आगमे विश्वासटिप्पन्यः

Source: TW

Very interesting lecture Stephanie Jamison - draupadi troy, arguing that from IE literature, there was a legal, ritualized form of bride abduction in IE cultures, in which a messenger is send and consent is granted; an example being the Skírnismál.

An example of a myth surrounding unlawful bride abduction would be a folk tale from Lower Saxony.

In it, a man disapproved of his daughter’s fiancé, and arranged to have her abducted from her wedding by a warrior he approved of. But, as he arrived, she prayed to Thor, who threatened her father by striking a tree next to him with lightning. Unlike the Skírnismál, no messenger was sent and no consent was given, making this an unlawful bride abduction, and Thor protected His devotee.

Full tale

In the forests of Thorenwald, a young woman had fallen in love with a man from a nearby village. Her father didn’t approve of him, so they would meet in a sacred oak grove between their two villages. Her father wanted her to marry another man, a warrior from a noble family, with whom he sought to align. But his daughter had made up her mind, and announced that they would marry.

Unbeknownst to her, her father arranged to have the warrior kidnap her from her wedding, in order to bait her lover into a duel in which he would be gravely outmatched. The two families met to a tense wedding in the sacred oak grove. As they were taking their vows, the warrior came riding on a mighty Saxon horse, and snatched the woman. Her fiancé drew his sword and demanded he get down and fight him.

Before the duel could commence, she threw herself between them and called to Thor for help. And he heard her. A bolt of lightning struck an oak tree near where her father stood. He interpreted this as a warning from Thor himself, and didn’t interfere any further. When the wedding rituals were complete, and his daughter and her husband were officially married, the clouds parted.

For many years afterwards, the people of the surrounding villages in Thorenwald made offerings to Thor at the charred oak, a symbol of Thor’s love for his people.