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Rhiannon cheated on Amren who won her as a prize. There relationship is of mutual respect, I don't think much love is involved.

I doubt there is any real love between Catrin's parents, just some affection and mutual respect at best. It is a classic marriage of convenience of the time (outside the Muslim nations, they still exist nowadays under slightly different circumstances).

CommMayo wrote: ↑14 Sep 2018, 11:18 They kind of remind me of the lead couple in House of Cards. They had a common goal in their relationship: Power.

In fact, having seen the first few seasons, I have the feeling that there is something real between the two. Of course, their ambition goes far beyond their bond, but that does not necessarily imply that they can not feel something for each other ("I love that woman." I love her more than love blood sharks." / "You know, he was the only man - and there were a lot of others who proposed - but he was the only one who understood me."). I think you can say that both are the best that the other can look for in a couple, with all the limitations that this entails. Of course, delving into this matter would involve opening a debate about the true nature of love, but that is another story...

I don't think it is a marriage built of love, rather on tolerance and respect for one another.Moreover, in the ancient royal families, children marriages were always planned from an early age.

They wouldn't be the first and they're certainly not the last couple to marry out of something other than love. For a long time, royal marriages were about strengthening a kingdom, uniting kingdoms, or bringing peace between kingdoms.

I think it is also important to remember that there is a very large age difference between the two. The Queen is close to half the age of the king.

CommMayo wrote: ↑30 Sep 2018, 10:47 I think it is also important to remember that there is a very large age difference between the two. The Queen is close to half the age of the king.

Oohh! That brings us back to, does she love him or is she just waiting for him to die so she can take over??

kdstrack wrote: ↑30 Sep 2018, 15:34

CommMayo wrote: ↑30 Sep 2018, 10:47 I think it is also important to remember that there is a very large age difference between the two. The Queen is close to half the age of the king.

Oohh! That brings us back to, does she love him or is she just waiting for him to die so she can take over??

Oh, I'm firmly on the "waiting for him to die" team. I don't think there is anything nefarious there, but I do think that she would be better off if the king died.

CommMayo wrote: ↑30 Sep 2018, 10:47 I think it is also important to remember that there is a very large age difference between the two. The Queen is close to half the age of the king.

In the 1910 census, my great grandfather was married to someone 18 years younger than he was...He was 47 and half would be 23 1/2, so it's close...

jjmainor wrote: ↑30 Sep 2018, 22:29

CommMayo wrote: ↑30 Sep 2018, 10:47 I think it is also important to remember that there is a very large age difference between the two. The Queen is close to half the age of the king.

In the 1910 census, my great grandfather was married to someone 18 years younger than he was...He was 47 and half would be 23 1/2, so it's close...

It is amazing how common that was even in the last century! Could you imaging marrying someone that much older or younger than yourself?!

CommMayo wrote: ↑30 Sep 2018, 23:15

jjmainor wrote: ↑30 Sep 2018, 22:29

CommMayo wrote: ↑30 Sep 2018, 10:47 I think it is also important to remember that there is a very large age difference between the two. The Queen is close to half the age of the king.

In the 1910 census, my great grandfather was married to someone 18 years younger than he was...He was 47 and half would be 23 1/2, so it's close...

It is amazing how common that was even in the last century! Could you imaging marrying someone that much older or younger than yourself?!

I think like in this book, it comes down to necessity. A hundred years ago, women were still stuck in the home while the men worked. Simplistically speaking, the women needed to get married to a working man because employment opportunities were extremely limited for them. Likewise, men needed a housewife because maintaining a home was too much for someone with a full-time job back then. Then you add raising kids to the mix if a husband was widowed as my great grandfather and his father both were. Life wasn't as easy as we've had it in our lives, so reading something like this book, I can't look at the situations these characters struggle with in terms of today's society.

CommMayo wrote: ↑30 Sep 2018, 23:15

jjmainor wrote: ↑30 Sep 2018, 22:29

CommMayo wrote: ↑30 Sep 2018, 10:47 I think it is also important to remember that there is a very large age difference between the two. The Queen is close to half the age of the king.

In the 1910 census, my great grandfather was married to someone 18 years younger than he was...He was 47 and half would be 23 1/2, so it's close...

It is amazing how common that was even in the last century! Could you imaging marrying someone that much older or younger than yourself?!

If you were in love, wouldn't that be better than an arranged marriage?

jjmainor wrote: ↑30 Sep 2018, 23:48 Likewise, men needed a housewife because maintaining a home was too much for someone with a full-time job back then. Then you add raising kids to the mix if a husband was widowed as my great grandfather and his father both were.

I've always said that our modern day gender equality has more to do with washing machines than politics. The fact is that if you take away technology then taking care of a home becomes a full-time job. Only the rich women just sat around the house doing nothing.

In this book ''Catrin's Parents'', the marriage between them is disputed! Is it love, or compromize? Is is a tolerated love, that ''led'' to marriage, or were Catrin's parents forced to get married, while they weren't real match for each other from the beginning? Or was it a promise that couldn't be ''cancelled'' at the right moment, but as promised it should be followed? To what extent is tolerance allowed in such cases? What had really happened in the meantime, due which, this marriage had never been a real one?
By reading this book, we come across a series of problems that an unwanted marriage can lead. That for a successful marriage, the word tolerance has no meaning and position!..That continual compromize can ruin a marriage from the beginning, and tolerance deriving from compromize can create too many problems later, leading sometimes to desaster!..
The story reveals later, the true reasons for this marriage; secret ones, if so, or a big secret that might be hidden behind it.
I give 3 on 4 stars to the book. Everyone can draw his own conclusions!

I don't think that there is love between them; it's more of a mutual respect. I think that the king has stronger feelings for the queen than she does for him. This is further exemplified by the king's jealousy over the relationship between Trystan and the queen.

Although we don't see very much of King Amren, it seems to me that he does truly love Rhiannon. He respects her and values her opinion and trusts her to rule over the kingdom in his absence, and he seems genuinely hurt to see her with Trystan after that affair was supposed to have ended long ago. It seemed that he was tolerant of the affair at the beginning, as he knew of their relationship and the pregnancy going into the marriage and was willing to give her daughters his protection by publicly declaring them as his, as well as allowed Trystan to be his commander. However, once Agrona puts that spell on them so they would make love and conceive a child of their own, I assume that King Amren enjoyed feeling that amorous love from his wife and wanted that to continue, which is why he wanted her affair with Trystan to end. Rhiannon does not seem to be in love with the king at all, and does not seem to be attracted to him as she shies away from his kisses before he leaves. I believe that she respects him and cares about him, but not in a romantic way at all. She is trying her best to ignore her feelings for Trystan and be a faithful wife, as she is determined to be loyal to King Amren, but it is clear that she still yearns for Trystan.