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Sunday Musing: Headcanons
What are your thoughts on Dwarven and Elvish weddings? How about Gimli and Legolas's wedding in particular?
Feel free to use this post to discuss this and related topics all week!



Well we know what constitutes an Elf wedding ehuehue. Maybe ther is a party after? Kinda awkward...ish. Congrats on getting it on, etc kind of thing. Dwarves. I kinda waffle on how ceremonial they would be. I could see it being a semi private family thing, or a huge ceremony and a loud party. Probably differs between commoners and nobility.
Gimmers and Lego did it the elf way in Fangorn (with some pervert squirrels as witnesses to the wedding) you cannot convince me otherwise...
Hehehe! The idea of Elvish ceremonies happening after the actual marriage just tickles me! It's just so funny from an outsider's point of view! There have to be dozen of "Elvish wedding jokes".
And I see what you mean about differences due to social structure. It would be very hard to have a member of a royal family have a completely private wedding.
Hahaha! I like your headcanon! Who could honestly ask them to wait? Especially once they finally had some privacy and a break from responsibilities!
"Hooray, Sauron is dead!" joie de vivre eh why not
lol, now that's the way to celebrate a new age!
I've always assumed that Elvish wedding were more ceremonial, considering what actually constitutes marriages between them and their deep dislike of oaths. I've always assumed a ceremony would take place first, but it being after could be funny.
The oath thing could be an issue in a marriage between and Elf and a Dwarf, especially ones in royal houses.
I like this thought! Since they aren't as essential to the actually binding, do you think they would have greater variety? I can just imagine Mirkwood elves having very loud celebrations, with the couple's favorite foods and drinks, and lots of dancing! Maybe in Rivendell things are more peaceful, with lots of very delicate decorations. And just, a whole lot of very personal touches throughout, so you'd never know entirely what to expect at an Elvish wedding. (I wonder if there are jokes about having the ceremony after the marriage?)
I never thought about the swearing oaths bit. I'm certain that following ceremony and using ancient words passed down through generations in Dwarven ceremonies. Those ancient secrets might be a stumbling block for an outsider too. And oaths never seem to work out well for Elves....
Imagine trying to make a combined ceremony. Imagine their families trying to agree on what needs to be in their ceremony!
I like the idea of Mirkwod Elves having a more spontaneous 'so that just happened' type party. Anything else would put a weird (but potentially funny) stress on the relationship. The poor stewards, basically needing to be ready for a party like that at any time. I can imagine them having lots of 'will they are wont they' gossip to know what to plan for.
While I am sure their wedding was pre-actual-marriage, Aragorn pretty much sprung a surprise wedding on people when Arwen showed at Minas Tirith. He asks people to stay for a long awaited day, but doesn't tell them what. He was raised among Elves and really wants his friends there for the ceremonial part. He approach is one thing we can use to build headcanons on.
I don't know if I've ever seen the fact that Thranduil would be able to tell if his son was married as soon as he heard his voice or saw his eyes played with in a story. There is a lot of potential there.
Dealing with the families is a minefield. Thranduil has his hands ties a bit in that he can't actually forbid or reject a marriage. Legolas is too versed in history to not freak out at an oath, but Dwarves seem to put store in them.
Haha! Aragorn springing a surprise wedding on people is an excellent thought! Like, I'm sure the Elves who were coming (and Legolas, Elledan, and Elrohir) probably had a good idea of what was coming, but the other Peoples would have been very surprised!
I wonder how that might effect wedding fashions in Mina's Tirith?
The Came-home-married idea really deserves to show up more! I can imagine that after his initial outrage about who his son is married to, Thranduil might throw himself into making sure he has the most lavish wedding ceremony ever seen in the Greenwood. Possibly to distract himself.
Hmmm... when it comes to Dwarvish elements it may be one thing to share some secrets with Legolas since he's marrying in, but what about his family? What if there are portions of the ceremony where the families are supposed to respond? I can't imagine Gloin trying to teach Thranduil his part in a Dwarvish style wedding! (Although that could have the potential for a lot of humor).
With Thranduil in that situation I imagined both upset and some real concern about his kid marrying a mortal. But, since it's not something he can change he'd try to have the best wedding and also not allow anyone to disrespect Gimli. Just maybe lots of alone time when he's not needed for planning or ruling.
You raise good points about the Dwarf side of things, but I am not sure how to resolve that. Dwarf traditions are likely serious business. But, hopefully the Mirkwood Elves and Erebor Dwarves having just been through War in the North might make them more inclined to figure this out rather had deal with more conflict.
Wedding fics have so much potential for humor in so many ways, and also good opportunities for lore exploration.
It must be tough, for the parent of an immortal to be faced with the possibility that their child could die. Or at least suffer great grief. I like the idea that if he's in the situation though, he's going to make sure it gets treated with respect and honor. I bet Legolas and Gimli would be grateful for that.
I really hope they'd be able to come to a compromise. Maybe sharing the secrets with only those directly related to one of the couple? Maybe they would teach them the meaning in standard and have someone translate. Or the exact opposite, teach them the words without revealing the meaning?
I think that's why I never get tired of wedding fics. They have a lot of potential to go many different ways!