A Bride of the Seventh Heaven

An elderly Nenets woman in teepee on northern Russias Yamal Peninsula recounts her early life betrothed to a deity for the entertainment of a blind young girl In the Nenets culture a girl child can be married to holiest of holies Num before or after her birth Lonely old Numd Syarda which means literally tied to Num entertains the blind young Ilne giver of life with stories of how she became one of these chosen few