228 KINDRED GROUP-MARRIAGE 



the other, much less common, marking an exogamous 

 origin for the daughter-in-law, the capture or purchase 

 of the bride. For son-in-law we have the endogamous 

 notion, the bridegroom as a mere procreator, or even 

 as megs, one of the kin, and the exogamous, but still 

 matriarchal, notion of the son-in-law as of the kin by 

 reason of his oath. He is the man who lives in his 

 wife's home, as the lucky Hans of the Marchen. 1 



Passing now to parents-in-law, we find one main root 

 hardly yet satisfactorily dealt with running through 

 most of the Aryan languages. This root is exhibited in 

 German schwdher, father-in-law, schwieger, mother-in- 

 law. In Gothic svaihro, mother-in-law, is used thrice of 

 the wife's mother, and once of the husband's mother ; 2 

 and svaihra, father-in-law, once of the wife's father. 

 O.H.G. swehur and swigar are glossed socer (once levir), 

 and uxoris mater, socrus. In M.H.G. we find sweher, 

 contracted into swer and swir, for father-in-law. In 

 Bavaria schwiger, die schwega are used for mother- 

 in-law, uxoris mater, and socrus, while schweher, 

 schwer, der schwega are used for pater uxoris, socer. 

 Swedish svdra 3 is mother-in-law. Old Slavonic svekru, 

 Russian svekoru stand for wife's father-in-law, e.g. 

 husband's father, so also the Lithuanian szesziuras. 

 Polish swiekier is used both for wife's and husband's 

 father. This appears to be the case with Latin socer 

 (for svocer), Italian suocero, Greek e/cvpos (for o-Fe- 



1 Or Oedipus, who, for a riddle-solving service to the state, gains the queen 

 and kingdom. The queen retains 'equal sway,' however, and the brother is 

 the 'peer of both,' and therefore feared by the king. See Oedipus Tyrannus, 

 11. 579, 581, 378, 631, et seg. 



2 Jah brup vipra svaihron izos (Matt. x. 35), i.e. the bride against her 

 mother-in-law. The Greek has vtfjupr] and irevdepa. 



3 Sver and sviru occur in Norse runes (see pp. 224, 231). 



