Thine for Ever – love and alliances in the Middle Ages
A touring exhibition produced by Bryggens Museum, Bergen, Norway.
17 juni – 30 december 2005.
”Thine for ever” is the inscription often used for example in wedding rings. People promise one another eternal fidelity and lifelong love. In the Middle Ages, however, love was seldom the cause of marriage. There were often other reasons, not least financial. A marriage might be of importance to the whole family. But of course there was love. Runic inscriptions on sticks and bone show that even people in medieval times were capable of writing passionate declarations of love. This exhibition takes up a wide range of different themes: preparations for marriage, wedding feasts, and marriage as a lifelong institution, as well as love, mistresses and celibacy.