The Gnome Princess' Naming Day By leversandpulleys Watch

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Notes on a Gnome Princess' Naming Day



Another example of the egalitarian tendencies

of the gnomes may be seen in the observation

of their customs and rituals. Of particular note

is the naming ceremony, where even the royal

family is expected to spend a wet, sometimes

cold, spring day foraging for muir root and

blush berry alongside all manner of gnomes.



And when the young adult to be named is high

born, she will still stand upon the reed tower

like any other. A gnome princess waits with as

much trepidation as a candlemaker's daughter

would for the procession, for as each subject

visits, the mud buckets empty, there's one

handful less of musk straw, and the girl first

becomes a statue of wet earth before she

emerges a named adult in the eyes of the

village and the kingdom.



Not a trace of the girl's naming day dress

or even the peak of her finest cap will be

visible by the close of the festival, not until

the children form their bucket relay and

douse her clean. On colder days the water

comes from barrels kept indoors, but no

matter the weather, the last few are always

dyed bright with berry.



Despite all the mud and the cold, there

is music and dance throughout and many,

princesses and commoners alike, dance

and sing with the townspeople from the

first bucket until the last.

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