TRIDENT: The three-pronged spearing fork used by fishermen and sailors of the islands of Gor. Can be utilized both as a thrusting weapon and as a throwing weapon. It is also used, in conjunction with a hooked net, in various gladiatorial arenas throughout Gor. (rentiri) It is briefly described as being approximately seven feet in overall length, with prongs of 10" inches or more. Often used with a line attached, for retrieval should it be thrown. This weapon is described in book #6, Raiders of Gor.
KNIVES AND DAGGERS
DAGGERS: Daggers take many forms, depending upon the needs and whims of their users, and such weapons are the most common form of side-arm used on Gor. Daggers are worn openly in a belt-sheath or concealed beneath one's clothing, often strapped to the wrist beneath the owner's sleeve, tucked into the collar behind the neck, or hidden in a boot. Used by many freewomen as a personal means of self-defense. Examples of these weapons can be found in every book of the series.
QUIVA: A narrow double-edged blade of between 9 and 12 inches in length mounted on a shaped handle of wood, bone, or horn. It is honed to razor sharpness, and its blade tapers to a needle point. Designed for use primarily as a throwing knife, the quiva is also perfectly functional as a hand weapon and general utility knife. It is mostly used by the nomadic Wagon Peoples of the southern hemisphere, who will carry matched sets of seven in special sheaths attached to their kailla saddles. First described in book #4, Nomads of Gor.
KILLING KNIFE: A throwing knife, used by the Caste of Assassins. It is much smaller than the quiva, approximately six to eight inches in length, and its blade is tapered on only one side. Sometimes used in conjunction with poison, though trained Assassins typically disdain the use of poison. It is rarely used in hand-to-hand combat, designed primarily to be thrown at the body of an unsuspecting victim. Described in book #5, Assassin of Gor.
AXES
BATTLE AXE (Torvaldslander): This weapon is described as a single-bladed axe of steel, with a blade of anywhere from 8 to 14 inches in width, and is mounted on a thick wooden handle usually has a wrist thong attached to the end the handle, which enables it to be more easily retained during combat. This weapon first appears in the series in book #8, Marauders of Gor.
GREAT AXE ( Torvaldslander): This weapon is similar to the Torvaldslander Battle Axe, except it is much larger, with a handle up to four feet in length. The axe blade is also much larger, and this weapon is used two-handed. Occasionally these axes will be double-headed. This weapon makes its first appearance in the series in book #8, Marauders of Gor
BOWS
GREAT (Peasant) BOW:A non - recurved long bow made from the wood of the ka-la-na tree or sometimes of temwood. Unstrung it is over six feet in length, and can require a pull of up to 120 lbs. The bowstring itself is usually made of hemp or sinew lashed with silk thread. The arrows of the bow are temwood, and fletched with the feathers of the vosk gull.
Each such arrow is approximately three feet in length, and can be tipped with several different types of arrowheads; of these, the flight tip (a long narrow three-sided metal spike designed for extreme penetration) and the sheaf tip (a wide double or triple edged blade designed to inflict maximum tissue damage upon impact) are the most common.
It is commonly carried slung or strapped over the shoulder of the archer when not in use, and is accompanied by a belt or shoulder quiver containing forty (or more) arrows. Its use requires the archer to wear a bracer of thick leather upon the forearm of his bowarm, and to use a archer's glove or leather finger tab to protect his hands and arm from the string when fired. This bow makes its first appearance in book #1, Tarnsman of Gor, and appears regularly thereafter.
SHORT BOW: This re-curved bow is much smaller in size than the great bow, and is better suited for use in close spaces or from the back of a kailla, tharlarion or tarn. It is often carved from a single, flexible piece of tem wood or ka-la-na wood, though such peoples as the Wagon Peoples and the Red Savages craft short bows of layered wood and horn, which gives such bows much greater strength and durability. The arrows used by the short bow are also much shorter than those employed by the great bow. First mentioned in book #1, Tarnsman of Gor, further described in books #4 and #7, and seen throughout the series afterward.
CROSSBOW: A standard infantry weapon of Gor. It consists of a heavy, flexible bow of tempered steel, 18" across (when drawn), mounted on a heavy wooden stock about two feet long, with a trigger mechanism built into the shaped handle. It can use several types arrows (quarrels) of spiked, smooth tipped or broad bladed quarrels, striking with enough force to penetrate wooden walls, doors or human bodies with relative ease.
It has an effective range of approximately 150 yards. Slow to reload, it is commonly redrawn through use of a "goat's-foot" hook or a cranequin (bow crank). Quarrels, or "bolts," are carried by the user in a belt-case or quiver. First appears in book #1, Tarnsman of Gor, and is afterwards seen often throughout the series.