From: David Weihe (weihe@gsidanet.danet.com)
Date: Wed 11 Dec 1996 - 03:39:07 EET
> From: "Neil Smith" <NSMITH@dmu.ac.uk>
>
> Andy Young asked:
> > Who provides the dowry to start the [newly-wed Praxian] couple's
> > new herd?
>
> slighly, and said that women are allowed to own a herd as soon as
> they're married, regardless of children. However, once they're
> married, they tend to have children fairly quickly, so the
> distinction is not obvious to outsiders.
More likely, the graduation from troth-plighted (ie, monogamy sworn)
to full marriage (fully blessed by gods and tribe) doesn't occur until
the first child, but women have provisional title to herd beasts once
the couple is betrothed. If the couple proves incompatible or infertile,
the beasts never "really" belonged to the woman, and she is responsible
for returning them, or an equivalent number and quality, if the originals
were lost, stolen, or dead.
> When a bachelor wants to marry a woman, he has to
> pay her family compensation for their loss of labour: this can be
> captured beasts, war booty, promises of work later, etc. The couple marry,
> and man and wife go off to live in the groom's new household. Very
Herding societies are usually uxorilocal (eg, Plains Indians, ancient
Hebrews) even when patrilineal. The man will go to his in-laws' tents,
as the stability of the female economic groups are more important.
The big exception is foreigner marriage. If a Bison man marries a High
Llama woman she goes to his tribe, unless he is formally adopted into
the wife's tribe (usually he is marrying up, then).
This doesn't apply to plural marriages unless the women are sisters
(fairly common, actually). I don't remember if Prax tribes allow plural
marriages, though (I find it jarring enough that the Germanic/Celtic-based
Orlanthi don't allow them). If the man marries a second wife she moves in
with him and his first wife (usually in her own tent, of course).
> As you can see, this makes marriage expensive for the groom and his
> family. It gets even worse if the bride's family is either poor or
> disapproving of the marriage, as they'll ask for a large bride-price
but will they get it, or will the girls become spinsters? Even with
love matches, the mercenary aspects will matter to the groom's family.
> and will give little of it back to the bride. But, on an MGF note,
> this just means that PC couples will have to make large efforts to
> get enough dosh to get married and get out of his mother's house!
Most bride prices will be paid in captured animals, especially when
large. The batchelor will be able to pay the brideprice in installments
with the marriage occuring on final payment. If the payments are too slow,
though, the bride's parents might accept animals from other would-be grooms
who would get the bride if the original would-be groom didn't pay off the
remainder of the "debt" (like calling in a loan, or a margin call).
Also, the batchelor will not be living with his mother, though he will
be required to continue hunting or raiding for his family until he weds.
More likely, the batchelors will live together. And anyway, the Praxians
won't *ever* live in *houses* if they can manage it. That is for the
disgusting ground-pokers or the even more revolting city folk.
------------------------------
End of Glorantha Digest V4 #8
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