Of Marbles and Marriage

This time of year, folks up north are getting excited about warmer weather.  In central Alaska, the sporting kind are laying down wagers on the Nenana Ice Classic - when the ice pack on the Tanana River will break up and start flowing out to sea.  Back in the day, the Spring thaw also signaled a sport of another kind to school kids all across town.  When the snow turned to mush and the pussy willows started budding, young’uns dug through their dressers to find that old sock full of marbles that has lain dormant for ten months.

Puries, clearies, cat-eyes, steelies, and boulders get their game on in a seasonal celebration that is dearly memorable – if only a memory.  We played marbles one of two ways, “keeps” or “no keeps”.  “Keeps” meant the winner kept his marble and took mine.  “No keeps” meant we were just having fun. Yeah, some “fun”.  My God-fearing parents cautioned me sternly that playing for keeps was the same as gambling.  Hmmm.  One thing was clear, if you agreed to “play for keeps” at the start of the match, then no whining when you lose.  To renege on the terms at the end of the match, depending on outcome, meant well-deserved social ostracism.  The best way to get a bad rep on the playground was to go back on your pledge.

Across the Northern Hemisphere, springtime is a celebration of bunnies and flowers and abundant new life.  The word May itself is tied to an ancient goddess of fertility.  ‘Tis true.

Now Is the Month of Maying (lyrics by Sir Thomas Morley)

Now is the month of Maying, when merry lads are playing!
Each with his bonny lass, a-dancing on the grass.
                 Fa la la la la!
The Spring, clad all in gladness, doth laugh at Winter's sadness!
And to the bagpipes’ sound, the nymphs tread out the ground!
                 Fa la la la la!
Fie! Then why sit we musing, youth’s sweet delight refusing?
Say, dainty nymphs and speak! Shall we play barley break?
                 Fa la la la la!

Sweet delight refusing?  Of course, all those merry lads, bonny lasses, and dainty nymphs lead to one thing… er, uh, true love and a desire to get married.  That’s the ticket.  Thus, June is the most popular month for weddings.  Now, as things go, two can live as cheaply as one, it just costs twice as much.  So, hubby and/or bride will be ensure they have an income with which to feather the nest.

Turns out that betting (either on the ice pool or marbles), getting married, and making a living have one IE root in common – wadh. This root has the core meaning of “pledge”.  Everything we’ve talked about revolves around the idea of making (and keeping) a pledge.  What is a synonym for betting?  Wagering.  When you bet, you pledge money (or marbles) against a certain outcome.  If you don’t get your outcome, you lose your money.  Wager… wages.  An employer pledges to pay wages for certain work.  It’s just a pledge until you do the work and get paid.  As for marriage, clearly it is a social arrangement based on a pledge, or vow.  I hope you can see that wed is close in sound to wage.  Like any other proposition (that’s a pun), marriage is a forward-looking pledge.  From my perspective; however, unlike not knowing when the ice is going to break up, marriage is a wonder-filled relationship, the outcome of which can be impacted by the earnestness of our pledge to our spouses and our daily decision to follow-through on that pledge.  Marriage is playing for keeps!  Fa la la la la!