Brúðguma-reið

f. a ‘bridegroom’s ride;’ at weddings the bridegroom, as the host, had to meet his guests (boðsmenn) a quarter of a mile from his house; here he entertained them in tents, where they remained and enjoyed themselves till evening; when darkness began to set in, the party rode home in a procession drawn up two and two; this was called brúðguma-reið. The last bridegroom’s ride on record in Icel. was that of Eggert Olafsson, just a hundred years ago, at his wedding at Reykholt in the autumn of 1767 A. D. A minute description of this last Icel. b. exists in a MS. (in the possession of Maurer, in Munich). An interesting treatise upon the wedding feasts in Icel. in the Middle Ages, down to the 18th century, is among the Icel. MSS. in the Bodleian Library, no. 130.