered some of the most enduring Pagan wedding customs, Viking traditions, Norse mythology, and rituals to help you create an unforgettable and truly authentic wedding ceremony. 

 

Who officates a Viking wedding ceremony? 

 

Viking weddings are usually officiated by a trusted friend or beloved elder who has been ordained for the occasion, or by Pagan priest / priestess, known as a Gothi, Goði, or Gyðja.

 

If you’ve been asked to officiate a Viking wedding ceremony, this is a great place to start finding inspiration! You can get ordained online with AMM today and learn everything you need to know to plan and deliver a personalized ceremony. 

 

Next, head to our Wedding Ceremony Script Library to brouse our handfasting wedding ceremony scripts, or use this original Viking Wedding Ceremony Script. 

 

 

In search of creative viking wedding ideas? Keep reading! Include all of these rituals in a traditional Viking wedding, or personalize your favorite suggestions to plan a modern wedding that's the perfect mix of old and new, and uniquely 'you.' (Photo: SrdjanPav / iStock)

 

 

11 Viking Wedding Traditions 

 

Ritual and magic are an important part of Norse Pagan marriage rites. Use these traditional Viking wedding customs as inspiration to plan your own modern celebration, from swords, to runes, ritual offerings, magic, and more! 

 

1. Freya's Day: Hold Your Wedding Ceremony on a Friday

Schedule your Viking wedding ceremony on a Friday, 'Freya's Day,' in honor of Freya (a.k.a. Frigga or Frigg), the Norse Goddess of marriage. Freya governs family, fertility, war, and magic, making her the ideal diety to bless the fiery passions of marriage. If you hold your wedding on Freya's Day, this badass babe will bless your union to ensure a happy, healthy household and many years of love. 

 

Any Friday is considered auspicious for a Viking wedding: Although ancient Viking weddings were only held in late summer through early winter because of the treacherous northern weather, modern Pagan couples don't need to steer a longboat through frozen waters. You can schedule your Friday wedding date for any season!

 

 

2. Ritual Bath: A Spiritual Soak, Steam, and Gossip 

The day before the wedding, take part in a spiritual bathing ritual, a Viking wedding tradition that symbolizes the washing away of youth's innocence and a transition into adulthood. Modern Pagans often make a fun and meaningful spa day out of this old wedding tradition.

 

Here's what to do: In separate rooms, you and your bethrothed will be immersed in warm water by your married friends and relatives. While being soaked and scrubbed, your loved ones will offer tips for success in marriage, advice on avoiding arguments, and other candid suggestions for a lasting marriage. After lounging in this warm bath, get ready for a cold water plunge into a mix of icy, aromatic herbs and oils that will leave you refreshed, fragrant, and ready to wed!
 

 

Flowers, herbs, stones, and crystals are used to prepare the body and spirit for the wedding day

 

 

3. Viking Wedding Hair: Coiffed and Crowned 

Viking hair styles are a big part of wedding celebration, and how a bride or groom styles and adorns their hair can be even more important than the clothes they wear! (Historians agree this has always been the case, Vikings have always put extra effort and symbolism into their hair styles!)

 

Viking bride hair styles: Viking brides often leave their hair long and loose for the ceremony, or tie it up in elaborately stacked braids. Many modern Viking brides also wear a silver crown decorated with flowers and jewels, which represents the transition into marriage.

 

Viking groom hair styles: Viking men's hair is clean, combed, and styled! Mustaches and beards should be combed and tamed (at least for the wedding day).

 

 

4. Viking Wedding Clothes: Colorful and Bold

Viking wedding attire is a colorful mix of bold reds, forest greens, and deep ocean blues, often accessorized with fur-lined cloaks, capes, and tunics (and of course the occasional axe). Although you might spend most of your prep time styling your luxurious locks, what you wear is still very important and the bolder, the better.

 

Viking wedding officiants usually dress to match, and should wear clothing that coordinates with whatever style and level of formality you've chosen for the day. Guests clothes are usually more subdued in color, so that they don't take any attention away from the wedding couple. Earth tones, dark blues, and neutral blacks and grays are popular color choices for guests.  

 

 

Fur (or faux-fur) accents and bold colors make for stunning wedding-day looks

 

 

 

5. Viking Hunting Horn: The Call to the Ceremony

To announce the start of the wedding ceremony, wedding officiants blow into a carved Viking hunting horn, which produces a clear, melodic tone that echoes through forest and field to signal the start of the marriage rite. The bright call of this sounding horn rounds up any guests who have not already taken their seats so that the ceremony can start. 

 

(Don't confuse the hunting horn for the Viking drinking horn, which you'll get to enjoy after the handfasting ceremony!)

 

 

6. Outdoor Wedding: Viking Magic in Nature

Viking weddings are almost always held outdoors, immersed in the magic and majesty of the natural world. Whether you hold your ceremony in a forest or on a lake front, in your back yard or beside the ocean, in a field of wildflowers or against a backdrop of snow and ice, an outdoor wedding ceremony invokes the magic of the natural world and invites the blessings of spirits and gods. 

 

Another benefit of having a wedding outside is that you can leave the decorating to Mother Nature (or Jord, Jörð, the Norse goddess of Earth). In the open air, decorate your ceremony space with seasonal foliage, flowers, candles, and other natural elements.

 

 

7. Viking Wedding Sword Exchange With Rings

Exchange wedding swords as part of your ring exchange ceremony, to symbolize the protection and care exchanged between two families in marriage. During the wedding ceremony, attach your wedding bands to the hilt of the sword (tied to the pommel or handle). Kneel before your love with the sword, offering the ring as a symbol of your partnership and devotion. Viking wedding swords can also be engraved with custom messages or adorned with flowers, and exchanged as wedding gifts. 

 

(Historians say that Viking grooms used to steal their wedding swords from the graves of ancestors, digging them up the night before the wedding to prove they weren’t afraid of their own mortality. These days, you'll have better luck with a swordsmith or bladesmith.) 

 

Did Vikings wear wedding rings?

 

Yes, ancient Vikings wore wedding rings just like modern couples do! Viking wedding bands were usually made of silver or bronze, because gold was special and rare. 

 

Viking wedding swords and wedding rings are engraved with Norse runes as blessing and protection

 

8. The Blot Ritual: From Blood Sacrifice to Offerings of Wine and Whiskey

 

In ancient times, blood sacrifice was a common part of Norse Pagans' religious and spiritual rituals, including marriage ceremonies, where an animal like a goat might be slaughtered as an offering to the god Thor to bless the union. But modern Pagans have found ways to keep the tradition of the blót ritual alive, with a vegetarian-friendly twist! Today, blót offerings are made with mead, wine, whiskey, or honey in place of blood.

 

Wedding Blót Ritual Outline: 

 

Modern blót offerings are carried out in the same way they used to be, minus the blood:

 

• An offering of wine, whiskey, or honey water is poured into a bowl
• The offering is blessed by the wedding officiant
• The offering is then sprinkled over the altar or ceremonial fire in offering to the gods, and across the couple's foreheads

 

 

9. Viking Handfasting

A Pagan handfasting ceremony is a popular addition to any Viking wedding. During the handfasting ceremony, the wedding officiant blesses the couple and ties a ribbon or cord around their hands and wrists to symbolize an unbreakable spiritual bond, sealing the love spell cast by the vows. Handfasting cords can be tied in decorative knots, such as an infinity knot, and displayed in your home for years to come as a happy reminder of the wedding ceremony. Click the link below for helpful tips on how to have a handfasting: 

 

• How to Include a Handfasting in Your Wedding Ceremony or Vow Renewal

 

 

10. Viking Drinking Horn: Honey Mead is a Must!

Did someone mention mead? You bet they did! The traditional Viking wedding toast follows the handfasting ceremony and is always made with honey mead, sipped from a carved drinking horn.  

 

Viking weddings are known for lively drinking, so keep your drinking horn close! You'll need it to get through the playful sword fights at the reception, to pair with festive feasts that last for days (up to a week or more!), to wash down the Kransekake (a Norwegian crown cake, also known as a Viking wedding cake), and to fuel multiple nights filled with live music and enthusiastic dancing. 

 

 

Marry like a Viking! Mead is a must: Ceremonial mead tastes best when served generously in Viking drinking horns. 

 

11. Norse Wedding Runes: Decor, Divination, and Spell Casting

Norse runes are an important Viking wedding tradition and can be incorporated into many parts of the wedding: added to wedding decor, written on wedding invitations and centerpieces, engraved on wedding rings and wedding swords, placed on the wedding altar, or used for divination during the wedding reception. 

 

Called the Elder Futhark, this old runic alphabet has been a popular part of Pagan magic traditions since the first and second century A.D. Each rune symbol has a specific meaning to invoke blessings and cast spells of protection and strength.

 

Learn about Norse runes and meanings:

 

• Norse Runes for Wedding Altars, Rings, and Invitations - The Full Elder Futhark Alphabet

 

 

Norse runes are used for wedding decoration, storytelling, and to bless a marriage

 

 

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More Pagan Wedding Ideas & Inspiration: 

 

• Online Ordination for Modern Pagans: Why it’s So Important, Especially Now
   
• Summer Solstice Ceremony with Honey Wine Toast and Handfasting (Wedding Ceremony Script)

 

• When Pagans Wed: Modern Paganism & the Wedding Ritual
   

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Handfasting: 

From Ancient Rituals to Modern Ceremonies

|* custom-button, "https://theamm.org/store/products/handfasting-from-ancient-rituals-to-modern-ceremonies", "ORDER YOUR HANDFASTING GUIDE TODAY!" *|

A step-by-step guide to the handfasting unity ceremony! Learn about one of the most exciting trends in weddings, inspired by ancient love stories for modern couples. 

 

Written and illustrated by AMM staff writer Jessica Levey, this book is full of whimsical illustrations, and carefully researched and crafted stories and imagery that are your ticket to your own adventure.

 

 

 

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Ask a Friend to Officiate Your Wedding Ceremony! 

Good things happen when friends and relatives help out at the wedding ceremony! Having a friend officiate your wedding or elopement is a great way to ensure the wedding day is as intimate and personal as it can be. When a loved one officiates, every moment means more.

Ask a friend or family member to officiate your wedding with free online ordination through American Marriage Ministries (AMM). 

|* custom-button, "https://theamm.org/ordination-application", "ORDAINED MINISTER ONLINE APPLICATION" *|

Why AMM? American Marriage Ministries is an inclusive nondenominational internet church that ordains and trains ministers to officiate marriage ceremonies. We are a recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit church, and help people from all backgrounds and beliefs become ordained ministers for weddings. Our online ordination is free, accessible, and never expires.

 

Officiating weddings is an incredible honor, and a great way to show your love and support for the people getting married. As a wedding officiant, you will help to create memorable ceremonies and memories that last a lifetime.

AMM Ministers can legally officiate weddings in every state* (it's much harder in Virginia, where we're looking into our options). After getting ordained with AMM, you might need to register your ordination with your local county clerk’s office. Click the link above to get started! 

 

 

Become an ordained minister online with American Marriage Ministries and officiate wedding for friends and relatives. (Photo: Angela Pontes Rodriguez / iStock)

 

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