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ljwritesI remembered hearing that the Inuits or Eskimos had a custom where the groom staged a fake abduction of the bride. As background research for a short story about Aang and Katara getting married, I wanted to see if there was any support for the existence of this practice, and evidently there is--I found several references to bride capture among the Inuits, though there were some doubts about the veracity of the account. I also found a set of writings by Danish explorer Peter Freuchen who spent time with the Greenland Eskimos (in the story "An Eskimo Takes a Bride") and it... was crazy. Absolutely bloody crazy, involving a wild, violent fight while the groom carried the bride off, and bodily injury mostly to the groom. I had to keep reminding myself that the bride was willing, because otherwise it would be the most disturbing thing ever. (Well actually the most disturbing story in the collection would be the one where Freuchen takes a young Eskimo girl as his bride... sigh.)
So my Aang/Katara story isn't going to be exactly like "An Eskimo Takes a Bride," since Katara's people aren't actual Inuits or Eskimos (overlapping but separate designations, or so I've read) and Aang would cut off his hand before he hit Katara. But the idea of a clueless and gentle Aang having to stage a kidnapping with an exasperated Katara guiding him, and Sokka coming to her "defense," is too entertaining to pass up. Oh, and the characters are all going to be grown up, of course. My image of them as grownups is shaped by an excellent piece of fanart called Who Knows What We May Become. (The 2006 date would explain why Zuko is in his Season 2 look and why the grown Zuko appears to be a wandering swordsman.) Maybe a little younger than that picture, but definitely more mature than in the show.
The idea of the bride's brothers trying to fight the groom off comes not from any account of Inuit or Eskimo practice but from Sword at Sunset by Rosemary Sutcliff, an Arthurian novel in a gritty historical style. There's a scene there where Artos must carry off Guenhumara from the wedding feast for their first night while her relatives try to stop him. It was all a consensual arrangement, of course, but Artos notes that there is some genuine feeling in her brother's struggle to keep Guenhumara from riding away. I see this as a safe, ritual way for Sokka to deal with mixed feelings about his little sister getting married.
So yeah, the story, tentatively titled To Steal a Bride, is going to be fun to write, and hopefully it'll help me get un-stuck with my main novel-length project Shadow of the Dragon King. Below the fold are excerpts from the kidnapping sequence from "An Eskimo Takes a Bride" for those who don't have time for the whole thing. A word of warning: It's pretty violent, and a possible trigger for trauma.
Imenak . . . had already given himself away by paying too much attention to Arnaluk, the beautiful daughter of Otonia. And there was no doubt of her feelings. It was common knowledge that she had several times lately eaten the lice which she removed from his hair when he put his head in her lap to be relieved of the annoying little animals. What then could be more obvious than that she loved him.
. . .
Imenak grabbed the girl who screamed and kicked in vain. He got hold of one knee and one arm and pulled her to him. She held on to the tent pole and the whole tent was trembling as he pulled her. The mother called out that Arnaluk was not playing fair and that the whole tent would fall down.
"I don't care! Nobody can get me out of here!" Arnaluk screamed in a wild fury, and bit him in the hand. Imenak pulled and she kicked until finally the pole gave way and tore a gaping hole in the wall of the tent.
. . .
Outside there was more room for fighting. Arnaluk still held on to the tent pole, but he got one of her hands loose by beating her over the knuckles. He tried the same thing with the other hand which flew suddenly from the pole straight into his face. The sharp nails tore five long gashes from his eye down the whole cheek and the blood was streaming down his face. The Eskimos cheered for this honorable feat.
At last Imenak got the wild woman up on his shoulders while she still beat him over the head and tore out fistfuls of hair. She was kicking wildly but he had her in such a grip that she could not stop him from walking.
. . .
The words had been said. The mother had given the signal and Arnaluk subsided at once. She settled down on the sled, still gasping from the struggle. People returned to their tents and Imenak made the dogs ready for the trip. When one of them tried to get away and return to the tents, Arnaluk grabbed the whip and lashed out viciously like a man.
"Miserable dogs!" she called out. "Don't you know we are going home!" She was a wife already and as such had the right and duty to berate her husband's property to win the praise of others.
They made the return trip in a leisurely pace to have a few days to repair their clothes and let their faces heal. Imenak had some sewing things along, since the young wife had nothing. She had been robbed and carried off by force and her husband had to look after her.
When they arrived at the first settlement no questions were asked. They were received as if Imenak had always had Arnaluk with him wherever he went, but as soon as they left, the talk began. The obvious signs of damage to Imenak's face and clothes were all to the honor of the bride.
So my Aang/Katara story isn't going to be exactly like "An Eskimo Takes a Bride," since Katara's people aren't actual Inuits or Eskimos (overlapping but separate designations, or so I've read) and Aang would cut off his hand before he hit Katara. But the idea of a clueless and gentle Aang having to stage a kidnapping with an exasperated Katara guiding him, and Sokka coming to her "defense," is too entertaining to pass up. Oh, and the characters are all going to be grown up, of course. My image of them as grownups is shaped by an excellent piece of fanart called Who Knows What We May Become. (The 2006 date would explain why Zuko is in his Season 2 look and why the grown Zuko appears to be a wandering swordsman.) Maybe a little younger than that picture, but definitely more mature than in the show.
The idea of the bride's brothers trying to fight the groom off comes not from any account of Inuit or Eskimo practice but from Sword at Sunset by Rosemary Sutcliff, an Arthurian novel in a gritty historical style. There's a scene there where Artos must carry off Guenhumara from the wedding feast for their first night while her relatives try to stop him. It was all a consensual arrangement, of course, but Artos notes that there is some genuine feeling in her brother's struggle to keep Guenhumara from riding away. I see this as a safe, ritual way for Sokka to deal with mixed feelings about his little sister getting married.
So yeah, the story, tentatively titled To Steal a Bride, is going to be fun to write, and hopefully it'll help me get un-stuck with my main novel-length project Shadow of the Dragon King. Below the fold are excerpts from the kidnapping sequence from "An Eskimo Takes a Bride" for those who don't have time for the whole thing. A word of warning: It's pretty violent, and a possible trigger for trauma.
Imenak . . . had already given himself away by paying too much attention to Arnaluk, the beautiful daughter of Otonia. And there was no doubt of her feelings. It was common knowledge that she had several times lately eaten the lice which she removed from his hair when he put his head in her lap to be relieved of the annoying little animals. What then could be more obvious than that she loved him.
. . .
Imenak grabbed the girl who screamed and kicked in vain. He got hold of one knee and one arm and pulled her to him. She held on to the tent pole and the whole tent was trembling as he pulled her. The mother called out that Arnaluk was not playing fair and that the whole tent would fall down.
"I don't care! Nobody can get me out of here!" Arnaluk screamed in a wild fury, and bit him in the hand. Imenak pulled and she kicked until finally the pole gave way and tore a gaping hole in the wall of the tent.
. . .
Outside there was more room for fighting. Arnaluk still held on to the tent pole, but he got one of her hands loose by beating her over the knuckles. He tried the same thing with the other hand which flew suddenly from the pole straight into his face. The sharp nails tore five long gashes from his eye down the whole cheek and the blood was streaming down his face. The Eskimos cheered for this honorable feat.
At last Imenak got the wild woman up on his shoulders while she still beat him over the head and tore out fistfuls of hair. She was kicking wildly but he had her in such a grip that she could not stop him from walking.
. . .
The words had been said. The mother had given the signal and Arnaluk subsided at once. She settled down on the sled, still gasping from the struggle. People returned to their tents and Imenak made the dogs ready for the trip. When one of them tried to get away and return to the tents, Arnaluk grabbed the whip and lashed out viciously like a man.
"Miserable dogs!" she called out. "Don't you know we are going home!" She was a wife already and as such had the right and duty to berate her husband's property to win the praise of others.
They made the return trip in a leisurely pace to have a few days to repair their clothes and let their faces heal. Imenak had some sewing things along, since the young wife had nothing. She had been robbed and carried off by force and her husband had to look after her.
When they arrived at the first settlement no questions were asked. They were received as if Imenak had always had Arnaluk with him wherever he went, but as soon as they left, the talk began. The obvious signs of damage to Imenak's face and clothes were all to the honor of the bride.
