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December 25 1997

"I shout for madder music, and I call for stronger wine;

But when the moons are swollen and my questing heart seeks more

The veil parts and draws me forth beyond my Earthly door

To trace your footfalls, Cabot! For the world I seek is thine.

And Enemies surround me, but my spirit will not bow

Nor falter like the weak who came before;

And I will follow, Cabot! In the best way I know how,

And keep alive the wonder that is Gor."

     Tal, Goreans!

     I pen these words at the end of what has been a very long and often confusing year on Gorean IRC. The online community fragments constantly, sometimes splitting into smaller and smaller pockets of like-minded individuals, each of which has its own unique views and feelings regarding Gor. But at the same time, many of these isolated pockets of online Goreans seem to be moving in the same direction, like separate trickles, eddies and currents drawn by the inexorable pull of gravity down to the sea... or in this case, to Thassa.

     I find that gratifying, to say the least. Gor is too big and amazing to be the sole domain of a select few individuals, and has always been so. As I have often said in the past, MY Gor does not exist; it is Norman's vision, combined with our own hopes and dreams, which give life to our channels and online society. I only hope that one day the very concept of "my Gor" or "your Gor" evaporates, to be replaced by OUR Gor. Then, and only then, will I have come home. Until then, I will try to light a few lamps so we all might see better as we fumble through the fog toward the truth about what Gor is, what it is like, and what it signifies.

GOR according to Norman

     The quotes below cover topics of varying import, among them such lofty concepts as the meaning of honor and ranging to how much freedom of mobility a Gorean slave girl has during her daily routine in the high cities of Gor. This is a good batch. Enjoy!

THE DEBT OF CIVILIZATION

   "Of what value, really, is it to be able to bring down a running man with the great bow at two hundred yards, to throw the quiva into a two-hort circle at twenty paces, to wield a sword with an agility others might bring to the handling of a knife? Of what use are such dreadful skills? Then I reminded myself that such skills are often of great use and that culture, with its glories of art, and music and literature, can flourish only within the perimeters of their employments. Perhaps there is then a role for the lonely fellows on the wall, for the border guards, for the garrisons of far-flung outposts, for the guardsmen in the city treading their lonely rounds. All these, too, in their humble, unnoticed way, serve. Without them the glory is not possible. Without them even their critics could not exist."

--p.131, Magicians of Gor

   "`Civilized men,' said Samos, `the small and pale, the righteous, the learned, the smug, the supercilious, the weak-stomached and contemptuous, stand upon the shoulders of forgotten, bloody giants.'"

--p.31, Beasts of Gor

CLOTHES DO NOT MAKE THE WARRIOR

   "`You have drawn a weapon against me,' I said.

   `You are of the warriors?' said the fellow. He wavered. He, too, knew the codes.

   `Yes,' I said.

   `And he?' asked the fellow.

   `He, too,' I said.

   `You are not in the scarlet,' he said.

   `True,' I said. Did he think that the color of a fellow's garments was what made him a warrior? Surely he must realize that one not of the warriors might affect the scarlet, and that one who wore the grimed gray of a peasant, one barefoot, and armed only with the great staff, might be of the scarlet caste. It is not the uniform which makes the warrior, the soldier."

--p.129, Magicians of Gor

FREE WOMEN IN PAGA TAVERNS

   "`In most paga taverns,' he said, `free women are not permitted. In some they are.'"

--p.122, Kajira of Gor

THE TRUTH

   "`Such thoughts are surely to be reserved for the second or third knowledge,' said another man.

   `I am a man,' said another. `I repudiate the distinctions between knowledges. Knowledge is one. It is only knowers who are many.'

   `I shall inquire into truth as I please,' said another. `I am a free man.'"

--p.387, Kajira of Gor

BRANDING LAWS

   "`Some fellows do not brand their slaves,' I said.

   `That is stupid!' she said.

   `It is also contrary to the laws of most cities,' I said, `and to merchant law, as well.'"

--p.188, Vagabonds of Gor

WEAK MASTERS

   "`It is only to a true master that I could submit,' she said, `not to a weakling.'

   `If you submit yourself, clearly and explicitly,' I said, `you may discover that he whom you thought to be a weakling may not in actuality be such at all.'"

--p.219, Vagabonds of Gor

FRENCH-FRIES OF GOR

   "The sul is a large, thick-skinned, yellow-fleshed root vegetable. It is very common on this world. There are a thousand ways in which it is prepared. It is fed even to slaves. I had had some at the house, narrow, cooked slices smeared with butter, sprinkled with salt, fed to me by hand."

--pg.80, Dancer of Gor

GOREAN INTIMACY

   "In Gorean culture, generally, it seemed to me that people stood closer to one another than I was accustomed to on Earth. In thisway it was natural for men here, for example, to stand much closer to the scantily clad slave than the average man of, say, northern Europe, on Earth, would be likely to, to a woman of his area. Indeed, he usually stands so close to her that it would be easy for him to put his hands on her, and draw her to him, taking her in his arms."

--pg. 156, Dancer of Gor

MANIPULATION OF MALES

   "`We are free women. Men, some sorts of men, will save us. Men, some sorts, cannot so much as stand to see a tear in a woman's eye. To such men it is unthinkable that we might bear the consequences of our actions.'

   `Do you think I am such a man?' I asked.

   `No,' she said, `else I would have petitioned redemption from you.'

   `Men such as those of whom you speak,' I said, `those who are so solicitous, so kindly, those who are so eager to render you succor, who will strive so desperately to help you, and please you, do they stir you deeply in your belly?'

   `I am a free woman.' she said. `We do not consider such things.'"

--p.64-65, Renegades of Gor

   "The demeaning of men, whereas it is permitted to, and not unknown among, free women, is not permitted to female slaves. Such, on their part, can be a capital offense."

--p.227, Magicians of Gor

RIDING

   "Something of the same joy of the rider, and mystique of the rider, exists on Gor in connection with the tarn as it existed on Earth in connection with the horse. For example, if you have thrilled to the movements and the power of a fine steed, you have some conception of what it is to be aflight on tarnback. There is the wind, the sense of the beast, the speed, the movements, now in all dimensions, the climb, the dive, soaring, turning, all in the freedom of the sky! There is here, too, a oneness of man and beast."

--p.138, Renegades of Gor

THE WORTH OF SLAVES

   "Swords are often drawn on Gor over women, and particularly over lovely slaves. Women are prizes, perfections and treasures. It is no wonder that men fight over them with ferocity. Wars have been fought to recover a stolen slave."

--p.397, Renegades of Gor

   "A girl, of course, wants to be bought by a strong master who wants her for himself, muchly desiring and lusting for her, not for her brand. When a girl is bought, of course, it is commonly because the man wants her, she, the female, and is willing to put down his hard-earned money for her and her alone, for she is alone; all she brings from the block is herself; she is a slave; she cannot bring wealth, power, or family connections; she comes naked and sold; it is she alone he buys."

--p.63, Slave Girl of Gor

SLAVE MOBILITY

   "The slave girl within the city, incidentally, commonly receives a great deal of freedom. She normally can do much what she wants, and go much where she wishes. Her mobility and freedom in such respects is often greater than that accorded to free women. This freedom and mobility does not matter greatly, of course, since she is branded and collared. To be sure, she is seldom allowed outside the walls of of a city unless in the company of a free person. Similarly, if an appropriate free person is available, she must request permission to leave the house. At this time, she will probably also have the Ahn of her return specified for her. Similarly, if an appropriate free person is available, she must report in to that person, when she returns... Many houses are strict about such matters. Being late can be a matter for discipline."

--p.413, Renegades of Gor

   "Slave girls, of course, as goods, as exchangeable properties, and so on, are more likely to see a great deal more of their world than the average free woman. Many free persons on Gor seldom travel more than a few pasangs from their village or the walls of their city. An important exception to this rule is the pilgrimage to the Sardar, which every Gorean, male and female, is expected to undertake at least once in his life."

--p.443, Renegades of Gor

   "Escape is not, on the whole, a realistic possibility for slave girls on Gor. Indeed, girls are often sent, unattended, in a brief rep-cloth tunic on errands for their masters. They return to their masters for there is nowhere else to go; also a girl who is well mastered will often undergo great privations and hardships to return to the brute whom she cannot help loving with every slave inch of her. Slave girls are often hopelessly in love with their masters."

--p.331, Slave Girl of Gor

THE GOOD OF THE MANY

   "The welfare of the caste, typically, takes priority in the Gorean mind over the ambitions of specific individuals. The welfare of a larger number of individuals, as the Goreans reason, correctly or incorrectly, is more important than the welfare of a smaller number of individuals."

--p.210, Fighting Slave of Gor

   "`Any free man may discipline an insolent or errant slave,' I said, `even one who is the least bit displeasing, even one he might merely feel like disciplining. If she is killed, or injured, he need only pay compensation to her master, and that only if the master can be located within a specific amount of time and requests such compensation.' In virtue of such customs and statutes the perfect discipline under which Gorean slaves are kept is maintained and guaranteed even when they are not within the direct purview of their masters or their appointed agents."

--p.235, Players of Gor

HONOR

   "`What of honor?' I asked.

   `An inconvenience,' he said, `an impediment on the path to power.'

   `You seem to me,' I said, uncertainly, `one who might once have had honor.'

   `I have outgrown it,' he said.

   `The most dangerous lies,' I said, `are those which we tell ourselves.'"

--p.468, Vagabonds of Gor

   "`I do not understand them,' she said. `To uphold the law they have jeopardized their careers, they have entered into exile!'

   `There are such men,' I said.

   `I do not understand them,' she said.

   `That,' I said, `is because you do not understand honor.'"

--p.478, Magicians of Gor

   "`You risked so much for a mere point of honor?' she asked.

   `There are no mere points of honor,' I told her."

--p.63, Vagabonds of Gor

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Q:   In the definitions a girl has seen about the talender flower worn in a girl's hair, they say it is the girl's silent wish to be taken, to be used (sexually). But on page 65 of Hunters of Gor, it gives a different definition. Which is correct?

(submitted by sarah/raina`)

A:   They are both correct. The act of wearing a talender in the hair, when performed by the Gorean slave girl, signifies that she is openly admitting that she is sexually attracted to, and cares for, her particular Master. However, it is also lumped into the category of ways in which a slave can inspire the sexual attentions of her Master.

   "The talender, fixed in her hair, is a slave girl's wordless confession, which, commonly, she dares not speak, that she cares for her Master."

--p.65, Hunters of Gor (submitted by sarah/raina`)

     As the quote above indicates, the wearing of a talender represents the willing submission and declaration of love by a slave for her Master. We are often told in the books that the talender itself, a delicate, yellow-petalled flower, is regarded by Goreans to be representative of the emotion of love. Free women often wear a garland of such during the ceremony of companionship, or at family celebrations. We are also told that, due to its implications, the love which it represents includes, though is not restricted to, physical love, aka sexual intercourse. At one point we are told that free girls, recently captured, will often be presented wearing garlands of talenders wrapped about their chains and bonds, which is considered a rather vulgar "in-joke" and displays before all who see them the uses to which these imbonded maidens will soon be put. And on several occasions it is rather graphically implied that the wearing of the talender by a slave (who has no choice but to express her love in a physical manner) is, along with the symbolic act of feeding her Master a larma in a seductive fashion or tying a bondage-knot in her own hair, considered to be an admission by the slave of her willingness to cooperate in her sexual conquest by her Master.

     This seems to me merely another case in which a Gorean term can have several meanings, like the ubiquitous term "slave belly," which also has more than one meaning, depending upon the context in which it is used.

QUOTES OF INTEREST

   "Only a fool buys a woman clothed."

--Gorean saying, pg.76, Magicians of Gor

   "It is hard for a man to be great who does not have great enemies."

--p.183, Magicians of Gor

   "The men looked at one another. Transformed, it seemed they were to me then. I marveled that so much could have been done, with no more than a bit of food and a morsel of hope. How marvelous are men that they can grow so great upon so little! And yet have not kingdoms risen from the mire, and ubarates from the dust, on no more?"

--p.308, Vagabonds of Gor

   "He turned about and, with his weapons, strode from the camp. I followed him, at his heel, where a slave girl belongs."

--p.109, Slave Girl of Gor

   "The girl normally heels a right-handed Master on the left, that she not encumber the movements of the weapon hand."

--p.117, Magicians of Gor

   "The larma is luscious. It has a rather hard shell but the shell is brittle and easily broken. Within, the fleshy endocarp, the fruit, is delicious and very juicy. Sometimes, when a woman is referred to as a `larma,' it is suggested that her hard or frigid exterior conceals a rather different sort of interior, one likely to be quite delicious."

--p.437, Renegades of Gor

   "To know what it is to be a slave one must be in the collar, one must be a slave."

--p.286, Vagabonds of Gor

   "`Beauty and intelligence are all well and good,' I said, `but the best slave is she who loves most deeply.'"

--p.204, Magicians of Gor

   "Some people are afraid to open their eyes."

--p.461, Magicians of Gor

My Quote for the Week:

"The meaning of history lies not in the future, but in the moment."

--Tarl Cabot, p.230, Explorers of Gor

     The season is upon us, and the Holiday ticks closer with each passing Ehn. As the snow falls outside my window, and I sit here in my study, visions of sugarplums and such muchly dancing in my head, I find myself, for once, at a loss for words. Therefore I share this with you, in the hope that it finds you warm and well.

"Aloft on Gor my mount was gliding

South of Treve, near fabled Ar

The air was clear and good for riding;

My tarn shrieked as we ranged afar.

 

And I recalled long Ahn I'd spent

In places that our will made real;

And I remembered oaths and pledges

Sworn on stone and salt and steel.

 

And so I racked back on the four strap

Smiling as I ceased to roam,

And turned my tarn toward distant lights

Which ever beckon Tarnsmen home.

 

The year that fades was full of wonders,

And memories of days with you;

 

And they were good, and they were true."

     May the Priest Kings bless you with fortune and goodwill in the coming year, and ever after.

_Marcus_

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? If you have any of the above, have queries regarding the source books, or have a quote or brief passage from the books which you would share here, feel free to e-mail me through the link below.

Send e-mail to: By The Book

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