> Given that women are initiated soon after menarche, this seems somewhat
> circular reasoning. Harmast's Saga gives an example of a male teen who
> has
> furtive sex before his initiation. There's a fairly detailed section in
> TR
> on initiation - it mentions prohibitions or sex and magic, but nothing
> about fertility.
Well, I did say it was non-canonical and probably superceeded.
> I did a summary/issues paper on Heortling exogamy and sex on the HW list
> a
> day or two ago. Can I assume that most folk subscribe to both, or should
> I
> repost here?
I read it, so don't repost for me. I can't speak for anyone else. There's quite a bit of good stuff here on incest (that's a weird sentence...), which I won't quote, but I was thinking of pre-marriage sexual relations, trying to deal with that question of who the Heortlings have sex with if they don't mind pre-marital sex but don't marry within the clan and don't get off the tula much. (All in the service of trying to prove that Heortlings don't have any need for prostitutes.) Could it be that a certain amount of sexual experimentation within the clan is normal, but once people reach "proper marrying age," continued attraction to one's youthful sexual partners would be seen as juvenile? After all, you should be focusing on the adult business of marriage, which has as much to do with the clan and bloodline's aspirations and needs as your sexual urges and personal attractions. "Of course you should marry her! The clan needs an Uldra devotee, and her kin are loaded with cows!" I'm sure there are many sagas about the tragedy of young people who let passion, not good sense, rule their marriage aspirations.
Peter Larsen
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