and brul-laup, n. a wedding feast, bridal; these two words are identical in sense, but different in etymology; brúðkaup, prop. bride’s bargain, refers to the old notion, that marriage was a bargain or purchase, not that the bride was bought herself, but the word refers to the exchange of mundr (by the bridegroom) and heimanfylgja (by the bride’s father), vide these words; hence the allit. phrase, mey mundi keypt, and mundr and mey (‘mund’ and maid); again, brullaup, [qs. brúð-hlaup, bride’s leap, cp. Germ. brautlauf, M. H. G. brûtlouf, Swed. bröllopp, Dan. bryllup; Grimm mentions an A. S. brydlop (not found in Grein’s Glossary or Bosworth’s A. S. Dictionary); the full form brúðhlaup scarcely occurs in very old MSS., it is found in the Játv. S. MS. A. D. 1360, but only assimilated, Grág. i. 303, 311, l. i] refers either to the bride’s journey = brúðför, or to some bridal procession on the wedding day, probably the first; but in fact both words are only used of the wedding feast, the Engl. ‘bridal,’ A. S. bryd-eala. At the wedding feast the contract, though agreed upon at the espousals (festar), was to be read: to make a lawful ‘brúðkaup’ there must be at least six guests—þá er brullaup gert at lögum, ef lögráðandi fastnar konu, enda sé sex menn at brullaupi et fæsta, ok gangi brúðguminn i ljósi í sama sæing konu, Grág. i. 175; ráða b., to fix the wedding day. Nj. 4; vera at brullaupi, Ld. 70; drekka b., to drink, i. e. hold, a wedding, 16, Fms. iv. 196; koma til b., Sturl. iii. 182; göra b., Fms. i. 150; göra b. til, to wed, Eg. 160, Landn. 243; veita b., Eb. 140: as to the time of wedding, vide Grág. i. 311.

COMPDS: brúðkaupsferð, brúðkaupsgörð, brúðkaupsklæði, brúðkaupskostr, brúðkaupsstefna, brúðkaupsveizla, brúðkaupsvitni.