Bizarre punishments from ancient Ireland (part nine)

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[deckingston]

So nobody is talking about the fact that being unable to bring a good harvest is more outrageous than straight murder?

[CantusTropus]

An important reminder about the "Bard" thing - in pagan times, Bards were more than just propagandists and historians (though both were important roles). People believed that their poems had magical properties, so being insulted by a Bard was more akin to a supernatural curse than "just" slander.

[mackdog]

Strange as it sounds, considering the era, their laws seemed pretty lenient.

[kingace]

Murder: "Meh"
Failed Harvest: "KILL HIM!!"

[Brobrt]

"This next song's called Tim (the douchebag who wouldn't give me five bucks) in C minor."

[goldfih]

The pregnant woman: "I want a Hamburger."

The husband: "What is a Hamburger aaaa!!??"

[ninazagorova]

Roman women: can be starved to death by their own husbands
Irish women: Give. Me. *Food!*

[CantusTropus]

While the fact that you didn't get executed for kinslaying might seem odd, it's not so weird when you look at the context it existed in. This was a world where family and clan were EVERYTHING - your identity, your social status, your physical and emotional support network, and your protection from crime. Without a family, you were completely alone and destitute. In the modern day, this would be like not only being stripped of all possessions and made homeless, but also being banned from working or accessing any social supports of any kind. At that point you have no choice but to turn to crime to make a living, and since you've lost your clan, there's nobody to defend you or avenge you if someone does wrong to you. Someone can kill you and nobody will care or do anything about it. You are completely and utterly alone.

[Htehtoom]

Honestly Celtic Ireland sounds pretty based

[sarafagin]

Suddenly the actions of the husband in the beginning of the Rapunzel tale make a lot more sense.

[VenomSteak]

These punishments seem pretty tame compared to the rest of the world at the time

[Cutty_Bronson]

Murdering a family member: “You gotta leave now.”
Not producing enough veggies: “We will see if your corpse can produce them.”

[mirrrmirrr]

While being killed and tossed into a bog is extremely harsh, people were terrified of famine, which could cause many deaths and illnesses from malnutrition or starvation, so I can see why they would want to motivate farmers to take their job very seriously, though one cannot control the weather.

[nzs]

I can see the farmer running in a panic for pickles and ice cream at 2am!

[karebushmarebu]

You forgot to mention that the those sacrificed in the bogs for bad harvest were Kings, If their were multiple bad harvests the king would be sacrificed to try and turn the luck of the crop

[itskarl]

"...had their social standing halved."
Alright, so how does that work? "Your current social standing is 48, but since you've been found guilty, it will now be 24".

[JokesOnJassper]

The harvest one is very interesting because they recently found a well-preserved torso of a large man in an Irish bog

[katrinaisalwayscorrect]

I like the not feeding your pregnant wife one 😂

[chicky_chinchilla]

These were the most tame and normal punishment in those times

[midbdushxxiii]

Those bog mummies they occasionally find in ireland make much more sense now