I expect there will soon be another Ljósálfar and Úlfhéðnar wedding, like Queen Íssla and Brökk’s so many years ago. Perhaps this winter solstice, when Luna and Njáll sail home with Elfi and Njörd. They might even marry at Château Blanc, and live in Étretat. Luna can return frequently to Álfheim through the waterfall cave of the Mermaid Cove. And when Bodo and Sif marry as well, they shall all be together in the Pays de Caux.
Úlvhild swallowed a lump of sorrow at how she longed to wed Haldor and live in the Land of the White Chalk Cliffs. Or inFálkhöll, his clifftop fortress in the Faroe Islands. Or anywhere, for that matter. So long as they were together, she would be content.
But the Norns have woven a different fate for the two of us.
For I shall die in battle tomorrow.
And Haldor will wed Svanhild.
As if he sensed her distress, Haldor squeezed Úlvhild’s hand. She flashed him a bright, forced smile and directed her attention back to the wedding ceremony which was about to begin.
Queen Íssla’s silver cloak glistened over her opalescent gown like starlight on new fallen snow. Her clear voice—radiant as the moonglow which shone through windows in the high ceiling—rang out over the elegant Crystal Hall.
“Honored friends and beloved kin, we gather under stone and stars to bind two souls together in eternal love andLjósálfarlight.” At her gesture, agoðipagan priest stepped forward and halted before Elfi and Njörd, who stood together in the center of a circular mosaic of glowing moonstones and glitteringstarstones inlaid into the dark, polished floor.
Dressed in a long white tunic draped with furs, a leather belt with pouches of herbs, charms, and fragments of bones strapped at his waist, the white-hairedgoðiclutched a twig fromÍsilvé,the sacred ash tree ofÁlfheim, and a silver bowl containing the blood of the goat which had been sacrificed to the Norse gods on the black beach far below the castle.
With steady hands—whitened with chalk and blackened with runes just like his painted face—thegoðidipped the twig inthe silver bowl and reverently anointed the brows of Elfi and Njörd. “With this sacred blood, I invoke the blessing of the gods. May they grant you fertility, prosperity, and unity. Now, and all your days beneath sun and stars.” He gestured to Úlf, who approached with the silver platter draped in white wolf fur upon which lay Njörd’s sword, with Elfi’s wedding ring attached to its hilt. “Let the sword be offered. Untie the ring, place it upon the bride’s finger, and declare your wedding vows.”
Njörd removed the ring from the hilt of his sword and placed the silver band with a large lapis lazuli stone on the third finger of Elfi’s left hand. As his intense gaze held his bride’s, tears streamed down Úlvhild’s smiling cheeks. Njörd’s deep voice resonated across the hushed Crystal Hall.
“I give you my sword, my life, and my vow.
I will protect you, honor you, and walk beside you.
All my days beneath sun and stars.
Let this ring bear witness to my oath
To love and honor you in this life and the next.”
Elfi gazed up at Njörd and accepted the sword that he had taken from Úlf and now offered to her. “I accept your sword, your ring, and your vow. And I give you mine.” She handed the platter with Njörd’s heirloom sword to Sif, who was standing just behind her with Bodo. Elfi then turned to Lugh, who waited at her side with the blade that Dag had given her—theShadowbanesword with which he had trained Elfi in the sacred grove near the Mermaid Cove. Elfi untied the silver cord which attached Njörd’s ring to the hilt and placed it on the third finger of his right hand, according to Norse tradition. Her limpid voice flowed like the crystal cascade beneath theLjósálfarcastle.
“I give you my sword, my life, and my vow.
I shall bear your children, stand with you, and walk beside you.
All my days beneath sun and stars.
Let this ring bear witness to myoath.
To love and honor you in this life and the next.”
Elfi took the silver platter draped with ermine fur upon which rested her shieldmaiden sword from Lugh and solemnly handed it to Njörd.
“I accept your sword, your ring, and your vow.” He received the platter from Elfi with a bow of his dark head, and handed it to Úlf, the sword bearer who proudly stood at his side.
Thegoðidipped the sacred ash twig into the silver bowl once again and anointed Elfi and Njörd with the sacrificial blood.“With the exchange of swords, vows, and rings—and the blood blessing of the gods—I bind you as one, beneath sun and stars.”
Having anointed the bridal couple, the priest stepped toward theLjösálfarqueen, reverently dipped the ash twig in the silver bowl, and painted a droplet of blood on Íssla’s luminous brow. He then blood-blessed Úlf and Lugh, the sword bearers who held the exchanged blades, for Sif had given the platter she had been holding back to Lugh.
Circulating among the standing guests who had witnessed the royal wedding, thegoðiblessed each bowed forehead with the blood of the sacrificial goat. He then strode across the polished floor of the Crystal Hall, long white robe swishing like silk, and tossed dark berries and translucent tears of resin into the crackling fire. As the crisp pine scent of juniper mingled with the earthy spice of myrrh, the pagan priest poured the remainder of the sacred blood into the flickering flames of the rune-inscribed stone hearth.
Ólaf One-Eye had sent for a Christian priest in the village at Njörd’s request, to sanctify the marriage so that the Frankish Count of Soissons could not claim that their pagan wedding was invalid. Bald pate of his tonsured head glistening in the firelight, the white-robed priest blessed Elfi and Njörd with fingers dipped in holy water from a shining bronze bowl he clutched in his bare hands. With a fervent voice filled with conviction, he proclaimed to the gathered throng, “In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, I pronounce you husband and wife.Your marriage is hereby blessed by the One True God and sanctified by the Christian Church.”
The queen’s attendants wove through the standing crowd, distributing crystal goblets of golden Moonflower mead to all the wedding guests. Once everyone—including thegoðiand the priest—had been served, Íssla proposed a wedding toast. “Honored kin and cherished friends, tonight we have witnessed the binding of two hearts, the entwining of two fates. AsLjósálfarQueen and mother of the groom, I offer the first cup.” She raised her golden goblet high, prompting the jubilant throng to follow her lead.
“To the seas that brought them together,
