For An Elf Maiden's Love!

[fusangite]

Black Omega,

Recovering a Simarill (sp) from the Iron Crown of Morgoth is a traditional and suitably impossible task

Damn! You beat me to it Omega. This was exactly what I was thinking.

Of course, still smiling from last week's Angel, battling the Devil's Robot would be pretty cool too.

I think a quest for an appropriate wedding ring would be in order -- perhaps an ancient ring taken to another plane of existence or swallowed by an enormous dragon.

 

[Agback]

G'day

Cut down the tallest tree in the forest...with a herring!


On a more serious note: it all depends on the brother's goals.

* Does he want to inflict an humiliating defeat or backdown on a suitor of whom he is jealous?

* Does he want a wife in exchange for his sister?

* Does he want to extract the greatest possible benefit to his lineage/clan as the price of their daughter?

* Does he want to recruit the most helpful marriage-allies he can find?

* Does he want to ensure that his sister and her children enjoy the best material circumstances that he can arrange for them?

* Does he want to guarantee good breeding stock as the father of his nieces?

* Does he want to impose a non-reversible investment in the marriage to deter his brothers-in-law from philandering and divorce?

* Does he want to stage a vast-scale heroic actions as a kind of live-fire symbolic ceremony?

* Does he have only muddled ideas, and wonder what his father would do?

Regards,


Agback

 

[Hypersmurf]

"Do you know all those old folk tales where the count tries to get rid of his only daughter's unsuitable suitor by giving him three impossible tasks?"
"Yes...?"
"Don't ever try that with Miles. Just... don't."
Lois McMaster Bujold, A Civil Campaign.

-Hyp.

 

[CrusaderX]

Have the wizard slay Tharnor and Marlu. I hear those two are real bastards.

 

[Steverooo]

Slay Asmodeus (or, since they're Elves, perhaps Orc-us?)

For a non-combative brain-teaser, untie the Gordonian Web (which is, secretly, immune to cutting).

Find the long-lost, legendary X, and return it to...

 

[maddman75]

Hey SHARK!

I'd probably go for recoving an artifact relevent to the elven people. Perhaps a nearby Evil Overlord has long held an ancient crown, sword, or what have you and returning it will prove his worth to the elven people.

If the elf in question isn't quite on the up and up, he could assign some seemingly impossible task such as slaying a demon lord thinking to do away with the suitor. Or if he's politically motivated he could require that he infiltrate and discover some damaging information about his enemy.

 

[LightPhoenix]

Why limit yourself to one quest?

I can see it being something like the tale of Heracles - he has to perform a variety of tasks which test all of his skills; physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.

 

[DM_Matt]

How about a 10 year long voyage, with a visit to the underworld, island of cyclops, pig farm, and the sirens call. Oh wait, that's been done before.

While we're stealing ancient concepts, how about seven years slavery to him, after which the brother gives him the ugly older sister instead, then asks for another seven years

 

[Endur]

Retrieving a Silmaril. (The classic quests are always the best).

What kind of quest would you think adequate to the task, and suffciently impressive?

 

[Oni]

This might be cheating a bit, but you could put the responsibility on the suitor. His task? Prove that he his worthy of her hand. Simple as that, if he is worthy he'll come up with a way to demonstrate that.