Thinking in pairs. Law and language in medieval Wales

abstract: This article examines the role of binomials in medieval Welsh legal prose, arguing that the rhetorical structure of the binomial is itself part of how law in this period communicated its priorities. Unlike triads, which imply mutual rights and responsibilities, binomials are rooted in oppositions and are, thus, often used to denote and affirm hierarchies. The fact that they are such a common genre in Welsh law is, therefore, significant, especially since many of the oppositions on which legal binomials are modeled—light/dark, tame/wild, male/female, warm/cold, and so on—are rooted in nature and, thus, seem immune to challenge.