(no subject)

[haptalaon]

BTW:

Do any of you have a mythic/folkloric reference for: a mortal must make a marriage pact with a {spirit/fairy/goddess} as a form of political marriage, which confers on the mortal the right to rule or the ability to live safely among nature etc? Can be from any culture, and at this stage, i am also accepting pop culture. Gender-agnostic, it doesn't matter what gender the mortal and the spirit has.

It's for a Fencraft reference and I've sort of been assuming for a year that this is a "standard" folklore trope, but it seems not to exist. And my copy of the Mabinogion says the sacred marriage of a mortal and goddess is a common trope in celtic mythology, but again I can find no real evidence for that.

If it truly doesn't exist, that's OK, it just feels. Like it ought to have already existed. Any leads you have are greatly appreciated.

Comments

[irreversibly]

Aren't the likes of Rhiannon and Macha what you're looking for..? Also, Guinevere is an extension of it but in her case the connection to the myth/custom is more obscured.
You might have luck searching with horse-related search terms, the 'sacred marriage' in real life often took the form of the king copulating with an actual mare. The mythical origin of that can be traced to goddess (eg Demeter, Saranyu) transforming into a mare and then the god (eg Poseidon, Surya) getting her pregnant in that form.

(the offspring of that union, btw, are the Divine Twins, the morning and evening stars, the two horsemen who escort the Sun and the Moon. Or, in the case of Rhiannon, a son who's raised with a horse colt like they were brothers)

[alexseanchai]

I remember hearing that's from Frazer's Golden Bough?

[ofmonstrouswords]

the Morrigan is part of the sacred marriage thing but I'm having a devil of a time remembering the specific myth it appears in. Or if it even does appear specifically but more is understood as part of the nature of the goddess.

...that probably wasn't as helpful as I thought it might be. I'll see if I can dig up the myth it's in. Not sure on timing for that, though.

[ashareem]

Pwyll and Rhiannon in the Mabinogion.

There's also this discussion on reddit about the Irish "Horse MArriage" from Giraldus Cambrensis' Topographia Hibernia:https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/7ypmyi/is_it_true_that_ancient_irish_kings_used_to/