<BGSOUND src="//www.angelfire.com/nf/Gorean//Mozart-Menuet.mp3" LOOP="INFINITE">

  CULTURE AND TRADTITIONS
           General   Men   Honor   Pity   Greetings    Applause   Superstition  

BROTHERHOOD
           Sword Brothers   Tahari    Torvaldsland    Red Savages    Wagon Peoples    Kurii

Go to top

CULTURE AND TRADITIONS

General

"I envy sometimes the simplicities of those of Earth, and those of Gor, who, creatures of their conditioning, are untroubled by such matters, but I would not be as either of them. If either should be correct it is for them no more than a lucky coincidence. They would have fallen into truth, but to take truth for granted is not to know it. Truth not won is not possessed. We are not entitled to truths for which we have not fought. Do we not learn to live by doing, as we learn to speak by speaking, to paint by painting, to build by building? The Gorean morality on the other hand is more one of inequalities, based on the assumption that individuals are not the same, but quite different in many ways. It might be said to be, though this is oversimple, a morality of masters. Guilt is almost unknown in Gorean morality, though shame and anger are not. Many Earth moralities encourage resignation and accommodation; Gorean morality is bent more toward conquest and defiance; many Earth moralities encourage tenderness, pity and gentleness, sweetness; Gorean morality encourages honor, courage, hardness and strength. To Gorean morality many Earth moralities might ask, 'Why so hard?" To these Earth moralities, the Gorean ethos might ask, "Why so soft?" I have sometimes thought that the Goreans might do well to learn something of tenderness, and, perhaps, that those of Earth might do well to learn something of hardness. But I do not know how to live. I have sought the answers, but I have not found them. The morality of slaves says, "You are equal to me; we are both the same"; the morality of masters says, "We are not equal; we are not the same; become equal to me; then we will be the same." The morality of slaves reduces all to bondage; the morality of masters encourages all to attain, if they can, the heights of freedom. I know of no prouder, more self-reliant, more magnificent creature than the free Gorean, male or female; they are often touchy, and viciously tempered, but they are seldom petty or small; moreover they do not hate and fear their bodies or their instincts; when they restrain themselves it is a victory over titanic forces; not the consequence of a slow metabolism; but sometimes they do not restrain themselves; they do not assume that their instincts and blood are enemies and spies, saboteurs in the house of themselves; they know them and welcome them as part of their persons; they are as little suspicious of them as the cat of its cruelty, or the lion of its hunger; their desire for vengeance, their will to speak out and defend themselves, their lust, they regard as intrinsically and gloriously a portion of themselves as their hearing or their thinking. Many Earth moralities make people little; the object of Gorean morality, for all its faults, is to make people free and great. These objectives are quite different it is clear to see. Accordingly, one would expect that the implementing moralities would, also, be considerably different. I sat in the darkness and thought on these things. There were no maps for me. I, Tarl Cabot, or Bosk of Part Kar, was torn between worlds. I did not know how to live. I was bitter. But the Goreans have a saying, which came to me in the darkness, in the hall. "Do not ask the stones or the trees how to live; they cannot tell you; they do not have tongues; do not ask the wise man how to live, for, if he knows, be will know he cannot tell you; if you would learn how to live do not ask the question; its answer is not in the question but in the answer, which is not in words; do not ask how to live, but, instead, proceed to do so." The refrain ran through my mind. "Do not ask how to live, but, proceed to do so."
"Marauders of Gor" page 7/10

"The culture is a setting which transforms and enhances the simplicities and rudenesses of nature, ennobling her and exalting her, lending her glory and articulation, refining her, fulfilling her, rather than a sewer and a trap, in which she is kept half-starved and chained. An example of this sort of thing is the institution of female slavery. It is clearly founded on, and expressive of, the order of nature, but what a wonder has civilization wrought here, elevating and transforming what is in effect a genetically coded biological datum, male dominance and female submission, into a complex, historically developed institution, with its hundreds of aspects and facets, legal, social and aesthetic. What a contrast is the beautiful, vended girl, branded and collared, desiring a master and trained to please one, kneeling before her purchaser and kissing his whip, with the brutish female, cowering under her master’s club at the back of his cave. And yet, of course, both women are owned, and completely. But the former, the slave girl, is owned with all the power and authority of law. If anything, she is owned even more completely than her primitive forebear. Civilization, as well as nature, collaborates in her bondage, sanctifying and confirming it."
"Guardsman of Gor" page 68

"You may judge and scorn the Goreans if you wish. Know as well, however, that they judge and scorn you. They fulfill themselves as you do not. Hate them for their pride and power. They will pity you for your shame and weakness."
"Beasts of Gor" page 11

"I sensed that in Gor there was a youth and an openess which had long been missing from my old world. In Gor I sensed an ambition, a freshness and hope, a sparkle, that perhaps not been felt of Earth since the Parthenon was new. Doubtless there is much on Gor to be deplored, but I cannot bring, myself to deplore it. Doubtless Gor is impatient, cruel and heartless, but yet, I think, too, it is innocent. It is like the lion, impatient, cruel, heartless and innocent. It is its nature. Gor was a strong-thewed world, a new world, a world in which men might again lift their heads to the sun and laugh, a world in which they might again, sensibly, begin long journeys. It was a world of which Homer might have sung, singing of the clashing of the metals of men and the sweetness of the wine-dark sea."
"Fighting Slave of Gor" page 89

"We met in the center of the room and embraced. I wept, and he did, too, without shame. I learned later that on this alien world a strong man may feel and express emotions, and that the hypocrisy of constraint is not honored on this planet as it is on mine."
"Tarnsman of Gor" page 21

"Tears are not unbecoming to the soldier," said Callimachus. "The soldier is a man of deep passions, and emotion. Many men cannot even understand his depths. Do not fear your currents and your powers. In the soldier are flowers and storms. Each is a part of him, and each is real. Accept both. Deny neither."
"Guardsman of Gor" page 238

"According to the Gorean way of thinking pity humiliates both he who pities and he who is pitied. According to the Gorean way, one may love but one may not pity."
"Tarnsman of Gor" page 31

"Pikes on the walls of Gorean cities are often surmounted with the remains of unwelcome guests. The Gorean is suspicious of the stranger, particularly in the vicinity of his native walls. Indeed, in Gorean the same word is used for both stranger and enemy.
As was wise I avoided cities in my long journey, though I passed several, for to enter a city without permission or without satisfactory reason is tantamount to a capital crime, and the punishment is usually a swift and brutal impalement. Pikes on the walls of Gorean cities are often surmounted with the remains of unwelcome guests. The Gorean is suspicious of the stranger, particularly in the vicinity of his native walls. Indeed, in Gorean the same word is used for both stranger and enemy.
There was reputedly one exception to this generally prevalent attitude of hostility towards the stranger, the city of Tharna, which, according to rumour, was willing to engage in what on Gor might be accounted the adventure of hospitality. There were many things supposedly strange about Tharna, among them that she was reportedly ruled by a queen, or Tatrix, and, reasonably enough in the circumstances, that the position of women in that city, in contrast with most Gorean custom, was one of privilege and opportunity."
"Outlaw of Gor" page 49

"The words for stranger and enemy in Gorean are the same."
"Nomads of Gor" page 9

Go to top

Men

"He was a man not untypical of this world, in his size and strength. But, too, even more typical of this world, one could read in his eyes the absence of vacillation and confusion, the undivided nature of his character, the firmness, simplicity and unilaterality of his will. He did not belong to a world in which men, though deceit and trickery, and lies, and insidious, hypocritical conditioning programs, had been bled and weakened. On this world, at least where women such as I were concerned, men had kept their power. They had not surrendered their manhood, their natural dominance. In his eyes, you see, I saw the firmness of his character, the strength of his will, which was as iron. In his eyes, in a sense, you see, I saw, unpretentious and untroubled, the severity, the simplicity, the strictness, the rigor, the uncompromising relentlessness of nature."
"Witness of Gor" page 143

"I thought of many of the Goreans I knew, with their chains and whips, and their naked, collared slaves, kneeling apprehensively before them. Those fellows, I thought, would probably not count as gentlemen. On the other hand, I knew Goreans, too, who would surely count as gentlemen and their slaves were treated in much the same way, if not more so. Their gentlemanliness tended to be manifested in the exquisite and exacting refinements expected of their females, for example, in costume, appearance, behavior, deportment and service, not in any weakness exhibited towards them. Indeed, many Gorean slave girls fear terribly that they might be purchased by a “gentleman”. Such can be very difficult to please."
"Players of Gor" page 360

"To be sure, I had been in Torvaldsland, and I felt that I knew as much as any fellow there about what to do with a woman at his feet. But then any true master anywhere knows as much. Indeed, although the men of Torvaldsland are fine and strong masters, they are generally rather direct and straightforward about what they are doing. In the south, in the cities, in my opinion, because of the richness in history and tradition, and the much greater cultural sophistication and complexity, a female is likely to find herself placed under a much stricter and more exacting bondage than in the north. To be sure, much depends on the girl and the master. Some girls thrive best with uncompromising barbarian masters who will put them on the oar or under the whip at the least sign of their being displeasing and others find that they did not truly understand helplessness and submission until they found their chain fastened to the couch ring of a gentleman."
"Mercenaries of Gor" page 347

"Strong men simply need women. This will never be understood by weak men. A strong man needs a woman at his feet, who is truly his. Anything else is less than his fulfillment. When a man has once eaten the meat of the gods he will never again chew on the straw of fools."
"Explorers of Gor" page 12

"In denying it we deny our own nature. In betraying it we betray no one but ourselves. The master will never be happy until he is a master. The slave will never be happy until she is a slave. It is what we are."
"Explorers of Gor" page 159

"We met in the center of the room and embraced. I wept, and he did, too, without shame. I learned later that on this alien world a strong man may feel and express emotions, and that the hypocrisy of constraint is not honored on this planet as it is on mine."
"Tarnsman of Gor" page 21

"“Tears are not unbecoming to the soldier,” said Callimachus. “The soldier is a man of deep passions, and emotion. Many men cannot even understand his depths. Do not fear your currents and your powers. In the soldier are flowers and storms. Each is a part of him, and each is real. Accept both. Deny neither.”"
"Guardsman of Gor" page 238

Go to top

Honor

"Honor is important to Goreans, in a way that those of Earth might find hard to understand; for example, those of Earth find it natural that men should go to war over matters of gold and riches, but not honor; the Gorean, contrariwise, is more willing to submit matters of honor to the adjudication of steel than he is matters of riches and gold; there is a simple explanation for this; honor is more important to him."
"Beasts of Gor" 42

"It is undeniable that some men, Goreans among them, experience their world in a rich, deep way that is quite foreign to that of the mechanistic mentality. The man of Earth thinks of the world as being essentially dead; the Gorean thinks of his world as being essentially alive; one utilizes the metaphor of the blind machine, the other the metaphor of the living being; doubtless reality exceeds all metaphors; in the face of reality doubtless all metaphors are small, and must fail; indeed, what are these metaphors but instruments of fragile straw with which we, pathetic, wondering animals, would scratch at the gates of obdurate, granite mystery; yet if we must choose our way in which to fail I do not think the Gorean has made a poor choice; his choice, it seems to me, is not inferior to that of the man of Earth. He cares for his world; it is his friend; he would not care to kill it."
"Beasts of Gor" page 30

"Indeed, there is a saying on Gor, a saying whose origin is lost in the past of this strange planet, that one who speaks of Home Stones should stand, for matters of honor are here involved, and honor is respected in the barbaric codes of Gor."
"Tarnman of Gor" page 27

"The Code of the Warrior is, in general, characterized by a rudimentary chivalry, emphasizing loyalty to Pride Chiefs and the Home Stone. It was harsh, but with a certain gallantry, a sense of honor that I could respect. A man could do worse then live by such a code."
"Tarnsmen of Gor" page 41

"The 97th Aphorism in the Codes I was taught, 'I said,`is in the form of a riddle:
`What is invisible but more beautiful than diamonds?'
`And the answer?' inquired Labenius.
`That which is silent but deafens thunder.'
The men regarded one another.
`And what is that?' asked Labenius.
`The same,' said I, `as that which depresses no scale but is weightier than gold.'
`And what is that?' asked Labenius.
`Honor,' I said.
`He is of the Warriors,' said a man."
"Vagabonds of Gor" page 304/5

"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.'"
"Vagabonds of Gor" page 468

"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.?"
"Magicians of Gor" page page 478

Go to top

Pity

"He threw down the ax, which rang on the stones of the road to Ko-ro-ba. Zosk sank down and sat cross-legged in the road, his gigantic frame shaken with sobs, his massive head buried in his hands, his thick, guttural voice moaning with distress.
At such a time a man may not be spoken to, for according to the Gorean way of thinking pity humiliates both he who pities and he who is pitied. According to the Gorean way, one may love but one may not pity."
"Outlaw of Gor" page 31

"Then I suddenly ceased to pity myself, and I was shocked,for looking into the eyes of the robed figure I saw human warmth in them,tears for me. It was pity, the forbidden emotion, and yet he could not restrain himself."
"Outlaw of Gor" page 43

Go to top

Greetings

"Tal,' I said, lifting my right arm, palm inward, in a common Gorean greeting."
"Outlaw of Gor" page 28

"Yet I had little doubt that the strong, large-handed men of Laura, sturdy in their work tunics, who stopped to regard us, would not appreciate the body of a slave girl, provided she is vital, and loves, and leaps helplessly to their touch. Tal, Kajirae!" cried one of the men, waving. Ute pressed against the bars, waving back at him. The men cheered."
"Captive of Gor" page 87

"The girls stood straight, proud under the gaze of a warrior. `Tal, Master,' said many of them, as I rode slowly by."
"Tribesmen of Gor" page 344

"I am Radish,' said Radish. 'I am Turnip,' said Turnip. 'I am Verr Tail,' said Verr Tail. Sandal Thong looked at me. 'I am Sandal Thong,' she said. 'Tal,' I said to them. 'Tal,' they said to me."
"Slave Girl of Gor" page 199

"He grinned a Tuchuck grin.'How are the Bosk?' He asked. 'As well as may be expected,' said Kamchak. 'Are the Quivas sharp?' 'One tries to keep them so,' said Kamchak. 'It is important to keep the axles of the wagons greased,' observed Kutaituchik. 'Yes,' said Kamchak, 'I believe so.' Kutaituchik suddenly reached out and he and Kamchak, laughing, clasped hands."
"Nomads of Gor" page 44

Go to top

Applause

"There was some polite striking of the left shoulder with the right hand in the room, which is a common Gorean applause, though not of the warriors, who clash weapons."
"Raiders of Gor" page 177

"There was Gorean applause in the room, the striking of the right palm on the left shoulder."
"Rogue of Gor" page 13

Go to top

Superstition

"Then, soberly, though I acknowledged it as a superstition, I performed the Gorean ritual of looking into the blood. With my cupped hands I drank a mouthful of blood, and then, holding another in my hands, I waited for the next flash of lightning.
One looks into the blood in one's cupped hands. It is said that if one sees one's visage black and wasted one will die of disease, if one sees oneself torn and scarlet one will die in battle, if one sees oneself old and white haired, one will die in peace and leave children."
"Outlaw of Gor" page 38

"I went to fetch a knife from my weapons. They lay beside and behind the couch. I shared bits of the heart of the sleen with my men, and together, cupping our hands, we drank of its blood in a ritual of sleen hunters.
"Bertram of Lydius has fled," cried Publius, the kitchen Master.
I had thought this might be true.
I had looked into the blood, cupped in my hands. It is said that if one sees oneself black and wasted in the blood, one will perish of disease; if one sees oneself torn and bloody, one will perish in battle; if one sees oneself old and gray, one will die in peace and leave children.
But the sleen did not speak to me.
I had looked into the blood, cupped in my hands, but had seen nothing, only the blood of a beast. It did not choose to speak to me, or could not. I rose to my feet.
I did not think I would look again into the blood of a sleen. I would rather look into the eyes of men."
"Beasts of Gor" page 13

"It is said that only the heart of the mountain larl brings more luck than that of the vicious and cunning sleen. The raw meat, hot with the blood of the animal, nourished me, and I crouched beside my kill on the road to Ko-ro-ba, another predator among predators."
"Outlaw of Gor" page 37

"Not only does the flesh of the bosk and the milk of its cows furnish the Wagon Peoples with food and drink, but its hides cover the domelike wagons in which they dwell; its tanned and sewn skins cover their bodies; the leather of its hump is used for their shields; its sinews forms their thread; its bones and horns are split and tooled into implements of a hundred sorts, from awls, punches and spoons to drinking flagons and weapon tips; its hoofs are used for glues; its oils are used to grease their bodies against the cold. Even the dung of the bosk finds its uses on the treeless prairies, being dried and used for fuel. The bosk is said to be the Mother of the Wagon Peoples, and they reverence it as such. The man who kills one foolishly is strangled in thongs or suffocated in the hide of the animal he slew; if, for any reason, the man should kill a bosk cow with unborn young he is staked out, alive, in the path of the herd, and the march of the Wagon Peoples takes its way over him."
"Nomads of Gor" page 5

Go to top

BROTHERHOOD

Sword Brothers

"Do not harm him," said Kazrak. "He is my sword brother, Tarl of Bristol." Kazrak's remark was in accord with the strange warrior codes of Gor, codes which were as natural to him as the air he breathed, and codes which I, in the Chamber of the Council of Ko-ro-ba, had sworn to uphold. One who has shed your blood, or whose blood you have shed, becomes your sword brother, unless you formally repudiate the blood on your weapons. It is part of the kinship of Gorean warriors regardless of what city it is to which they owe their allegiance. It is a matter of caste, an expression of respect for those who share their station and profession, having nothing to do with cities or Home Stones."
"Tarnsman of Gor" page 119

Go to top

Tahari

"Ride Free," he said.
"I will," I said.
"I can tech you nothing more," he said.
I was silent.
"Let there be salt between us," he said.
"Let there be salt between us," I said.
He placed salt from the small dish on the back of his right wrist. He looked at me. His eyes were narrow.
"I trust," said he, "you have not made jest of me."
"No," I said.
"In your hand," he said, "steel is live, like a bird."
The judge nodded assent. The boy's eyes shone. He stood back.
"I have never seen this, to this extent, in another man." He looked at me. "Who are you?" he asked.
I placed salt on the back of my right wrist. "One who shares salt with you," I said.
"It is enough," he said.
I touched my tongue to the salt in the sweat of his right wrist, and he touched his tongue to the salt on my right wrist.
"We have shared salt," he said.
"Tribesman of Gor" page 60

Go to top

Torvaldsland

"Though the hall of Ivar Forkbeard was built only of turf and stone, and though he himself was outlaw, he had met me at its door, after I had been bidden wait outside, in his finest garments of scarlet and gold, and carrying a bowl of water and a towel. "Welcome to the hall of Ivar Forkbeard," he had said. I had washed my hands and face in the bowl, held by the master of the house himself, and dried myself on the towel. Then invited within I had been seated across from him in the place of honor."
"Marauders of Gor" page 57 “Friend,” he had said.
“Friend,” I had said.
We had then tasted salt, each from the back of the wrist of the other.
"Marauders of Gor" page 70

Go to top

Red Savages

"Cuwignaka's knife moved on his own forearm, and then on mine, and then on Hci's. (...)
Cuwignaka held his arm to mine, and then I held my arm to that of Hci, and then Hci, in turn, held his arm to that of Cuwignaka. Thus was the circle of blood closed.
"It is done," said Cuwignaka.
"Brothers," I said.
"Brothers," said Hci.
"Brothers," said Cuwignaka.
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 475

Go to top

Wagon Peoples

I went to him and set the point of the Gorean short sword at his heart. He did not flinch.
"I am Tarl Cabot," I said. "I come in peace."
I thrust the blade back in the scabbard. For a moment the Tuchuk seemed stunned. He stared at me, disbelievingly, and then, suddenly, he threw back his head and laughed until tears streamed down his face. He doubled over and pounding on his knees with his fist. Then he straightened up and wiped his face with the back of his hand. I shrugged. Suddenly the Tuchuk bent to the soil and picked up a handful of dirt and grass, the land on which the bosk graze, the land which is the land of the Tuchuks, and this dirt and this grass he thrust in my hands and I held it. The warrior grinned and put his hands over mine so that our hands together held the dirt and the grass, and were together clasped on it.
"Yes," said the warrior, "come in peace to the Land of the Wagon Peoples."
"Nomads of Gor" page 26

“What,” I asked Kamchak, “would you do if you thought the message were truly from Priest-Kings?”
“Nothing,” said Kamchak, gravely.
“You would risk,” I asked, “the herds the wagons the peoples?” Both Kamchak and I knew that Priest-Kings were not lightly to be disobeyed. Their vengeance could extend to the total and complete annihilation of cities. Indeed their power, as I knew, was sufficient to destroy planets.
“Yes,” said Kamchak.
“Why?” I asked.
He looked at me and smiled. “Because,” said he, “we have together held grass and earth.”
"Nomads of Gor" page 52

"'He is a stranger,' she said. 'He should be slain!' Kamchak grinned up at her. 'He has held with me dirt and earth,' he said."
"Nomads of Gor" page 32


"'You would risk,' I asked, 'the herds- the wagons- the peoples?' ' Yes,' said Kamchak. 'Why?' I asked. He looked at me and smiled.'Because,' said he, 'we have together held grass and earth.'
"Nomads of Gor" page 52

Go to top

Kurii

"He might slay you, instantly, if he saw you," said Samos.
"It is true he is an enemy," I said. "That is a risk I must take." (...)
"How is it that you could even think of doing this?" he asked.
"Zarendargar may need my assistance," I said. "I may be able to aid him."
"But why, why?" he asked. (...)
I shrugged. "Once," I said, "we shared paga."
"Savages of Gor" pages 69/71

Go to top

Counter