Ian Cooper wrote:
> Year-wives and husbands are a likely to be an alternative to
> accepting outsiders as cottars, or taking thralls to increase the
> clan labor pool.The marriage contract confers temporary membership of
> the clan to the year partner. Patterson[1994] describes the Celtic
> analogy as follows:
Though I seem to recall that it was often also done for ritual purposes -- Garhound Condest being a decent example. Or, better, Orlanth and Ernalda's marriage in "How Peace Was Made" where she agreed to be his Year Wife.
> >I don't know of any real world social structure that practices
> >both bridewealth *and* dowry - if they cancel out then the exchange
> becomes
> >purely ritual.
(interesting celtic stuff to be looked up and correlated with norse custom later snipped)
> In addition women were expected to provide the tools of women's work,
> as part of the dowry (pots, pans, loom. All the domestic goods my
> mother used to refer to as being for your bottom drawer, i.e. gifts
> collected for the day that you marry, and set up home).
>
> Hope this helps,
>
> Ian
Good point. I'd forgotten the 'tools of the trade' aspect as a part of the dowry.
Jeff
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