I THEE WED

In the traditional service of holy matrimony of The Book of Common Prayer [1549-1662], these words said by the man, after the solemn promises have been made both by the man and woman, are most significant:

“With this ring, I thee wed, with my body I thee worship, and with all my worldly goods, I thee endow.”

Note – “I thee wed” & “I thee worship” & “I thee endow.”

Here the object comes between the subject and the verb (as in French or
Italian) and is a structure that is uncommon in English of any period. One would expect in normal English “I wed thee” & “I worship thee” & “I endow thee.”

Why did Cranmer choose this odd form of the English sentence in his writing/editing of the Service of Holy Matrimony?

Apparently, because he did not merely want to identify & describe what was happening in the marriage but rather to provide a form actually to perform & to enact the marriage.

The unusual order of words used by the husband for this “till death do us part” commitment & union has two specific merits --- first, there is the actual solemnity of the words for the unique moment, and secondly, the order of the words “I thee wed” tends to put equal stress on each word when spoken. And this is good and proper for an equal stress on each word brings together the three elements of the act of bodily union in/with an equal significance (man, woman and being wed).

[Note that the 1928 BCP of the ECUSA retained the “I thee wed” even though it did not retain either the “I thee worship” (because the word no longer is used of a human relation) or the “I thee endow” (because of modern property laws etc.).]

===============================================================
The Rev’d Dr Peter Toon (with thanks to Professor Andor Gomme for the above insight).

November 25, 2001