>> It's not a matter of working in the fields but working in the
>> fields *as a man*. There are jobs in farming, particularly
>> without modern tools and equipment, which require a lot of
>> strength and weight - ploughing is one. And others put strain
>> on the stomach muscles - not something to do when pregnant.
>
>Fair enough, but I'm not sure that pregnant women are that incpable
>and ploughing is only a fraction to the working year. - a warrior
>on the other have must be prepared to fight all the time. So possible,
>but I'm not 100% convinced.
The extent to which pregnancy incapacitates varies widely between women. Some are laid up for most of the time while others barely notice it. Either way overstraing the stomach muscles risks causing a miscarrige. Ploughing with a medieval plough is more than just during pregnancy, very few women are going to have the weight and strength to use one. It's easy to forget in the modern world, where a typical farmer's wife is stronger than the typical male clerk, that the male body is better designed for heavy manual work.
>> The other aspect is that this is a cultural issue. The best way
>> of explaining it is something which is very much "my Heortling"
>> although anyone who likes the idea is welcome to use it. That is
>> that Heortling society has a taboo against bringing death near
>> an unborn child. The law against a Humatki sharing a hearth with
>> a pregnant woman is one example but it goes further. Harvesting
>> the grain means killing it and the grain is Esrola who is
>> Ernalda's sister. Given that a woman may be pregnant without
>> knowing it cutting the grain is men's work as is slaughtering
>> livestock. Granted a grandmother might well wring a chicken's
>> neck but by that age they are unlikely to have strength to
>> kill a larger animal or wield a scythe all day even if they
>> had the skill.
>
>Hmmm. That's a more intersting one. But do the Heortlings regard
>harvesting as killing? Can't remember seeing anything to that
>effect, but doesn't mean it isn;t there. Still, even if it's not
>a it's a viable thought.
TR pg. 184 under the Harvest Day ceremonies and pg. 213 Reaping Day. Not only killing but killing a goddess for which one must atone.
-- Donald Oddy http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/
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