Handfasting, also called pòsadh-bliadhna in Scottish Gaelic, is a traditional practice that can mean different things depending on how it is used. It may describe a wedding without an official ceremony, where a couple plans to later have a formal wedding with an officiant. It can also refer to an engagement, where a couple promises to marry and can only break the promise through a divorce. Another meaning is a temporary marriage, where a couple agrees to be married for a short time. The word handfasting comes from the idea of making a promise by shaking or joining 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 engagement or informal wedding. In 17th-century Scotland, it was sometimes used as a temporary marriage. Today, some modern Pagan groups use the term to describe a wedding or marriage, avoiding religious words that might not fit their beliefs. Some also use it to describe a symbolic act of tying or wrapping the hands of a couple during a ceremony, though this practice is not historically accurate and is often mistakenly connected to the Celts instead of the Danes or Anglo-Saxons.

Etymology

The verb "to handfast," meaning "to formally promise or make a contract," was used in Late Old English, especially in marriage agreements. The word "handfasting," referring to a ceremony for engagement or betrothal, appeared in Early Modern English. This term likely came 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 "to handfast," which was used in Middle to Early Modern English for creating contracts. Today, in modern Dutch, "handvest" means "pact" or "charter," such as "Atlantisch handvest" (Atlantic Charter) or "Handvest der Verenigde Naties" (Charter of the United Nations). A similar word, "manifesto," is used in English and comes from Italian.

Medieval and Tudor England

The Fourth Lateran Council, held in 1215, banned secret marriages and required all marriages to be publicly announced in churches by priests. In the 1600s, the Council of Trent added more rules, such as requiring a priest and two witnesses to be present, and requiring the marriage announcement to be shared 30 days before the ceremony. These rules did not apply to areas affected by the Protestant Reformation. In England, clergy performed secret marriages, such as Fleet Marriages, which were legally recognized. In Scotland, marriages without a formal ceremony, known as common-law marriages, were still valid.

From the 12th to the 17th century, "handfasting" in England was a term for an engagement or a ceremony held about a month before a church wedding. During handfasting, couples publicly declared their intention to marry each other. This ceremony was legally binding, meaning the couple was considered married as soon as they made their vows. The union could only be ended by death, just like church weddings at the time. English legal officials believed that even if the couple did not have sexual relations, handfasting was as legally valid as a church wedding.

During handfasting, the man and woman would hold each other’s right hands and declare aloud that they accepted each other as husband and wife. The words used might vary, but a traditional phrase was, “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, such as rings, broken gold coins, gloves, red ribbons, and silver toothpicks, were often exchanged. The ceremony could take place anywhere, including homes, taverns, orchards, or even on horseback. A reliable witness or witnesses were usually present.

During this time, church courts handled marriage-related matters. 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. In sponsalia de futuro, couples only promised to marry in the future, which was less binding. If they did not have sexual relations, this type of handfasting could be ended with both parties’ agreement. However, if sexual relations occurred, it automatically became a legal marriage.

Although handfasting was valid, couples were expected to have a church wedding soon after. Failing to do so could result in penalties. Ideally, couples were also expected to avoid sexual relations until the church wedding. Some records suggest that couples often did not wait, but 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 became less common in the early modern period. In some cases, people who had entered handfasting refused to have a church wedding, causing confusion about their marital status. Shakespeare helped arrange and was present at a handfasting in 1604. He also testified in a legal case about a dowry in 1612. Historians believe his marriage to Anne Hathaway in 1582 may have been a handfasting, as the practice was still accepted in Warwickshire at the time.

Starting in the 17th century, changes in English law required a priest or magistrate to officiate a marriage for it 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 for Mary of Guise, the wife of James V of Scotland, married Lord Seton through a handfasting ceremony at Falkland Palace. This event was noted in the royal records, which mention a payment to an apothecary for his work on the day of "Lord Seytounis handfasting."

In the late 1600s, the Scottish Hebrides, especially the Isle of Skye, had some records of "handfast" or "left-handed" marriages. The Gaelic scholar Martin Martin wrote that it was an old custom in the Isles for a man to take a woman as his wife and keep her for one year without officially marrying her. If he was satisfied with her during that time, he would marry her at the end of the year and make her children legal. If not, he would return her to her family.

A major conflict between the MacLeods and MacDonalds of Skye ended with the Battle of Coire Na Creiche. Donald Gorm Mor, who had a handfasting agreement (for a year and a day) with Margaret MacLeod, a sister of Rory Mor of Dunvegan, shamefully forced her to leave Duntulm. This war likely influenced Lord Ochiltree's Committee, which created the Statutes of Iona in 1609 and the Regulations for the Chiefs in 1616. These laws added a rule banning "marriages contracted for several years" and punished those who broke this rule as if they had committed fornication.

By the 18th century, the Church of Scotland no longer accepted marriages formed by mutual consent and sexual relations, even though civil authorities did. To avoid legal problems, such ceremonies were held publicly. This situation continued until 1939, when the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1939 changed the laws, and handfasting was no longer recognized.

In 1958, A. E. Anton wrote in his book Handfasting in Scotland that the existence of handfasting as a trial marriage was uncertain. He noted that the first mention of this practice was by Thomas Pennant in his 1790 book Tour in Scotland, which many believed. However, Martin Martin’s writings about this custom were published nearly 100 years earlier than 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 used 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 film 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 "handfasting" became part of mainstream English in the early 2000s, often incorrectly described by wedding planners as "pre-Christian." Evidence that the term 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.