Guild Wars 2

I was tempted to post this thread in the Norn section of the forums, but since it seems to be largely for non-lore based conversation I thought I might have better luck here.

When a Norn chooses his mate but that mate dies and leaves him a widower, how does that Norn move on with his life? Would he be expected to put the past behind him and possibly seek out a new mate? Would he be expected to remain loyal to the memory of his deceased mate until he joins her in the Mists? Or is it entirely a matter of personal preference and it depends on the Norn in question?

Norn have little set structure when both persons are alive.

4.Norn families are not really standardized. Knut’s sons live with him in Hoelbrak where as their mother lives outside the city. Norn might live together or live apart, they might have parent of either gender raising the children at a given time, they just seem to go with whatever the individual parents decide. http://ashenfold.com/pax-day-2-from-a-roleplayers-eyes/

So based on that, I assume the Norn handle death the same way. Up to the individual. Also, since Norn are so independent, there wouldn’t be much pressure from the rest of their incredibly loose society to conform to much of anything.

Also, I saw an NPC living out in the mountains alone. he was indicated that he wanted a mate. But there was no one I saw to expect him to seek out a mate. really, it seems the Norn can do what they want in most situations without anybody else expecting much of anything. if they’re weak, they will die, so they pass teachings of strength onto their kids but the Spirits of the Wild show that there are many ways to be strong. They really don’t have a set structure for much of anything. Not even in how they follow the teachings of the Spirits of the Wild.

Taken from an old Wartower lore interview concerning the Norn.

“Wartower: What about family structure. We’ve only seen the dynamic of brother and sister. We would love to see how they raise their kids. Do we get to know something more about how the family structure works?

Jeff: The family structure is close but loose. Again, the independence of the norn. Knut’s wife does not live in Hoelbrak. She has her own setup. Yet, they have together raised two sons. Often each child will go with one parent or another. Parents will stay together for the important early years. We never really stated it, but norn have more of a monogamous relationship. Like swans mate for life. They have that relationship, that closeness and that comes from common interests and common adventures and they are apart of the world together."

Concerning the death of a mate and moving on, it would depend on each individual Norn, the specific circumstances and how profoundly the loss affected them.

I do know that Norn can only marry another Norn of equal achievement/strength. In GW1 there was a quest series to take a Norn spouse.
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/The_Great_Norn_Alemoot

Your would be spouse says “after we are married we will go kill this creature together.” In order to get out of this marriage you go and kill the creature yourself to make your would be spouse not worthy of your hand.