Brands and Branding

"I had little doubt that it would be the Tahari brand which, white hot, would be pressed into the thigh of the new slave, marking her thenceforth as merchandise. The contact surface of the iron would be formed into the Taharic character 'Kef,' which, in Taharic, is the initial letter of the expression 'Kajira,' the most common expression in Gorean for a female slave."

Book 1, Tribesmen of Gor, page 148



" 'Do you wish to mark her?' asked Hassan, 'Yes,' I said. I would place the mark on her left thigh, above that of the four bosk horns. It would be the common Gorean female slave mark, fitting for a low girl, such as she, one who had not been fully pleasing.
I held up the iron, white hot, for the girl's inspection.
'You will soon be branded, Girl,' I told her.
'Don't brand me!' she cried. 'Please don't brand me!' She wept.
Hassan regarded her with interest.
'We are now ready,' I told her.
She looked at me, then at the glowing, white-hot marking surface of the iron. She watched it with horror, as it approached her.
I held it poised at her thigh.
'Don't!' she cried. 'Don't!'
'You are now to be branded, Slave Girl,' I told her. 'No,' she screamed. Then I branded her. For five long ihn I held the iron, Pressing it in. I watched it sink in her thigh, smoking and crackling and hissing. It was a larger brand than the at of the four bosk horns; I made sure it marked her more deeply. We three, Hassan, I and the girl, smelled the marked, burned slave flesh of her. Then, swiftly, cleanly, I withdrew it. Her head was back. She was screaming and weeping. 'A perfect brand,' said Hassan. looking on. 'Perfect!' I was pleased, Such a brand would be envied by other girls. It would improve the sleek little animal's value.
I removed the locking device, and spun loose the twist handles, releasing her thigh. I freed her of the snap bracelets. I carried her, naked, branded, weeping, to the small cell where I had thrown her tiny garment, to be retrieved later. I put her down on the straw. Her throat was bare, for I had, the preceding night, the collar of Ibn Saran removed from her throat.
'Assume the posture of female submission,' I told her. She did so, kneeling back on her heels, her arms extended, wrists crossed, her head between them, down, She was weeping.
'Repeat after me,' I told her, ' "I, once Miss Elizabeth Cardwell, of the planet Earth-" '
'I, once Miss Elizabeth Cardwell of the planet Earth-' she said.
' "-herewith submit myself, completely and totally, in all things-" '
'-herewith submit myself, completely and totally, in all things-' she said.
' "-to him who is now known here as Hakim of Tor-" '
'-to him who is now known here a Hakim of Tor-' she said.
' "-his girl, his slave, an article of his property, his to do with as he pleases-" '
'-his girl, his slave, an article of his property, his to do with as he pleases,' she said.
Hassan handed me the collar, It was inscribed 'I am the property of Hakim of Tor'. I showed it to the girl. She could not read Taharic script. I read it to her. I put it about her neck. I snapped it shut.
' "I am yours, Master," ' I said to the girl.
She looked up at me, tears in her eyes, her neck in my locked collar. 'I am yours, Master,' she said. 'Congratulations on your slave!' said Hassan. 'She is lovely meat. Now I must attend to my own slave.' He laughed, and left.
The girl sank to the straw, and looked up at me. Her eyes were soft with tears, She whispered. 'I am yours now, Tarl.' she said. 'You own me, You truly own me.'
'What is your name?' I asked.
'What ever master wishes.' she whispered."

Book 1, Tarnsman of Gor, page 358



"The brand is to be distinguished from the collar, though both are a designation of slavery. The primary significance of the collar is that it identifies the master and his city. The collar of a given girl maybe be changed countless times, but the brand continues throughout to bespeak her status."

Book 2, Outlaw of Gor, page 187



--Tarl Cabot: --
"I have wondered upon occasion why brands are used on Gorean slaves. Surely Goreans have at their disposal means for indelibly but painlessly marking the human body. My conjecture, confirmed to some extent by the speculations of the Older Tarl, who had taught me the craft of arms in Ko-ro-ba years ago, is that the brand is used primarily, oddly enough, because of its reputed psychological effect.
In theory, if not in practice, when the girl finds herself branded like an animal, finds her fair skin marked by the iron of a master, she cannot fail, somehow, in the deepest levels of her thought, to regard herself as something which is owned, as mere property, as something belonging to the brute who has put the burning iron into her thigh.
Most simply, the brand is supposed to convince the gilr that she is truly owned; it is supposed to make her feel owned. When the iron is pulled away and she knows the pain and degradation and smells the odor of her burned flesh, she is supposed to tell herself, understanding its full and terrible import, I AM HIS.
Actually I suppose the effect depends greatly on the girl. In many girls I would suppose the brand has little effect besides contributing to their shame, their misery and humiliation. With other girls it might well increase their intractability, their hostility."

Book 2, Outlaw of Gor, page 189



"...but the sign of the four bask horns that of the Tuchuk standard; the brand of the four bosk horns, set in such a manner as to somewhat resemble the letter "H," is only about an inch high..."

Book 4, Nomads of Gor, page 62 ~才



"...the common Gorean brand [the kef], on the other hand, is usually an inch and a half to two inches high..."

Book 4, Nomads of Gor, page 62 ~才



"...the brand of four bosk horns, of course is also used to mark the bosk of the Tuchuks, but there, of course, it is much larger, forming roughtly a six-inch square;"

Book 4, Nomads of Gor, page 62 ~才



"The standard of the Kassars is that of a scarlet, three-weighted bola, which hangs from a lance; the symbolic representation of a bola, three circles joined at the center by lines, is used to mark their bosk and slaves; both Tenchika and Dina wore that brand; Kamchak had not decided to rebrand them, as is done with bosk; he thought, rightly, it would lower their value; also, I think he was pleaed to have slaves in his wagon who wore the brand of Kassars, for such might be taken as evidence of the superiority of Tuchuks to Kassars, that they had bested them and taken their slaves;"

Book 4, Nomads of Gor, page 106 ~才



"...the standard of the Kataii is a yellow bow, bound across a black lance; their brand is also that of a bow, facing to the left..."

Book 4, Nomads of Gor, page 106 ~才



"...the Paravaci standard is a large banner of jewels beaded on golden wires, forming the head and horns of a bosk its value is incalculable; the Paravaci brand is a symbolic representation of a bosk head, a semicircle resting on an inverted isosceles triangle."

Book 4, Nomads of Gor, page 106 ~才



" 'If a girl is already branded,' I said, casually, but frightened, 'she would not be again branded, would she?'
'Commonly not,' said Ena. 'Though sometimes, for some reason, the mark of Treve is pressed into her flesh.' "

Book 7, Captive of Gor, page 276 ~才



" 'Sometimes, too' she said, 'a girl may be branded as punishment, and to warn others against her.' I looked at her, puzzled.
'Penalty brands,' she said. 'They are tiny, but clearly visible. There are various such brands. There is one for lying and another for stealing.' "

Book 7, Captive of Gor pages 276 - 277 ~才



"Incised deeply, precisely, in that slim, lovely, now-bared thigh was a startling mark, beautiful, insolent, dramatically marking that beautiful thigh as that which it now could only be, that of a female slave.
'It is beautiful,' I whispered.
.....
She regarded the brand. 'It is the first letter, in cursive script,' she said, 'of the name of the city of Treve.'
'It is a beautiful mark,' I said.
She regarded the mark. 'It is attractive,' said she. She looked at me. Suddenly she posed as a slave girl.
I gasped.
'It enhances my beauty,' she said."

Book 7, Captive of Gor, page 277 ~才



"The man, placing heavy gloves on his hands, withdrew from the brazier a slave iron. Its tip was a figure some inch and a half high, the first letter in cursive script, in the Gorean alphabet, of the expression Kajira"

Book 8, Hunters of Gor page 51



"The brand used by Forkbeard is not uncommon in the north, though there is less uniformity in Torvaldsland on these matters than in the south, where the merchant caste, with its recommendations for standardization, is more powerful. All over Gor, of course, the slave girl is a familiar commodity. The brand used by the Forkbeard, found rather frequently in the north, consisted of a half circle, with, at its right tip, adjoining it, a steep, diagonal line. The half circle is about an inch and a quarter in width, and the diagonal line about an inch and a quarter in height. The brand is, like many, symbolic. In the north, the bond-maid is sometimes referred to as a woman whose belly lies beneath the sword."

Book 9, Marauders of Gor, page 87



"I had seen the design at the tip of the iron. It was a small flower, stylized; it was circular, about an inch and a half in diameter; it was not unlike a small rose; it was incredibly lovely and delicate."

Book 11, Slave Girl of Gor, page 52



"My own brand was the 'Dina;' the dina is a small lovely, multiply petaled flower, short-stemmed, and blooming in a turf of green leaves, usually on the slopes of hills, in the northern temperate zones of Gor; in its budding, though in few other ways, it resembles a rose; it is and exotic, alien flower; it is also spoken of, in the north, where it grows most frequently, as the slave flower; it was burned into my flesh; in the south, below the Gorean equador, where the flower is much more rare, it is prized more highly."

Book 11, Slave Girl of Gor, page 61



"How far from Earth, with its pollutions, its crowdings, its hypocrisy, seemd this world. I lightly with my fingertips, touched my brand, I winced. I would not much touch it, for a few days, for I wished its delicacy to heal perfectly. I wanted the brand to be perfect. No girl is so without vanity that she does not want her brand to be perfect. Even lipstick and eye shadow, which a girl may wash off and reapply, a girl wishes to be perfect; how much more so then the brand, which is always worn! The girl wishes a brand of which she can be proud. A good brand adds to a girl's sense of confidence, of comfort and security. Often, a girl's raiment is limited to brand and collar. Accordingly the brand is of considerable importance to her. Also, it is no secret on Gor, that a small and beautiful brand, well-placed, considerably enhances a girl's beauty. I tried to resent the brand, but I could not do so. It was too beautiful, and now too, it was too much a part of me. I kissed my fingertips and, gently pressed them to the petals of the slave flower which my master, yesterday evening, with a hot iron, against my will, had caused to blossom upon my thigh."

Book 11, Slave Girl of Gor, page 72



"Eta smiled. She pointed to her brand. 'Kan-lara,' she said."

Book 11, Slave Girl of Gor, page 80



"Her own brand was the customary Kajira brand, the initial letter of the cursive Gorean script, about an inch and a half high, and a half inch wide, of the expression 'Kajira,' the most common Gorean expression for a female slave. It was clearly visible on her thigh. The wisp of silk she wore made no pretense to cover it."

Book 11, Slave girl of Gor, page 253



" 'Where are we branded?' She said. 'A girl is commonly branded on the left or right thigh,' I said, 'sometimes on the lower left abdomen.'
'I am afraid to be branded,' she said.
'It does not hurt afterwards,' I said. 'It is only a mark to help keep track of you.'
'Really, Master?' she asked.
'Well,' I said, 'if the truth must be told, it does, considerably, enhance your beauty. Also it is sometimes not without its psychological effecct.'
'I can well imagine its psychological effect,' she said. She shuddered.
'It can help to impress upon a girl that she is a slave,' I admitted. "

Book 12, Beasts of Gor, page 229 ~才



" 'I have five brands,' said the metal worker, 'the common Kajira brand, the Dina, the Palm, the mark of Treve, the mark of Port Kar.' "

Book 13, Explorers of Gor, page 70



" 'Left thigh or right thigh?' he asked.
'Left thigh,' said Ulafi. Slave girls are commonly branded on the left thigh. Sometimes they are branded on the right thigh, or lower left abdomen."

Book 13, Explorers of Gor, page 71



"From the box he then took a small, curved knife and a tiny, cylindrical leather flask. I gritted my teeth, but made no sound. With the small knife he gashed my left thigh, making upon it a small, strange design. He then took a powder, orange in color, from the flask and rubbed it into the wound."

Book 13, Explorers of Gor, page 330



"I could, of course, examine your thighs, your lower left abdomen, your body generally," I said. The thighs and the lower left abdomen are the brand sites recommeded by Merchant Law. Masters, of course, may brand a girl wherever they please. She is theirs. Sometimes brands are placed on the left side of the neck, on the left calf, the interior of the left heel, and on the inside of the left forearm. The customary brand site, incidentally, is high on the left thigh. That is the site almost invariably utilized in marking Gorean kajirae."

Book 14, Fighting Slave of Gor, page 349 ~才



" 'Master!' laughed she who seemed to be a naked, collared slave, flinging her arms about my neck, pressing her lips fervently, deliciously to mine.
'Oh!' she cried, as my hands checked her thighs. She was truly a slave. The brand was on her left thigh, high, just under the hip. Sometimes free women, during the time of carnival, masquerading as slaves, run naked about the streets."

Book 20, Players of Gor, page 39



"I had now been branded, a small, graceful mark burned into my left thigh, high, under the hip. It had a vertical bar, a rather strict one, with two curling, frondlike extensions, rather near its base, as though in submission to it. It looked a little like a 'K'."

Book 22, Dancer of Gor, page 66



" '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.'"

Book 25, Vagabonds of Gor, page 188


Rituals and Ceremonies Page