> Except that wergild is supposed to be set high enough to discourage
> killings (and require your kin to help pay, to further help
> discourage killings). You want to *encourage* marriage, so
> bride-price/dowry should be a bit lower.
To be honest I'm still not comfortable in my own thinking with the relative costs and values. When I wrote up some law codes for Thunder Rebels, I tried to harmonise the existing sources. Stephen and Greg were still balancing the draft's various costs and fines last time I checked etc.
(I'm not as big a believer
> in service as you are, I think. The new couple are supposed to be
> productive members of the husband's bloodline; if he's spending all
> his time serving his wife's kin he can't be supporting his wife very
> well.)
Agree totally. If labour is part of the brideprice, it would be conducted *before* the marriage.
John
Powered by hypermail