Handfasting (Scottish Gaelic: pòsadh-bliadhna, pronounced [ˈpʰɔːs̪əɣ ˈb̥liən̪ˠə]) is a traditional practice that can mean different things depending on how the term is used. It may describe a wedding without a religious leader, where a couple plans to later have a formal wedding with an officiant. It can also refer to a betrothal, which is a promise to marry that can only be broken through divorce. Another meaning is a temporary marriage, where a couple agrees to marry for a short time. The term comes from the idea of making a promise by holding or shaking hands.

This practice is closely linked to Germanic groups, such as the English, Norse, and Scots. In Medieval and Tudor England, handfasting was often used as a form of betrothal or informal wedding. In 17th-century Scotland, it was sometimes used as a temporary marriage. Today, some modern Pagans use the term instead of "wedding" or "marriage" to avoid religious meanings tied to those words. Some also use it to describe a claimed practice from before Christianity, where couples’ hands were tied together during a ceremony. However, this use is not historically accurate, as the practice was more connected to Danes and Anglo-Saxons than to Celts.

Etymology

The verb "handfast," meaning "to formally promise or make a contract," was used in Late Old English, especially in marriage agreements. The related term "handfasting," referring to a ceremony for engagement or betrothal, appeared in Early Modern English. This word was likely borrowed from Old Norse "handfesta," meaning "to make a bargain by joining hands." Similar words exist in other languages, such as Old Frisian "hondfestinge" and Middle Low German "hantvestinge." The term comes from the verb "handfast," which was used in Middle to Early Modern English to describe making a contract. In modern Dutch, "handvest" means "pact" or "charter," such as "Atlantisch handvest" (Atlantic Charter) or "Handvest der Verenigde Naties" (Charter of the United Nations). This is similar to the Italian word "manifesto," which is also used in English.

Medieval and Tudor England

In 1215, the Fourth Lateran Council banned secret marriages. It required that all marriages be announced publicly in churches by priests. In the 1500s, the Council of Trent added more rules, such as requiring a priest and two witnesses, and requiring marriage announcements to be made 30 days before the ceremony. These rules did not apply in areas affected by the Protestant Reformation. In England, clergy performed secret marriages, like Fleet Marriages, which were legally recognized. In Scotland, common-law marriages without a ceremony were still valid.

From the 12th to the 17th century, "handfasting" in England referred to an engagement or a ceremony held about a month before a church wedding. During handfasting, couples publicly declared their acceptance of each other as spouses. This ceremony was legally binding, meaning the marriage was valid once vows were made. The union could only be ended by death, just like church weddings. English legal authorities stated that even without sexual relations, handfasting was as legally binding as a church wedding.

During handfasting, the man and woman would take each other’s right hands and declare aloud that they accepted each other as husband and wife. The vows often followed a traditional formula, such as “I (Name) take thee (Name) to my wedded husband/wife, till death us depart, and thereto I plight thee my troth.” Because of this, handfasting was also called “troth-plight.” Gifts like rings, broken gold coins, gloves, red ribbons, and silver toothpicks were sometimes exchanged. Handfastings could occur anywhere, including homes, taverns, orchards, or even on horseback. Witnesses were usually present.

Church courts handled marital matters during this time. Ecclesiastical law recognized two types of handfasting: sponsalia per verba de praesenti and sponsalia per verba de futuro. In sponsalia de praesenti, the most common form, couples immediately accepted each other as husband and wife. Sponsalia de futuro was less binding, as it only expressed an intention to marry in the future. This type was similar to modern engagements and could be ended with mutual agreement, provided sexual relations had not occurred. If sexual relations did occur, sponsalia de futuro became a legal marriage.

Despite its validity, handfasting was expected to be followed by a church wedding soon after. Failure to comply could result in penalties. Couples were also encouraged to avoid sexual relations until the church wedding. However, historical records suggest many couples did not wait, though attitudes toward this behavior were generally lenient until the early 1600s.

Handfasting remained a legal way to marry in England throughout the Middle Ages but declined in the early modern period. In some cases, people who had entered handfasting refused to proceed with church weddings, causing confusion about their marital status. Shakespeare witnessed a handfasting in 1604 and was involved in a legal case about a dowry in 1612. Historians believe Shakespeare’s own marriage to Anne Hathaway may have been a handfasting in 1582, as the practice was still common in Warwickshire.

Starting in the 17th century, changes in English law required a priest or magistrate to officiate marriages for them to be legal. The 1753 Marriage Act, which aimed to stop secret marriages by adding stricter rules, ended the handfasting tradition in England.

Early modern Scotland

In February 1539, Marie Pieris, a French lady who worked as a servant to Mary of Guise, the wife of James V of Scotland, married Lord Seton through a ceremony called handfasting at Falkland Palace. This event was noted in official records, which mention a payment made to an apothecary for his work on the day of "Lord Seytounis handfasting."

In the Scottish Hebrides, especially on the Isle of Skye, some historical records from the late 1600s describe "handfast" or "left-handed" marriages. A Gaelic scholar named Martin Martin wrote that it was an old tradition in the Isles for a man to take a woman as his wife and live with her for one year without officially marrying her. If he remained satisfied with her during that time, he would marry her at the end of the year, giving her children legal status. If he was not happy, he would return her to her family.

A major conflict between the MacLeods and MacDonalds of Skye reached its peak during the Battle of Coire Na Creiche. Donald Gorm Mor, who had a handfasting agreement (lasting one year and one day) with Margaret MacLeod, a sister of Rory Mor of Dunvegan, disgraced himself by forcing his partner to leave Duntulm. It is likely that this war influenced Lord Ochiltree’s Committee, which created the Statutes of Iona in 1609 and the Regulations for the Chiefs in 1616. These laws included a rule banning marriages that lasted for a single year, with violators facing punishment similar to those for fornication.

By the 18th century, the Church of Scotland no longer recognized marriages based on mutual agreement and having children, even though civil authorities did. To avoid legal issues, such ceremonies were required to take place publicly. This situation continued until 1939, when the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1939 changed the law, and handfasting was no longer officially recognized.

In 1958, A. E. Anton questioned whether handfasting was a distinct type of "trial marriage" in his book Handfasting in Scotland. He noted that the first known mention of this practice appeared in Thomas Pennant’s 1790 Tour in Scotland, and this idea was widely accepted in the 19th century, even appearing in Walter Scott’s 1820 novel The Monastery. However, Martin Martin’s writings about handfasting were published nearly 100 years before Pennant’s account.

Neopaganism

The term "handfasting" or "hand-fasting" was adopted into modern Celtic neopaganism and Wicca for wedding ceremonies starting in the late 1960s. It was first recorded in print by Hans Holzer.

The word "handfasting" appeared in the 1980 biography of Jim Morrison titled No One Here Gets Out Alive and again in the 1991 film The Doors. The movie showed a version of the real 1970 handfasting ceremony between Morrison and Patricia Kennealy, with Kennealy-Morrison acting as a Celtic neopagan priestess.

The term became part of mainstream English-speaking culture, likely through neopagan wedding ceremonies in the early 2000s. It was often incorrectly described as "pre-Christian" by wedding planners. Evidence that "handfasting" was redefined to describe this specific ceremony appears in the later 2000s, such as in the phrase: "handfasting—the blessed marriage rite in which the hands of you and your beloved are wrapped in ribbon as you 'tie the knot.'"

By the 2010s, "handfasting ceremonies" were offered by commercial wedding organizers and had mostly lost their connection to neopagan traditions, except for occasional references to the "ancient Celts." The term "handfasting ribbon" first appeared around 2005.