Something we need for this episode is elvish wedding vows.
It's really important that this wedding (and all the other weddings in our show) not look/sound just like a wedding in any other movie set in a human culture. We can have flowers and rings, and familiar elements, but it shouldn't be so interchangeable as to completely pull someone out of the story.
So, for instance, I only want Galadriel to wear a white dress if she *always* wears white dresses on our show. If we've been costuming her in another color - she should wear that color. And I think we can skip the officiant, just having Galadriel and Celeborn marry one another without someone standing there as MC. And, naturally, the wedding vows have to sound like something other than "for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, til death do us part." There can't be a line about 'speak now or forever hold your peace' nor a line about 'what God has joined, let no man put asunder' or anything that screams wedding ceremony in the (English) Christian tradition. While still being...a wedding ceremony.
"Til death" is a human concept; the elvish equivalent is "til world's end" (tenn' Ambar-metta) Tolkien used that in several different Oaths (granted, mostly Numenorean, but also the Oath of Fëanor), so it would fit fine here. But what are they vowing to one another?
The Catholic understanding of marriage is that it is meant to be free, total, fruitful, and faithful. Arwen says she'll cleave to Aragorn; we can use that word for the faithful concept. I'm not sure how elves would express doing something without coercion. Perhaps something about it being declared publicly in sight of witnesses? We had discussed invoking the names of Tulkas and Nessa. For total, I feel like a duality is called for - body and soul, mind and heart, etc - some way of saying all of me for all of you. And would elves express a desire for children as part of their wedding ceremony? I would think that that would be part of the hope, but I'm not sure how they'd word it, or if that would be part of the 'blessing' the parents of the bride and groom would express - hope that they live a long life together, that they not be sundered by anything to come, that they have a family of their own, that their love for one another continue to grow, etc.
Any suggestions for language for elven wedding vows? Anyone have experience writing their own and care to lend a hand?
It's really important that this wedding (and all the other weddings in our show) not look/sound just like a wedding in any other movie set in a human culture. We can have flowers and rings, and familiar elements, but it shouldn't be so interchangeable as to completely pull someone out of the story.
So, for instance, I only want Galadriel to wear a white dress if she *always* wears white dresses on our show. If we've been costuming her in another color - she should wear that color. And I think we can skip the officiant, just having Galadriel and Celeborn marry one another without someone standing there as MC. And, naturally, the wedding vows have to sound like something other than "for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, til death do us part." There can't be a line about 'speak now or forever hold your peace' nor a line about 'what God has joined, let no man put asunder' or anything that screams wedding ceremony in the (English) Christian tradition. While still being...a wedding ceremony.
"Til death" is a human concept; the elvish equivalent is "til world's end" (tenn' Ambar-metta) Tolkien used that in several different Oaths (granted, mostly Numenorean, but also the Oath of Fëanor), so it would fit fine here. But what are they vowing to one another?
The Catholic understanding of marriage is that it is meant to be free, total, fruitful, and faithful. Arwen says she'll cleave to Aragorn; we can use that word for the faithful concept. I'm not sure how elves would express doing something without coercion. Perhaps something about it being declared publicly in sight of witnesses? We had discussed invoking the names of Tulkas and Nessa. For total, I feel like a duality is called for - body and soul, mind and heart, etc - some way of saying all of me for all of you. And would elves express a desire for children as part of their wedding ceremony? I would think that that would be part of the hope, but I'm not sure how they'd word it, or if that would be part of the 'blessing' the parents of the bride and groom would express - hope that they live a long life together, that they not be sundered by anything to come, that they have a family of their own, that their love for one another continue to grow, etc.
Any suggestions for language for elven wedding vows? Anyone have experience writing their own and care to lend a hand?