Bridal Ornaments

The bridal set of ornaments was loaned for the big day, and consisted of the bridal neckwear, the crown and a girdle. As a result, every peasant girl could be regally attired for the special wedding day. The set was probably owned by the parish church, who then rented the regalia to the brides. Another possibility was that it might also have been a family heirloom owned by a farmer in a district. It is interesting to read below that Malene was from a farming family.

The silver-gilt bridal ornament drawing shown left from my 1897 book mentioned below, is described as an ornament typically worn by a Swedish bride. Malene's bodice also appears to have many similar raised discs.

Reader if you know more about similar Norwegian ornamentation please enlighten me. Recently a site visitor called Sue did just that and I have added a note about her solje here.

Sue's Sølje

Sue a site visitor wrote to me "I am of Norwegian and Swedish heritage. I have an interesting note regarding the Norwegian solje. I purchased one from a Scandinavian shop back in the 1970’s. Mine has a crown on top of a heart, with 3 rows of smaller hearts attached to it with the golden spoon shaped drops hanging from each little heart.