Editing Human–animal marriage (section)

== Animal–human marriage in mythology ==
The practice of animal-human marriage has made appearances in several [[Mythology|mythological]] stories and [[folklore]], and is often understood to mean a deity-human marriage involving gods or heroes.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Miller|first=Alan L.|date=1995-01-01|title=The Woman Who Married a Horse: Five Ways of Looking at a Chinese Folktale|jstor=1178945|journal=Asian Folklore Studies|volume=54|issue=2|pages=275–305|doi=10.2307/1178945}}</ref> The Chinese folktale "The Goddess of the Silkworm" is an example of a tale where a woman marries a [[horse]].<ref name=":0" /> A similar Irish [[legend]] tells of a king who marries a horse, symbolizing a divine union between the king and the goddess of the land.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/stpatrickofirela00phil|url-access=registration|title=St. Patrick of Ireland: A Biography|last=Freeman|first=Philip|date=2004-03-17|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=9780743267496|language=en}}</ref> Also the indigenous [[Cheyenne]] have a story of animal-human marriage in "The Girl who Married a Dog".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Stensland|first=Anna Lee|date=1977-01-01|title=The Indian Presence in American Literature|jstor=815804|journal=The English Journal|volume=66|issue=3|pages=37–41|doi=10.2307/815804}}</ref> In addition, there are many Native American stories about people who married animals. In these Native American myths, animal spirits frequently assume human form.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Mi-Ni/Native-American-Mythology.html|title=Native American Mythology – Myth Encyclopedia – god, story, legend, names, ancient, animal, snake, world, creation, life|website=www.mythencyclopedia.com|language=en|access-date=2017-03-11}}</ref> They are not seen as literal animals, but representatives from the animal kingdom.<ref name=":1" />

According to [[Bernard Sergent]], "human–animal marriage is an union that is too remote as incest is a too close one. Compared to a balanced marriage, between humans but from another clan or another village, that is to say–depending on the society–within the framework of a well measured [[endogamy]] or [[exogamy]], incest transgresses the norm because it is an exaggerated endogamy, and animal marriage transgresses it because it is an exaggerated exogamy."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sergent|first=Bernard|date=1999|title=Un mythe lithuano-amérindien|url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/dha_0755-7256_1999_num_25_2_1536|journal=Dialogues d'histoire ancienne|volume=25|issue=2|page=36|doi=10.3406/dha.1999.1536|via=}}</ref>