In the West, many brides-to-be go on the hunt
for the perfect wedding dress for their big day and spare no expense, but this wasn’t the case for ancient Viking brides.
When it came to Viking wedding clothes, the focus wasn’t on the wedding gown
but on the bride’s hair and the bridal headpiece – a wedding crown.
Viking bridal hairstyles
In the Viking culture, women wore long
hair. In fact, the longer the hair the better because it represented their sexual
appeal. Blonde hair was the most valued and brunette women often chose to
bleach their hair using soap which contained lye to give them red or golden
blond hair. Before marriage, women wore their hair loose and long or sometimes
braided in two braids hanging past their ears and so bridal hairstyles for Viking brides were basic and very simple.
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| Long hair symbolized the bride's sexual appeal -- the longer the better. |
Viking bridal crown
Before marriage, a medieval Scandinavian woman
wore a kransen, a gilt circlet, as a
symbol of their virginity. This kransen was removed (but kept for the bride’s
future daughter) in preparation for the wedding along with all her clothing and
anything that represented she was single as she prepared to enter her life
together with her husband.
During the wedding ceremony, a bridal crown
replaced the kransen. This Viking bridal crown was most often an heirloom and
commonly crafted of silver. The novelist Sigrid Unset, awarded the Nobel Prize
for Literature in 1928, described a Viking wedding crown in her trilogy, Kristin Lavransdatter, as a headpiece crafted
of silver with points culminating in crosses and clover leaves by turns. It was
decorated with rock-crystal and festooned with red and green silk cords.
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| Bridal Wedding Crown and Tiara with Crystals |
Wedding crowns today
Today, some brides still choose to wear a wedding
crown in this tradition with something as simple as woven straw decorated with
flowers, or for something more elaborate a full crown or bridal tiara can be purchased for a reasonable price
through a bridal store. These crowns can be worn in tandem with a veil or by
themselves.
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Photo Credits: Wikimedia, Wikimedia
