[Bill Ferny]

Kalimac

I was up a bit late last night, and came to the forum after a rather frustrating day of work. I apologize for what now seems to be a bit of a sarcastic post… [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

To be honest I didn’t read your post carefully enough last night… in my defense this was already an extremely long thread. After re-reading your post, I see what you are getting at. Marriage ceremony is not, of course, necessary for the recognition of a marriage. However, the Catholic emphasis on ritual gives the wedding a great amount of significance both as validation and, in regard to those who are Catholic, as indicating without any confusion the couple’s intent for sacramentality. The actual sacrament, however, still remains the couple’s life together.

What happens in Tolkien’s pre-Christian mythology? You lose the sacramental aspect. While this doesn’t negate ritual completely, it certainly takes the bite out of the wedding ceremony. Marriage, then is striped bare, so to speak… pun might have been intended, its hard to tell with my mind… or, in other words, the consummation alone is the only real indication of marriage. If you choose to look at this from Tolkien's religious beliefs its kind of like Tolkien took half of his Catholicism into consideration (but really, what choice would he have in a pre-Christian mythos?).

I, on the other hand, don't think that Tolkien approached this issue consciously considering his religious views about marriage, sexual intercourse, or love. Rather, I think what's really at work in this whole thing is a kind of mentality akin to the courtly romances of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. I see more courtly romance in Beren and Lúthien, Aragorn and Arwen (and Elrond?), than modern Catholic theology.