A Knick In Time

Frigg's Day

One and a half months later

Klaus and Tatia's wedding is today. At first, they thought, they'd wait until winter is over and get married in spring, but then, they changed their minds. Or, rather, Niklaus changed our minds. Mikael has been bullying him again and after a short talk, Tatia and I agreed that he should be getting out of that awful man's house as soon as possible. And since the future hybrid will be moving in with his wife after the wedding, we decided to move the date up.

The process was pretty strenuous though. First, I learnt the practical way that marriage is quite an economic thing for vikings. Tatia and I had to spend two days negotiating with Esther and Mikael, talking about who would get what out of the union. Since Mikael considers Niklaus to be worthless, he doesn't ask for much. I said it before and I'll say it again: the guy is a jerk! But, on the bright side, we managed to reach an agreement.
Second, we had to invite the entire village plus many people from some neighbouring villages. Weddings are big ceremonies around here.
And third, there are many viking wedding traditions I didn't know about that fascinate me and, in some cases, make me shake my head. On the night before the wedding, Tatia goes to have a bath. She is being accompanied by some married female friends of hers, but since I am single, I'm not allowed to join them. However, she told me what the bathing ritual entails. There will be hot stones placed in the bath as well as birch twigs. Apparently, this process symbolizes her journey from unmarried maidenhood to marriage.

So, long story short, here I am, standing outside by a beautiful gazebo made of branches and flowers. It's a friday or, as they call it, a Frigg's day. Frigg is the goddess of marriage, which is why viking weddings are normally held on the day named after her; Frigg's day.

Tatia walks up to the gazebo, wearing her festive attire. There is a flower wreath, called a kransen, adorning her hair and a shiny smile on her face. Niklaus' smile matches hers as his siblings and his mother stand by him proudly. Mikael, fortunately, keeps mostly to the background and doesn't spoil this day. Elijah doesn't look too happy, but he honorably tries to hide it.

The ceremony is a traditional, viking wedding, as I heard from my sister. Tatia's and Niklaus' hands are being tied together by their wrists and they need to say a vow. Niklaus and Tatia swear to stand by each other until death. They exchamge rings as well as swords. Each of them brought an old sword with them for this occasion. Tatia's kransen is ceremoniously taken off of her head and replaced by a bridal crown. This is important, because the kransen represents her status as a maiden, which is officially being replaced by her newfound status as a wife. When they are done with the traditional gestures, the man before them pronounces them husband and wife. I forgot what they call that man, but he is not a priest; vikings aren't Chistians.

During the ceremony, I also come to hear Tatia's last name for the first time ever. I can't believe I never asked her about it, but I guess I always assumed it was Petrova. I was wrong. It's Peterson.

Klaus takes his bride's hand and those two walk down to the party place where Esther, Rebekah and I have prepared the meal. Due to the fact that it's almost winter, the meal mainly consists of meat. But no matter; the newlywed couple is so happy, there's nothing that could possibly spoil this day.

We drink and dance. There's a lot of beer and Met. At some point I notice that Elijah is drinking considerably more than the rest. As the sun begins to set, I approach the noble Mikaelson. He is currently brooding by himself by a huge oak tree, not far from the party place.

"Are you alright?" I ask him.

Elijah looks up at me. "A strange question to ask on a day such as this one. The nuptials of one's brother is a reason for great joy, yes?!"