5 Beautiful Viking Wedding Ceremony Scripts

An article by AleHorn - Custom Engraved Viking Drinking Horns

It's time. You have your personal engraved drinking horns for your groomsmen.

You have your rings.
You even have your venue, photographer, and an officiant.

But wait a second-- that officiant doesn't have any idea at all what they're supposed to say to bind you and your partner together in holy Viking matrimony!

Don't worry. Once again, AleHorn has you covered. We've collected and written several beautiful Viking wedding ceremony scripts that you can include in your wedding. Read on!

Handfasting

A handfasting is a pretty common and traditional ceremony. The idea originally comes to us from pastoral, pagan cultures all over Europe, in particular, Northern and Western Europe. The officiant symbolically wraps (not ties!) the couple together by the hand with a rope, scarf, or otherwise significant item to demonstrate that their fates are tied to one another.

The nice thing about a handfasting is the fact that it's super easy to make it your own. If the text seems too archaic or possessive to represent your partnership, never fear.

One of the things that makes the handfasting ceremony super special is the chance to make the handfasting rope. My fiance, who is a wedding officiant, has had couples use braided cord in the colors of their wedding, a hand-knitted scarf by the bride or someone special in her family, handkerchiefs from both the bride and groom's grandmothers, and tons of other objects that mean a lot to the couples. There's no stopping you from simply using some yarn. But make it special, and then give the cord an honored place in your home, alongside wedding photos and gifts.

Here's an example of a handfasting Viking wedding ceremony script from celticdruidtemple.com:

Mead Ceremony

I wrote about the mead ceremony that my partner wrote for some friends of ours a while back. He based this ceremony on the oath that Shadow Moon and Mr. Wednesday make in both the TV show and the book, American Gods. This is the complete text:

Blessing from Frigg

Frigg/Frigga is the goddess of marriage, childbirth, and home and heart, which means she's the perfect matron to call upon for a wedding. We don't have a traditional, ancient version of a prayer to Frigga. Unfortunately, nothing has survived to present. But that doesn't stop people, like Jack Roe (for the lovely site, NorthernPaganism.org) from writing homages to her, like this one:

There are plenty of other prayers out there for Frigg that you can use for your wedding, so do a bit of Googling if this one isn't perfect for you. Or, using this poem as inspiration, write your own prayer to Frigg!

Asatru Viking Wedding Ceremony Script

If you're Asatru and you want to have a traditional wedding, you're in luck. TheAsatruCommunity.org has a beautiful and well-though-out wedding ceremony write up. It uses the hand-fasting ceremony that we listed above, but includes many different prayers and traditions for your gothi to use to bless your union. 

Here's one of the most beautiful parts (in my humble opinion):

If none of these suit you...

Worry not. Like the Christians stealing aspects of the Norse religion to appeal to new followers, you CAN steal parts of these Viking wedding ceremony scripts and turn them into your own thing. There's no one way to do a wedding, not even in the Viking tradition. Do what feels best for you and your partner! And if you do get your inspiration from here, make sure you share with us in the AleHorn Army!

Looking for a classy but yet barbarian groomsmen gift? We have you covered. Our customizable drinking horns make the perfect wedding gift whether you're a guest or you're getting married.