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Man in skirt to marry gal with blouse inside-out.
Norwegian mating ritual to result in Palo Alto wedding.
The first time the groom caught Ruth Sylte's eye, he was wearing a kilt.
This was not altogether strange since they were attending a dance at the
Scottish Rite temple in Oakland (CA). But Ruth, a die-hard Norwegian, had not
expected the effect of a man in a skirt tobe so alluring.
When the groom called to ask Ruth to dinner, she responded with the
hallowed mating ritual of Norse women. She showed up for their date wearing
her blouse inside-out
I believe this custom began during the time of Eric the Red, following the
philosophy that if you're dating a Viking you might as well wear your best
wooing outfit with the seams and stray threads showing until someone
civilized comes along. And Ruth, a Minnesota native whose father is a
Lutheran pastor, was not about to mess with the traditions of her ancestors.
At least, that's what she could tell the groom.
Still, the two began a great romance that will culminate in an
old-fashioned potluck Norwegian wedding this Saturday at Grace Lutheran Church in Palo
Alto (CA), complete with an outdoor bridal processional of Norwegian fiddlers
in costume.
There will be a Scottish bagpipe recessional in deference to the groom.
But the groom's also half-Danish, so he's eager to embrace the Scandinavian
traditions. This may be difficult since eagerness is not compatible with
anything Norwegian. Still, he'll be married wearing his wool kilt in summer,
so that should demonstrate the requisite stalwartness and passion for
discomfort.
Ruth and the groom invited me to the wedding because I have written about
my Norwegian heritage, mostly for the purpose of warning unsuspecting
strangers about Scandinavian cuisine. I had never met the bride and groom,
but they assured me some of the hundreds of wedding guests expected this
weekend have not met them either.
They plan to celebrate their nuptials with almost the entire membership of
San Jose's Sons of Norway Nordahl-Grieg lodge and Ruth's folk dance
Leikarring. That's about as close as you can get to an authentic Norwegian
village wedding in Silicon Valley.
Ruth and the groom, who are 39 and 40, have been married before so they
wanted this ceremony to be a no-turning-back event. They set up a wedding web
site to seek advice on Norwegian customs, which Ruth hoped did not include
wearing her tradition wedding costume, the bunad, inside-out. (They
do not.)
Ruth also learned that Norwegian brides traditionally wear cow tails under
their bunads as they make their way to the altar. Apparently, this
has something to do with ancient mythology. I suspect some unnaturally giddy
Norwegian bride tried to wear a lace garter under her bunad centuries ago,
but her mother chipped a cow tail out of a nearby glacier and said,
"You'll wear this and like it!"
The potluck aspect of Ruth and the groom's wedding seems rather reckless,
given the amount of frigid, white food that is sure to show up on the
reception table. The groom knows about the evils of lutefisk, a
Norwegian "delicacy" of cod soaked in lye, but he can't complain
because of the equally offensive nature of Scottish cuisine. He mentioned haggis,
a sausage of sheep lungs and offal boiled in a casing of the animal's
stomach.
Ruth and the groom know they run the risk of being served a combination of
their native dishes at their wedding reception. Still, sharing a plate of haggi-fisk
semms guaranteed to make any marriage stand the test of time.
Meanwhile, this weekend, they plan to transform part of Palo Alto into the
swingingest Norwegian village this side of the Sierra.
"The generosity and enthusiasm so many people have shown us has been
amazing," Ruth said when I met the couple recently.
I asked the groom if the elaborate wedding plans had left him frazzled. He
shook his head and grinned at his bride. "The night I met you in my
kilt," he told her, " I still knew right away that Norway was the
name of the game."
Contact Sue
Hutchison at shutchison@sjmercury.com or +1.650.688.7593. Used by permission.
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