how did the accent Celts get married?

Answer 1

For the ancient Celts, marriage was a very different thing than what we conceive of as "marriage" today. For them, marriage or handfasting as some know it was a form of contract that had several purposes. These included the protection of property rights, the care of progeny (children), and the rights of the individuals involved in the relationships themselves.
Lanamnas comthinchuir -- union of joint property in which both partners contribute moveable goods into the union. The woman in such a union is called a wife of joint authority.

Lanamnas mna for ferthinchur -- union of a woman on man's property into which the woman contributes little or nothing.

Lanamnas fir for bantinchur -- union of a man on woman's property into which the man contributes little or nothing.

Lanamnas fir thathigtheo -- union of a man visiting which signifies a less formal union in which the man visits the woman in her home with her kin's consent.

Lanamnas foxail -- union in which a woman goes away openly with a man without the consent of her kin.

Lanamnas taidi -- union in which a woman is secretly visited without knowledge of her kin.



There was more than one recognized form of marriage, and some of these would probably be repugnant to us today, as most of us were born and raised in a society that honors the nuclear family, marriage based on love and not on contract, and the idea of monogamy. (However, the lawyer reading this may smile, for this ancient form of marriage contract sounds an awful lot like today's "pre-nuptial agreement," doesn't it?)



Though some historical sources differ slightly as to the number and exact relationships described in the various Celtic marriage forms, the intent is the same. The main purposes of each form of marriage was the protection and care of children (regardless of whose children they were; illegitimacy was a concept unknown to the ancient Celt), clear understanding of roles, relationships and expectations of those entering the contract, and the protection of property rights of each of the parties involved in the marriage. What the Celtic Pagan today may gain from understanding the ancient laws of the Celts is perhaps not in the exact content of any particular form of marriage, but in the clear intent of the marriage laws as outlines for the expectations and protection of the rights of those who enter into marriage contracts. These marriage contracts assured the rights of the individual were protected.

Answer 2

Difficult to say what exactly the Celts did. Much of the history of the Celts comes down from Roman sources and they were not too friendly with the Celts.

Take the case of Queen Boadicea of the Icani. Her British Army smashed through two Roman Legions, destroyed Colchester, burned 2000 Roman Citizens to death in the great temple there and then marched on Londinium [London] killed every living creature men, women and children and then burnt the city to a crisp.

Why? Because her daughters were raped by the Romans. Death the Rome.

Answer 3

Have you ever wondered why some people refer to the marriage ceremony as “tying the knot?” Surprising to many, this phrase actually pertains to an ancient ceremony known as a hand fasting, a ritual of intended marriage, common amongst the Celtic races.

In ancient days, a hand fasting was actually a trial-marriage ceremony. The couple, upon declaration that they intended to wed, would then have their hands bound loosely together in ceremony. These loose bindings signified that the marriage was good for one year and one day, at which point the couple would then have to declare whether they had chosen to make the marriage a permanent thing or if they wished to engage in a hand parting ceremony (the Celtic equivalent of divorce). Unlike Christian weddings, no promises or vows were spoken at this point. The ceremony simply acknowledged that their two lives were bound together as one and showed their intent to live as such.

During the year between hand fasting ceremonies, the couple would live together as man and wife. If, after this trial marriage, the couple chose to participate in a second hand fasting ceremony, their hands would be bound together once more. This time, however, the knots would be secured tightly and the marriage would be considered to be forever. Even when one of them passed on into the Summerland (the afterlife), the surviving spouse would not remarry and would simply wait for the day when they were reunited with their loved one.

Answer 4

Good reply from ffordcash.

Irish:
"Marriage seems to have been a close tie in the sagas, but in the older law tracts we notice various degrees of marriage and concubinage. Nevertheless the position of women seems to have been high."

Pictish:
"The law of succession among Picts waas through the female, and there are grounds for thinking that the bridegroom was usually a visiting prince, and that the marriage arrangement was not regarded as permanent. The Irish story of Corc, son of Lugaid, who carried off his Pictish bride to Munster is probably typical in this respect. This would help to account for the fact that the Dalriadic kings often have Pictish names after 781, though there is no hint of a Pictish conquest to account for it. Indeed this Pictish law must have greatly facilitated the union of the two peoples by intermarriage."

That's all I could find. What is obvious is that marriage was only relevant or recorded amoong people of property. Marriage was a civil contract, not a religious one, despite the celts being Christian in Britain from a very early date.

Answer 5

Probably the same way most tribal cultures get married. Like a business merger. There is usually a negotiation of what property will be exchanged between the two families and what properties each side will contribute to the new family and then there is usually some sort of ritual dinner and then the couple begin living together.

Answer 6

No one knows, because they didn't write anything down. the handfasting referred to in the second answer is merely an invention of the late 18th and 19th centuries when the Celts were 'rediscovered' and many of the myths about them recreated.

Answer 7

They spent a year with their chosen woman to see if she was right for them. They paid her parents with cattle, later there was a feast with drinking.
Celtic warriors would sometimes marry foreign women and bring them back, cutting out their tongues to prevent them spoiling the native language.

Answer 8

Yes.

Answer 9

i have no idea!