Celtic families: who's your daddy?

Margaret · Post by **Margaret** » Fri May 18th, 2012, 9:29 pm

Also, there were different classes of "marriage" in pagan Celtic society, one of which involved a one-time fling behind the shrubbery, and another of which involved a limited term of one year (but which could presumably be converted, if both parties wished, into the indefinite variety). A "wife" of the shrubbery fling sort would not, I presume, have been considered unfaithful if she entered into another such "marriage" a week or two later.

erechwydd · Post by **erechwydd** » Sat May 19th, 2012, 2:15 pm

Margaret, I agree; it very much depends on how you define 'marriage'.

Margaret · Post by **Margaret** » Sun May 20th, 2012, 4:18 am

I was rather charmed when I discovered the statute referring to marriages of the behind-the-bushes sort. But I don't suppose the Celts would have thought all that much differently about it than we do. I think the main reason they used the same term for it as for other marriages was that they didn't stigmatize any children born of such unions.