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Sunday Musings: Headcanons
Had a great time chatting about marriages last week! This week's topic is Courting!
What are the important parts of courting in Dwarven and Elvish culture? Do you think either has a strict set of steps to be followed? There seemed to be a few cases of demanding quests be completed in Silmarillion... could that be related?
And what about Legolas and Gimli! Do you think they tried to court each other on the road? Did they wait until the war was over? Did they just say "screw it!" and get hitched without any courting at all and scandalize their respective families? (Personally, I love all of these scenarios!)
Let's here what you think! Feel free to comment to this post and to each other. Headcanons are best when shared!



Elves often marry childhood friends and those not married by age 100 are often consigned to strange fates. They may or may not have much in the way of courting rituals. I think of Elven courting more in terms of getting the heck away from all those keen eyes and keen ears to have awkward 'do we both ...' conversations, or pre-marital smooches.
Elvish lands/titles are not necessarily hereditary, though it often winds up that way. Though a prince technically, I don't think Legolas ever thought of himself as the future ruler of Greenwood.
One of my many drawer-fics involves Legolas dragging Gimli to all those hidden spots in Mirkwood that he never had cause to drag someone to before.
Dwarves are very different. They have hereditary titles and are mortal. While it would hopefully never happen, Gimli is someone who could inherit Kingship of Erebor if certain people died. (Though, that happening post-marriage would be interesting,) Traditions and either family or government approval are likely things to deal with. Other than that, I have less thoughts on Dwarves than Elves for this topic.
Hehe, the ideas of Elves sneaking off to try to get in a few private smooches is so cute! And your fic idea sounds adorable!
I agree that dwarves would probably have a more formal process. I bet it differs depending on where they're from, too. Right now I'm trying to imagine Gimli trying to get that approval to marry! It's a good thing he has a silver tongue!