Olan Thorensen - Cast Under an Alien Sun

“The adjudicator’s assistant,” Cadwulf indicated a man sitting to one side of the judges table, “will write a report of the facts of the case and the judges’ decision. The report goes to the Keelan hetman, Culich Keelan, in Caernford. The accused and his family can write to the hetman at the same time to give reasons the sentence should be changed. Most of the time the hetman won’t change the verdict. He might reduce the penalties, but he never increases them.”

During Cadwulf’s explanation, the day’s session ended, the three judges filed out, and the spectators began to leave. Yozef had numerous questions.

“Cadwulf, if you have no other plans for evening meal, I’d like to talk about what we saw here today. Could you join me at my house? Elian always cooks more than enough.”

“A pleasure. I had no plans, other than eating with my family. Give me a moment to tell Father not to expect me this evening.”

Cadwulf left Yozef standing alone and returned a few minutes later.

As they walked the mile to the house, Yozef recounted the day’s cases to check whether he understood the proceedings and details of Keelan law and whether there were differences with those of other districts. That is, what was general to Caedellium and specific to Keelan?

“Cadwulf, when you said this Camrin fellow will likely find another farm woman to marry him, you said you’d explain later.”

Cadwulf grunted. “Oh, yeah. Well, it’s that there are often more women wanting husbands than there are available men.”

More women? Yozef thought. On Earth, there were about 105 male babies for every 100 females. He remembered something about the speculation that male babies were more susceptible to diseases and male adults died more from hunting or fighting—some kind of evolutionary compensation to even out the sexes during the reproductive ages. However, somewhere around thirty to forty years, it evened out and from then on, there were more women than men. Why would the sex ratio of births be different here than on Earth?

“There are more female babies?”

“Yes, something like ninety-six boys to every hundred girls. I forget the exact numbers. It’s thought the different ratio is God’s plan to assure there should be equal numbers of men and women later in life, since women can die in childbirth. I was never convinced of this reasoning, because men die in accidents more often than women. There also used to be many more men who die in clan fighting than happens now, but I don’t see how God planned for that.”

Well, if it’s God’s doing, he has different plans for Earth and Anyar. One thing’s for sure—at least one of the theories to explain the sex ratio differences is wrong.

“So, with a shortage of available men, I assume that since Ser Camrin is gone now, the odds aren’t good for the woman to find another husband, if she wants one?”

“Yes,” said Cadwulf. “One might think an unmarried adult woman owning a small farm would have many suitors. The problem is many-fold for her. She’s already been married and has two children, which are negative factors for some men and families. Also, farms aren’t as valuable as before, since the Narthani won’t allow shipping of our grains to the mainlands. And finally, most men are already married. As you might expect, the unmarried men tend not to be of the most desirable types.”

“Such as Yuslir Camrin?”

“Such as him, or simply not a man whom a woman might risk tying herself to, because when they marry, he becomes the owner of all of her property. Some women prefer to remain unmarried, rather than take the risk. On the other hand, when an appropriate man is available, the competition among women can be fierce.”

“Available? Like widowed or a newcomer?”

Cadwulf nodded. “Or from a dissolved marriage, if the woman couldn’t be lived with or if there’s reason to believe she’s infertile, and the husband wants children. The husband can petition and be granted a cancellation of the marriage; then all of her original property reverts to her, so the man must be very serious about wanting children, or he has property of his own.”

Yozef shook his head. “I think the woman today, Hulda Camrin, will have a hard time. She’ll have three-quarters of her original farm, no husband, and two children to care for. From the details we heard, I assume the husband did all, or most, of the farm work.”

“That’s a problem for her. If the farm had been larger and more productive, they might have had several workers. But since it’s a smaller farm and no other workers, it’s difficult to see how she’ll keep it.”

“You said the farms are not as valuable as in the past, so she might not get much coin if she’s forced to sell.”

“A bad situation for her,” agreed Cadwulf. “In that case, she’ll need to find family members to take in her and the children. The option should work for her, since the family is obligated toward the children, and she’ll come with some coin from selling the farm.

“However, not all farm women are in such a difficult situation. Did you notice the woman sitting on the other end of our bench?”

“No. There were a lot of people, and I was paying attention to the cases.”

“I’ll point her out to you, if we see her sometime. She owns a medium-sized farm about ten miles north. She’s in her late twenties or early thirties and a widow. Her husband died several years ago after an accident on their farm. In her case, she’s successful in running the farm, because it’s big and productive enough to have several workers and since there were no children. She’s something of an exception, both because of her circumstances and since she’s known to be both strong minded and bodied.”

They sat on the steps, facing the ocean. The moon Aedan was just rising from the ocean horizon. The other moon, Haedan, would appear much later that night, if Yozef remembered the pattern of their cycles.

“I assume she has the same problem finding a new husband?”

Cadwulf laughed. “Yes, the same problem of too few men she would want to marry, and I doubt she’s interested in giving up ownership of the farm. She’s quite used to running the farm by herself.”

They rose and entered the house. Elian had somehow known there was a guest and had set an extra place at his table. Yozef often ate with the older couple, at first to their discomfort, but tonight they had already eaten. Brak was nowhere to be seen, and Elian served them, set an open bottle of phila wine on the table, and excused herself for the evening. Conversation lagged, as they focused on roast coney, potatoes, a chard-like vegetable Yozef had come to like, the wine, and a version of sourdough bread Yozef and Elian had been experimenting with. As they finished the last of the coney, Yozef brought up the topic they had been discussing on the way from the abbey.

“Cadwulf, doesn’t the excess of women over men cause problems? Not just for the women themselves, but for the entire clan and society? What happens to an unmarried woman?”

“If she has no property and can’t work to support herself, then her family is responsible for her. Otherwise, the local abbey or village tries to find her a place, especially if there are children. Obviously, being married is best. In some clans, though, the shortage of men has been worse, due to conflict within or between clans. When that happens, some clans, particularly the northern ones, have customs that help the problem by allowing husbands two wives. More in rare cases, but usually just two.”

Yozef was surprised. “Does that also occur in Keelan?”

“While it’s not disallowed by either The Word of God or Keelan customs, our clan has traditionally frowned on the practice, although there are a few exceptions. I can think of only three examples I know of, and none in Abersford. In some of the provinces, the man must get approval from his local abbey or boyerman to take a second wife, depending on the customs and laws of the province, and the first wife has to approve sincerely. It’s usually not allowed for the husband to pressure the wife into agreeing, although I understand this occurs more in the northern clans.”