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Codes of the Warriors
"The Code of the warriors
was, in general, characterized by a rudimentary chivalry, emphasizing loyalty to Pride
Chiefs and the Home Stone. It is harsh , but with a certain gallantry, a sense of honor
that I could respect. A man could do worse than live by such a code"
~Tarnsman of Gor, page 41~
"Let none who are not of the scarlet caste know of these things. The Codes are as the dust of diamonds in a hidden vault, which, exposed to the winds, will be scattered and trodden beneath the sandals of men and the hooves of beasts, worthless forevermore."
Living By the
Sword:
"In the codes of the warriors, there is a saying; "Be strong, and do as you will. The
swords of others will set you your limits."
"Within the circle of each man's sword," say the codes of the warrior,
"therein is each man a Ubar"
"Steel is the coinage of the warrior,"
say the codes, "With it he purchases what pleases him"
"Warriors, it is said in the codes, have a common Home Stone. Its name is
battle."
"I am of the Warriors," I said. "I will take by the sword what women please
me."
"What is it, Bran Loort, that separates men from sleen and larls?" asked Thurnus.
"I do not know," said Bran Loort.
"It is the codes," said Thurnus.
"The codes are meaningless noises, taught to boys," said Bran Loort.
"The codes are the wall," said Thurnus.
"I do not understand," said Bran Loort.
"It is the codes which separate men from sleen and larls," said Thurnus.
"They are the difference. They are the wall."
Honor:
"Indeed, there is a saying on Gor, a saying whose origin is lost in the past of this
strange planet, that one who speak of Home Stones should stand, for matters of honor are
here involved, and honor is respected in the barbaric codes of Gor."
"If it turned out badly, what I did, I would have no defense other than I did what I
did for my friend-for him- and for his brave kind, once hated enemies, whom I had now
learned to know and respect. There is no loss of honor in failing to achieve such a task,
I told myself. It is worthy of a warrior of the caste of Warriors, a swordsman of the high
city of Ko-ro-ba, the Towers of the Morning"
"I am a warrior," said the young man proudly. Kamchak signaled the archers and
they came forward, their arrows trained on the young man. He then threw, one after
another, a dozen bags of gold to the floor. "Save your gold, Tuchuk sleen," said
the young man. "I am a warrior and I know my codes."
"Are you of the Warriors?" asked Labenius.
"Yes," I said.
"Hear," said Labenius to his men. "He is of the Warriors."
"He says he is," said a fellow, glumly.
"What is the 97th Aphorism in the Codes?" inquired Labenius.
"My scrolls may not be those of Ar," I said. To be sure, the scrolls should be,
at least among the high cities, in virtue of conventions held at the Sardar Fairs,
particularly the Fair of En'Kara, much in agreement.
"Will you speak?" asked Labenius.
"Remove the female," I said.
"He is a Warrior," said one of the men.
One of the men lifted the bound Ina in his arms, one hand behind the back of her knees,
and the other behind her back, and carried her from where we were gathered. In a few
moments he returned. "The female is now out of earshot?" inquired Labenius,
staring ahead.
"Yes," said the fellow, "and she will stay where I left her, on her back,
as I tied her hair about the base of a stout shrub." "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."
FreeWoman submission:
"I can force you to take me," she said. "How?" I asked. "Like
this, " she responded, kneeling before me, lowering her head and lifting her arms,
the wrists crossed. She laughed. "Now you must take me with you or slay me," she
said, "and I know you cannot slay me." I cursed her, for she took unfair
advantage of the Warrior Codes of Gor.
Taking of a slave from
another:
"Yield her or I will have my tharlarion trample you," he snapped, "or would
you prefer to be spitted on my lance?"
"You know the codes," I said evenly. "If you want her, you must challenge
for her and meet me with the weapon of my choice."....
"Done!" he cried, fastening his lance in its saddle sheath and slipping
from the back of the tarlarion. "I challenge you for her!"
"The sword, " I said.
"Agreed," he said.
Sword Brother:
"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 a part of the kinship of
Gorean warrior 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.
Honorable Death:
"We anticipated," said Samos, "that your humanity would assert itself, that
faced with a meaningless, ignominious death in the marshes, you would grovel and whine for
your life." In my heart I wept. "I did," I said. "You chose,"
said Samos, "as warriors have it, ignominious bondage over the freedom of honorable
death." There were tears in my eyes. "I dishonored my sword, my city. I betrayed
my codes."
"I am of the Caste of Warriors, and it is in our codes that the only death fit for a
man is that in battle, but I can no longer believe that this is true, for the man I met
once on the road to Ko-ro-ba died well, and taught me that all wisdom and truth does not
lie in my own codes."
"I had been so much a fool as to be sad. That is not the mood in which to enter
battle, even the battle which one knows one cannot win, even the ultimate battle in which
knows one is doomed to defeat. Do not be sad. Better to take the field with laughter, with
a joke, with a light heart, with a buoyant heart, or to go forward with sterness, or in
fury, or with hatred, or defiance, or calculation, but never with self pity, never with
sadness. Never such things, never them! The warrior does not kill himself or aid others in
the doing of it. It is not in the codes.
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