Gratillonius is disgusted by Maldunilis and, by the Law of Mithras, cannot have sex with both Fennalis and Lanarvilis, mother and daughter, so he hopes that Fennalis, like Quinipilis, can be regarded as too old. After doing his duty as far as he can, Gratillonius proposes to spend as much time as he can with Dahilis. However, this will not be acceptable. How can there be anything but problems in such a set-up?
By the gift of the Goddess, Gratillonius' virility never fails with any of his Queens but will always fail with any other woman. Each of the Queens is marked by a red crescent from the time when she was chosen and they bear only daughters - when they do not practice contraception. The fantasy element of the plot is understated but ever-present.
Of course, none of these rules will continue to apply when Ys has been destroyed and when the Three have become ghosts, demons, fading memories or whatever else deposed gods become. (Neil Gaiman's The Sandman is illuminating.) Then Gratillonius will be free to remarry, beget sons and indeed convert to Christianity.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I recall Stirling saying that one reason to prefer monogamy is that it's so much more restful than polygamy. I think it would be very difficult for a man to please three, five, or nine wives!
I also thought just now of how vicious harem intrigues can be. The classic example being that of the Ottoman sultans, whose wives and concubines would be scheming to elevate their sons to be the next sultan. And down to about 1600 it was the custom for new sultans to murder their brothers and half brothers, to eliminate rivals to the throne.*
Ad astra! Sean
*In about 1600 a new sultan could not bring himself to murder a very young brother. So it became the custom for succeeding sultans to imprisoned their brothers in a part of the palace called the Cage.
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