J is for Jilted Grooms (Romance Tropes in Folklore)

This year, my A to Z Blogging Challenge theme is Romance Tropes in Folklore! For each letter, I will pick a popular trope from romcom movies and romance novels, and see if I can find the same trope in folktales and legends. Because it's fun. Here we go.

THE TROPE

Also known as "Runaway Bride", this is a trope where a woman bails out of her wedding the last minute, to go be with the person she always wanted to be with. Ideally, this is a romantic revelation of true feelings. Not great for the groom, though. It also happens the other way around, occasionally, although it seems to be less common (or romanticized). Maybe it's the dramatically flowing dress that makes a difference.

THE FOLKLORE

In folklore, women do run away from their wedding sometimes. So do grooms, usually when their original bride makes an appearance again. I blogged about runaway brides in folklore before in my StorySpotting series, so I'm not reiterating all of it here. Also, Diarmuid and Gráinne are an obvious choice, but I'll deal with those two later.

THE STORIES

The dream lovers

This story was recorded by Athenaeus, allegedly from sources in Media and Scythia. A princess and a prince see each other in their dreams and fall in love. However, the princess' father wants to choose a husband for her from his own household, not a foreigner. He announces the day of the wedding, and she is supposed to choose her husband by handing them a bowl of wine. However, she manages to get a message to her dream-lover in secret, and he makes an epic journey to arrive in time. While everyone is waiting for her to mix the wine, she slips away from the wedding, and runs away with her lover.

The legend of the Rosstrappe (Legend from the Harz Mountains)

The beautiful princess Brünhilda is promised to a giant by her father. She comes up with a plan of escape: she secretly learns to ride one of the giant's terrible horses, and escapes on horseback the night before the wedding, riding to reach the castle of the prince she loves. The giant pursues her, but when she jumps the horse across a wide valley, the giant can't follow her, and he crashes to his death.

How the princess found her husband (Kashmiri folktale)

A princess flees her wedding to be with the princes she actually likes, but in te darkness of night they are separated, and she accidentally elopes with a robber. When she finds out she takes a horse and rides to freedom. Then she comes across a goldsmith who also tries to marry her, so she flees a second wedding (with the gold). She dresses as a man, becomes a king, and eventually manages to reunite with her beloved.

Do you have favorite romance stories that feature this trope?

Do you like the folktale versions?

Don't forget to leave a link in the comments so I can visit you back!