Sunjata

Today’s wedding ceremonies include traditional rituals that have been handed down through the centuries. The origins of many of these rituals were to ward off or confuse evil spirits, establish the bride as property of her new husband, or to bring good luck and fertility. Armenian wedding rituals and symbols that have endured include the bride and groom warding off evil spirits by breaking plates before entering their new home (Nerguizian). An old French tradition included the bride, groom, and bridal party cleaning up the mess after the reception. This meant putting all leftover food into a chamber pot, which the couple was then forced to consume to give them energy for their marital activities. Considering basic issues of sanitation, this French tradition is a bit horrifying. Today, it has morphed into chocolates and champagne, without the chamber pot.

The thirteenth century West African epic, “Sunjata,” includes a wedding ceremony and original bride-escorting song. Sogolon’s story is filled with magic and mystery, as is appropriate for the mother of a mythic hero. Because she was exposed to magic at too young an age, Sogolon is deformed and ugly. Her head is bald, feet twisted, eye injured, and Sogolon has a humpback. This same exposure to magic that causes her ugliness will make Sunjata a hero: “There will be something special at her breast, / Because it will have all the dalilu” (362-363). But first, Sogolon must be married, and escorted to her new home and husband by her co-wives. The women sing and carry Sogolon because her twisted feet kick up dust. They sing “Do not put us in the dust” (762), suggesting that Sogolon not leave them behind. When her headscarf falls off, they sing “Our heron-head has come this year” (781). This insult angers Sogolon, who answers “Well, I have arrived” (788). The sisters put their heads in and out of the doorway two times, “The third time, they send the bride in to her husband. / That’s how it all started” (797-798). The epic creates a wedding tradition through Sogolon’s presentation to her new husband, complete with a bride-escorting song. 

Works Cited

Nerguizian, Micaela. “Hopa! Rituals and Symbols of an Armenian Wedding.” Smithsonian. festival.si.edu/blog/rituals-symbols-armenian-wedding-celebration. Accessed 14 June 2020.

“Sunjata: A West African Epic of the Mande Peoples.” The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Edited by Martin Puchner, Shorter 3^rd ed., vol. 1, W.W. Norton & Company, 2013. pp. 1514-1576.