Re: Brothers in law

Paul Bennett skrev:
> On Thu, 04 May 2006 13:47:54 -0400, Michael Adams
> <michael.adams1@...> wrote:
>
>> Sort of the reverse is the Mormon custom of a man marrying his
>> brother wife, when the brother died. Not always a marriage, but
>> more like a "she is under my protection, and so are her kids,
>> since she is my brother widow and they are my kin"..
>
>
> Not just Mormon, but Comanche, and IIRC Cherokee. It may well be a
> pattern  common to many Native Americans, but I have no idea.
>
It's called _levirate_ from the Latin word for
"husband's brother, brother-inlaw".  It was
practiced among the ancient Hebrews, and sadly
in the eighties helped to propagate AIDS among
the Massai.

--
/BP 8^)>
--
Benct Philip Jonsson -- melroch at melroch dot se

    "Maybe" is a strange word.  When mum or dad says it
    it means "yes", but when my big brothers say it it
    means "no"!

                            (Philip Jonsson jr, age 7)