Codes of the Warrior 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
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."
--Marauders of Gor, page 10
"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"
--Marauders of Gor, page 10
Warriors, said in the codes, have a common Home Stone. Its name is battle.
--p.343, Renegades of Gor
"I am of the Warriors" , "I will take by the sword what women please me."
--p.348, Beasts of Gor
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.
--Tarnsman of Gor, page 27
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
--Nomads of Gor, page 8
"I am a warrior," said the young man proudly.
Kamchak signaled the archers, 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."
--p.315, Nomads of Gor
"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.
--p.304-305, Vagabonds of Gor
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, for she took unfair
advantage of the Warrior Codes of Gor.
--Tarnsman of Gor, page 109
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."....(text deleted)
..."Done!" he cried, fastening his lance in its saddle shealth and slipping
from the back of the tarlarion. "I challenge you for her!"
"The sword, " I said.
"Agreed," he said.
---Tarnsman of Gor, page 116
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's 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, nothing to do with cities or
Home Stones.
--Tarnsmen of Gor, page 119.
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."
--Raiders of Gor, page 310.
"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."
--Priest Kings of Gor, page 14
"Flee!" she said.
"I am of the Warriors," I said.
"But you may die," she said.
"That is acknowledged in the codes," I said.
"What are the codes?" she asked.
"They are nothing and, and everything," I said "They are a bit of noise, and
the steel of the heart. They are meaningless, and all significant. They are
the difference. Without the codes men would be Kurii."
"Kurii?" she asked.
"Beasts, such as ice beasts, and worse," I said. "Beasts such as the face you
saw in the sky."
"You need not keep the codes," she said.
"I once betrayed my codes," I said. "It is not my intention to do so again."
I looked at her. "One does not know, truly what it is to stand, until one has
fallen. Once one has fallen, then one knows, you see, what it is to stand."
"None would know know if you betrayed the codes," she said.
"I would know," I said, "and I am of the Warriors."
"What is it to be a warrior?" she asked.
"It is to keep the codes," I said. "You may think that to be a warrior is to
be large, or strong, and to be skilled with weapons, have a blade at your hip,
to know the grasp of the spear, to wear the scarlet, to know the fitting of
the iron helm upon one's countenance, but these are things are not truly
needful; they are not, truely what makes one man a warrior and another not.
Many men are strong, and large, and skilled with weapons. Any man might place
upon his brow the helm of iron. But it is not the scarlet, not the steel,
not the helm of iron which makes the warrior." She looked up at me. "It is
the codes," I said.
Ý"Abandon your codes," she said.
Ý"One does not speak to slaves of the codes," I said.
--p.340, Beasts of Gor
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 it.
It is not in the codes.
--p.446, Vagabonds of Gor
