DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.31218#0097
APPENDIX I TO CHAPTER IV
The Origin o{ the Levirale
McLennan1 refers the origin of the levirate to a sys-
tem of fraternal polyandry. In such a system, a wife is
the joint property of a group of brothers : when one of
them dies, her position is not affected, for she remains the
property of the rest. Her children, by whatever brother,
are affiliated to the eldest of them in his lifetime : and the
affiliations to the deceased husband which are character-
istic of the Jewish and Aryan levirates are a mere
extension of this practice. Finally, if in such a system a
younger brother were to acquire a wife of his own, he
would leave the joint establishment altogether,2 and his
elder brother would have no more claim to his wife at his
death than to the wife of any other stranger : which
explains why an elder brother may not marry a younger
brother’s widow.
Sir James Frazer 3 refers the custom to a system of
group marriage under which all the men of a group, who
are usually brothers, share all the wives of that group.
And there are other explanations, which need not be
given.4
The custom is widespread : it is found in all ages of the
world’s history, in all parts of the globe, and in all sorts
of marriage systems. No single explanation will suffice
to cover all the instances of it : and indeed it takes diffe-
rent forms in different circumstances. But the fundamen-
tal idea which underlies the custom appears to be the con-
ception of the wife as property, and therefore as heritable.
It may be objected that the natural heir to a man’s pro-
1 J. F. McLennan, Studies in Ancient History (1886).
2 As actually happens in Jaunsar-Bawar.
3 Frazer, Totemism and Exogamy (1910).
1 Crooke, Tribes and Castes of the N.-W. P. and Oudh (1896) ;
Westermarck, ITistory of Hiiman Marriage (1901); Ency. Brit. (11th
edition),—article on ‘Levirate’; Hastings, Dictionary of the Bible.
83
The Origin o{ the Levirale
McLennan1 refers the origin of the levirate to a sys-
tem of fraternal polyandry. In such a system, a wife is
the joint property of a group of brothers : when one of
them dies, her position is not affected, for she remains the
property of the rest. Her children, by whatever brother,
are affiliated to the eldest of them in his lifetime : and the
affiliations to the deceased husband which are character-
istic of the Jewish and Aryan levirates are a mere
extension of this practice. Finally, if in such a system a
younger brother were to acquire a wife of his own, he
would leave the joint establishment altogether,2 and his
elder brother would have no more claim to his wife at his
death than to the wife of any other stranger : which
explains why an elder brother may not marry a younger
brother’s widow.
Sir James Frazer 3 refers the custom to a system of
group marriage under which all the men of a group, who
are usually brothers, share all the wives of that group.
And there are other explanations, which need not be
given.4
The custom is widespread : it is found in all ages of the
world’s history, in all parts of the globe, and in all sorts
of marriage systems. No single explanation will suffice
to cover all the instances of it : and indeed it takes diffe-
rent forms in different circumstances. But the fundamen-
tal idea which underlies the custom appears to be the con-
ception of the wife as property, and therefore as heritable.
It may be objected that the natural heir to a man’s pro-
1 J. F. McLennan, Studies in Ancient History (1886).
2 As actually happens in Jaunsar-Bawar.
3 Frazer, Totemism and Exogamy (1910).
1 Crooke, Tribes and Castes of the N.-W. P. and Oudh (1896) ;
Westermarck, ITistory of Hiiman Marriage (1901); Ency. Brit. (11th
edition),—article on ‘Levirate’; Hastings, Dictionary of the Bible.
83