Depends on the size of the long house doesn't it?
>Is TR correct in stating that a longhouse will only hold one
>hearth\household\lodge?
I think this really depends on the size of the stead. A new stead with, say, 30 or so adults can probably cram into a single medium-sized longhouse. After that stead has had a generation or so to grow, they might build a second longhouse. Perhaps in the next generation, a fire destroys one of the longhouses, and the stead is rebuilt with one really big longhouse, and so on. Because of space limitations, clans that live in flatter and more open tulas build larger halls that house more people. Clans with hillier or densely wooded tulas, probably make do with more, smaller buildings. No doubt each group has myths and traditions to explain why theirs is the way things should be done.
>What reasons would stead folk have for living in a separate smaller
>dwelling?
Stead life should be very seasonal. During the nicer seasons, members of the stead involved in hunting, herding, and shepherding will be off in the woods and hills. Depending on the stead, this could be a pretty substantial part of the population. I assume that most steads have outlying structures (probably lean-tos and the like) for these people to use, maybe more sturdy buildings if the sheep (for example) are not brought back to the stead proper for the winter.
In the colder seasons, I suspect that the longhouse(s) gets pretty crowded with everyone's grannys and uncles pressed up against each other. "Crowded as a stead in Dark," as they say.
Other reasons for separate houses might be -- a place for the sick or injured (especially if the stead has a notable healer), a place for the taboo (a little hovel for the Trickster, should the stead be "blessed" with one), a place for the holy (if these is a shrine nearby, the godi might live in a separate building). Clans might have their own traditions -- a separate small hall for boys (or girls) before initiation, special quarters for initiates of specific cults, should there be a lot of them in the clan (Humakti seem a likely bet, and who wants to bunk with the BB Gors?), or perhaps some sort of separation of cotters and carls.
Peter Larsen
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