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Money and Trade
Actually, fifty silver tarn disks was
an extremely high price, and indicated the girl was probably of high caste as
well as extremely beautiful. An ordinary girl, of low caste, comely but
untrained, might, depending on the market, sell for as little as five or as many
as thirty tarn disks.
---Outlaw of Gor, p 193
Currency
Money on Gor is only one
of the ways of payment used. Much of the Gorean economy, especially in non-urban
areas, relies on trade of various goods. Coinage is, much like on earth,
habitually specific to the area or City.
For example, a 'double tarn' is twice the weight of a 'tarn'. It seems there are usually eight tarsk bits in a copper tarsk, and that these are the result of cutting a circular coin in half, and then the halves in half, and then each of these halves in half. An analogy would be cutting the round, flat Gorean loaves of Sa-Tarna bread into eight pieces.
There are approximately something like
one hundred copper tarsks in a silver tarsk in many cities. Similarly, something
like ten silver tarsks would apparently be equivalent, depending on weights,
etc., to one gold piece, say, a single 'tarn'. Accordingly on this approach, the
equivalencies, very approximately and probably only for certain cities, would be
eight tarsk bits to the copper tarsk, one hundred copper tarsks to a silver
tarsk, and ten silver tarsks to a gold piece, a single tarn. On this approach,
there would be, literally, 8,000 tarsk bits in a single gold piece.
---Magicians of Gor, footnotes, p 469
The tarsk is a silver coin, worth forty
copper tarn disks.
--- Assassin of Gor, p 160
Using these particular quotes then, the basic unit being the copper tarsk bit.
The copper tarsk bit
Basic unit of currency.
The copper tarsk
Equivalent to 8 tarsk bits.
The copper tarn
Equivalent to 2 and a half copper tarsks or 20 copper tarsk bits.
Hup wildly thrust a small,
stubby, knobby hand into his pouch and hurled a coin, a copper tarn disk, to
Kuurus who caught it..
--- Assassin of Gor, p 13
The silver tarsk
Equivalent to 40 copper tarns, 100 copper tarsks or 800 copper tarsk bits.
Dumbfounded I reached in
my pouch and handed her a coin, a silver Tarsk.
---Assassin of Gor, p 760
The gold tarn
Equivalent to 10 silver tarks, 400 copper tarns, 1000 copper tarks or 8000
copper tarsk bits.
Without speaking, the man
took twenty pieces of gold, tarn disks of Ar, of double weight, and gave them to
Kuurus...
--- Assassin of Gor, p 4
As for the cost of things....
Five pieces of gold, in
its way, incidentally, is also a fortune on Gor. On could live, for example, in
many cities, although not in contemporary Ar, with its press on housing and
shortages of food, for years on such resources.
---Magicians of Gor, pp 468-469
...In many paga taverns,
one may have paga and food, and a girl for the alcove, if one wants for a single
copper tarsk. Dancers, to be sure, sometimes cost two.
---Renegades of Gor, pp 51-52
Actually, fifty silver
tarn disks was an extremely high price, and indicated the girl was probably of
high caste as well as extremely beautiful. An ordinary girl, of low caste,
comely but untrained, might, depending on the market, sell for as little as five
or as many as thirty tarn disks.
---Outlaw of Gor, p 193
A golden tarn disk was a
small fortune. It would buy one of the great birds themselves, or as many as
five slave girls.
---Tarnsman of Gor, p 191
Weapons
Of what value, really, is it to be able to bring down a running man with the great bow at two hundred yards, to throw the quiva into a two-hort circle at twenty paces, to wield a sword with an agility others might bring to the handling of a knife?
Of what use are such dreadful skills?
Then I reminded myself that such skills
are often of great use and that culture, with its glories of art, and music and
literature, can flourish only within the perimeters of their employments.
---Magicians of Gor, p 131
With thanks to Mark Traub, whose knowledge of weapons and their use has been invaluable to this project.
SWORDS
The common sword in the high cities is the gladius, or short sword. This is usually carried across the body on a shoulder strap, but, when danger threatens, it is slung over the left shoulder if the Assassin or Warrior is right-handed. In this way, the weapon drawn, the sheath and belt are cast away, in order for there to be less for an enemy to grasp. Seizing a scabbard, fixed on a tight belt, could be used to throw a man off balance.
...Similarly, from
tarnback, in the last few years, it has been discovered that a scimitar is
likely to be more effective than the short sword, which is most useful in close
combat on foot, for it has reach on a knife, and yet is so small, swift, wicked
and manageable that it can usually be used to find a way within, or behind, the
guard of a longer, heavier, less wieldy blade.
---John Norman, Letter to the Gorean Group, Sept 20th 2000
Short Sword
Short, wide blade 20 - 22 inches long, 2 - 31/2 inches wide. Modeled after the
Roman Gladius. Primarily a thrusting and hacking weapon. Very good in close,
able to punch through light shields and armour. A quick, deadly little sword
found primarily in the cities of Gor. The Alars use a similar weapon known as
the scramasax.
The Gorean Shortsword whether Gladius or Sacramasax is a quick efficieent weapon well suited to close-up, in your face, fighting. Small and light enough for a quick stab from behind a shield, yet heavy enough to do serious damage or block a blow by most other weapons though It should be noted that a heavy axe or sword would simply bat it out of the way, hardly slowing, if the fighter did not angle the shortsword and try to ride the larger weapon wide
In the bundle, wrapped
inside the tunic and cloak I found the shoulder belt, sheath and short sword of
the Goreans. I took the blade from its sheath. It was well balanced, vicious,
double-edged and about twenty to twenty-two inches in length.
---Outlaw of Gor, p 23
I supposed one of the
reasons for the short blade was that it could clear the sheath a fraction of a
second before a longer blade. Another advantage was that it could be moved with
greater swiftness than a longer blade. The primary advantage I supposed was that
it allowed the Gorean warrior to work close to his man. The brief reach of the
blade tended to be more than compensated for by the rapidity with which it might
be wielded and the ease with which it might work beneath the guard of a longer
weapon. If the swordsman with a longer weapon could not finish the fight in the
first thrust or two he was a dead man.
---Outlaw of Gor, page 23
I had again my sword, that
wine-tempered blade of fine, double-edged Gorean steel, carried even at the
siege of Ar, so long ago, with its scabbard
---Raiders of Gor, p 68
Sacramasax
The Alar version of the gladius (short sword)
He also carried among his
things the short stabbing sword, similar to the gladius, and doubtless related
to it, called by his people the sacramasax. It is much more useful on foot,
particularly in close combat.
---Mercenaries of Gor, p 66
Long Sword
They come in different sizes and lenghts, from the heavy sword of the
Torvalslander, to the long and heavy blade of the Alars, these fearsome weapons
have blades from 36 to 50 inches in length and yhough designed to be used two
handed, can be controlled by a large man with a single hand.
These swords with thier longer blades are indeed fearsome weapons. Nowhere as quick as the short sword, the greater reach though would allow a fighter to stand beyond the range of the common shortsword. It also would have the ability to chew through a shield or knock aside a smaller blade.
The term being a generic name used to describe any longer sword with a straight blade, usually sharpened on both sides which is primarily used with one hand. Through the years on Earth this sword evolved from being a simple tool for hacking to the epitome of the cut and thrust weapon though it appears that on Gor it has retained it's size and mass and not shrunk to the size of the sword most people envision.
He wore beneath his cloak
yellow wool, and a great belt of glistening black, with a gold buckle, to which
was attached a scabbard of oiled, black leather; in this scabbard was a sword, a
sword of Torvaldsland, a long sword, with a jeweled pommel, with double guard.
---Marauders of Gor, p 172
I had seen such men fight
before. Once the sheer weight of the attacker's blows had turned and driven,
interposed, his opponent's sword half through the man's own neck. But I did not
think the Forkbeard would weary. On his own ship he, not unoften, drew oar. He
accepted the driving blows, like iron thunderbolts, on his own blade, turning
them aside. But he struck little. Hilda, her hand before her mouth, eyes
frightened, watched this war of two so mighty combatants. Too, of course, the
weight of such blows, particularly with the long, heavy swords of Torvaldsland,
take their toll from the striking arm, as well as the fending arm.
---Marauders of Gor
Spatha
The Alar version of the long sword.
Besides the ax Alars are
fond of the Alar sword, a long, heavy, double-edged weapon.
--- Mercenaries of Gor, page 45
Too, he said, I purchased
this splendid sword. He unsheathed it and swung it about. He handled it lightly.
It nearly decapitated a passing wagoner. It was a long, cutting sword, of the
sort called spatha among the wagons. It is more useful than the gladius, from
the back of a tharlarion, because of its reach.
---Mercenaries of Gor, p 66
Scimitar
A curved sword with a medium blade 30 - 34 inches long, 1 1/2 - 2 inches
wide. This sword was designed to slice an opponent as the wielder galloped by,
hence the curve to the blade. Sometimes found with a partial second edge on the
backside. Not the best weapon for hand-to-hand combat. Found amongst the Desert
tribes on Gor.
A very difficult weapons to use, the odd balance and curved blade make thrusting exceptionally complicated. Unpopular among Warriors generally; it is regarded as being too long and clumsy a weapon for the close, sharp combat; and too light and short to replace an Axe or Longsword.
I observed the scimitar.
It was a wickedly curved blade. On such a blade, I knew, silk dropped, should
the blade be moved, would fall parted to the floor. Even a light stroke of such
a blade, falling across an arm, would drop through the flesh, leaving its
incised record, a quarter of an inch deep, in the bone beneath.
---Tribesmen of Gor
Ibn Saran, scimitar
poised, smiling. Then suddenly he cried, "Ho!" and leapt forward, the
blade, in rapid, diagonal figure-eight strokes, backhand upswept, shallowly
curved, blade turning, forehand descending, shallowly curved, tracing its razor
pattern. His right, booted foot stamped forward, his body turned to the left,
minimizing target, his head to the right, maximizing vision, his rear foot at
right angles to the attack line, maximizing leverage, assuring balance.
---Tribesmen of Gor, p 120
Saber
A thinner, lighter, longer and more delicate form of the Scimitar with
lesser curve to its blade. Mentioned in Nomads of Gor.
Again, like the scimitar and for the same reasons, a very difficult weapons to use.
I gather that the Wagon
Peoples, if they wanted sabers or regarded them as valuable, would be able to
acquire them, in spite of the fact that they have no metalworking of their own;
there might be some attempt to prevent them from falling into the hands of the
Wagon Peoples, but where there are gold and jewels, available merchants, in Ar
and elsewhere, would see that they were manufactured and reached the southern
plains. Most quivas, incidentally, are wrought in the smithies of Ar. The fact
that the saber is not a common weapon of Wagon Peoples is a reflection of the
style, nature and conditions of warfare to which they are accustomed, a matter
of choice on their part rather than the result of either ignorance or
technological limitation.
---Nomads of Gor, p 124
SPEARS
The prime infantry weapon
is the spear, but it is often used, like the Roman javelin, orpilum, to
penetrate a shield, thereby rendering the shield unwieldy or unmanageable. Some
warriors use the spear on tarnback, but the long tarn lance is a more
satisfactory weapon.
---John Norman, Letter to the Gorean Group, Sept 20th 2000
Gorean Spear
An ancient weapon that for some reason on Gor has retained the bronze head
and not gone to that of steel like other weapons. Originally used as a hunting
tool, it evolved into a powerful weapon of war, able to thrown or wielded with
pinpoint accuracy. Very popular with massed infantry troops as a way of dealing
with cavalry.
The spear was a typical
Gorean spear, about seven feet in height, heavy, stout, with a tapering bronze
head some eighteen inches in length. It is a terrible weapon and, abetted by the
somewhat lighter gravity of Gor, when cast with considerable force, can pierce a
shield at close quarters or bury its head a foot deep in solid wood. With this
weapon groups of men hunt even the larl in its native haunts in the Voltai
Range, that incredible pantherlike carnivore which may stand six to eight feet
high at the shoulder.
---Outlaw of Gor, p 21
The tarnsman commonly
carries, strapped to the saddle, a Gorean spear, a fearsome weapon, but
primarily a missile weapon, and one more adopted to infantry.
---Assassin of Gor, p 366
It had a shaft of seven
foot Gorean, a head of tapered bronze, some eighteen inches in length. At close
range it can pierce a southern shield, shatter its point through a seven-inch
beam.
---Marauders of Gor, p 210
Kailla Lance
The perfect weapon when one wants to unseat an opposing cavalryman or
terrorize ground troops. Though on Gor unlike earth the lance has retained it's
lightweight and suppleness most likely due to the fact that it is not used
against an armored foe. The kaiila lance gets its name from the simple fact that
it is to be used from kaiilaback, for hunting purposes, as well as war.
The lances of the Wagon
Peoples are not couched. They are carried in the right fist, easily, and are
flexible and light, used for thrusting, not the battering-ram effect of the
heavy lances of Europe's High Middle Ages. Needless to say, they an be almost as
swift and delicate in their address as a saber. The lances are black, cut from
the poles of young tem trees. They may be bent almost double, like finely
tempered steel, before they break. A loose loop of boskhide, wound twice about
the right fist, helps to retain the weapon in hand-to-hand combat. It is seldom
thrown.
---Nomads of Gor, p 15
The kaiila lance is used in hunting kailiauk as well as in mounted warfare. It is called the kaiila lance because it is designed to be used from kaiilaback. It is to be distinguished in particular from the longer, heavier tharlarion lance, designed for use from tharlarionback, and often used with a lance rest, and the smaller, thicker stabbing lances used by certain groups of pedestrian nomads. The kaiila lance takes, on the whole, thwo forms, the hunting lance and the war lance. Hunting lances are commonly longer, heavier and thicker than war lances. Too, they are often undecorated, save perhaps for a knot of the feathers of the yellow, long winged, sharp billed prairie fleer, or, as it is sometimes called, the maize bird, or corn bird, considered by the red savages to be generally the first bird to find food.
The point of the hunting lance is usually longer and narrower than that of the war lance, a function of the depth into which one must strike in order to find the heart of the kailiauk. The shaft of the kaiila lances are black, supple and strong; they are made of temwood, a wood much favored on Gor for this type of purpose. Staves for the lances are cut in the late winter, when sap is down. Such wood, in the long process osf smoking and drying over the lodge fire, which consumes several weeks, seasoning the wood and killing any insects which might remain in it, seldom splits or cracks, Similarly, old-growth wood, which is tougher, is preferred over the fresher, less dense first-growth, or newer-growth wood.
After drying the shafts are rubbed with
grease and straightened over the heat of a fire. Detailed trimming and shaping
is accomplished with a small knife. A rubbing with sandstone supplies a smooth
finish. The head, of metal, or of bone or stone, with sinew or rawhide, and also
sometimes with metal trade rivets, is then mounted on the lance. Lastly, grips,
and loops, and decorations, if desired, are added. The sinew or rawhide, before
being bound on the lance, are soaked with hot water. The heated water releases a
natural glue in these substances, and the water itsefl, of course, produses a
natural shrinking and contraction in drying. The mounting, thus, is extremely
solid and secure. The tarn lance, it might be mentioned, as is used by the red
savages who have mastered the tarn, is, in size and shape, very similar to the
kaiila lance. It differs primarily in being longer and more slender. These
lances are used in a great variety of ways, but the most common method is to
thrust one's wrist through the wrist loop, grasp the lance with the right hand,
and anchor it beneath the right arm. This maximizes balance, control and impact.
With the weight of a hurtling kaiila behind the thrust such a lance can be
thrust through the body of a kailiauk. To be sure, the skillfull hunter will
strike no more deeplythan necessary, and his trained kaiila will slow its pace
sufficiently to permit the kailiauk to draw its own body from the lance. This
permit the lance to be used again and again in the same hunt.
---Savages of Gor, pp 42-44
Tarn Lance
A longer, more slender version of the war lance, used, as its name would
indicate, from tarnback.
The tarn lance, it might
be mentioned, as is used by the red savages who have mastered the tarn, is, in
size and shape, very similar to the kaiila lance. It differs primarily in being
longer and more slender.
---Savages of Gor, p 44
Tharlarion Lance
A longer, heavier version of the war lance, used from tharlarionback.
It is to be distinguished
in particular from the longer, heavier tharlarion lance, designed for use from
tharlarionback, and often used with a lance rest, and the smaller, thicker
stabbing lances used by certain groups of pedestrian nomads.
---Savages of Gor, p 43
Harpoon
More of a tool than a weapon it is essentially a spear meant for hunting and
fishing. Barbed so that it will not pull out and usually secured with a line to
retrieve the catch. On Gor, in the hands of a warrior, it too becomes deadly.
Reference is made to two types of harpoons, the light harpoon and the long
harpoon, both apparently used at different stages of the hunt.
I grasped the long
harpoon. It was some eight feet in length, some two and a half inches in
diameter. Its major shaft was of wood, but it had a foreshaft of bone. In this
foreshaft was set the head of the harpoon, of bone, drilled, with a point of
sharpened slate. Through the drilled hole in the bone, some four inches below
the slate point and some four inches above the base of the head, was passed a
rawhide line, which lay coiled in the bottom of the boat. As the hole is drilled
the line, when it snaps taut, will turn the head of the harpoon in the wound,
anchoring it. Suddenly, not more than a dozen feet from the boat, driving
upward, rearing vertically, surging, expelling air in a great burst of noise,
shedding icy water, in a tangle of lines and blood, burst the towering,
cylindrical tonnage of the black Hunjer whale.
---Beasts of Gor
I picked up the beaded
throwing board and the light harpoon, and fitted the harpoon shaft into the
notch on the throwing board. The harpoon had a foreshaft of bone, with a bone .liead
and point. A light rawhide line, of twisted tabuk sinew, ran to the head. In a
flat. rounded tray directly before me, on the leather, there were coiled several
feet of this line. At my right, alongside the outer edge of the circular wooden
frame, bound with sinew, within which I sat, lay the long lance.
---Beasts of Gor
Trident
Again originally a tool for fishing and hunting animals which progressed to
hunting men and finally as gladiatorial weapons in ancient Rome. The Net and
Trident man usually plays the waiting game hoping to tangle his opponent in the
net before he strikes. As good as this system at first appears it becomes
readily obvious that the net and trident man is sadly lacking in any defensive
capabilities.
I could use some paga,
said he. He had purchased the net in the morning with a trident, the traditional
weapons of the fisherman of the western shore and the western islands.
---Raiders of Gor, pg 112
Another popular set of
weapons, as in the ancient ludi of Rome, is the net and trident. Usually those
most skilled with this set of weapons are from the shore and islands of distant,
gleaming Thassa, the sea, where they doubtless originally developed among
fisherman.
---Assassin of Gor
KNIVES
Dagger
Any one of thousands of styles of combat knives. Worn openly in a
belt-sheath or concealed beneath one's clothing, often strapped to the wrist
beneath the sleeve, tucked into the collar behind the neck, or hidden in a boot.
Used by many free women as a personal means of self-defense.
All men of Torvaldsland,
incidentally, even if otherwise unarmed, carry a knife at their master belt.
--- Marauders of Gor, p 50
At her waist she wore a
jeweled scabbard, protruding from which I saw the ornamented, twisted black of a
Turian dagger; Free Women in Torvaldsland commonly carry a knife
---Marauders of Gor, p 156
Quiva
A flat bladed double edged knife balanced for throwing, about a foot in
length, used with great skill by the Wagon Peoples, but also found throughout
Gor. commonly found strapped to a Rider's kaiila in a set of seven. The quiva of
the Wagon Peoples is a fast and efficient weapon, normaly thrown but also used
in hand to hand combat.
I was most fond perhaps,
of the balanced saddle knife, the quiva; it is about a foot in length, double
edged; it tapers to a daggerlike point.
---Nomads of Gor, p 67
the quiva itself is
regarded, on the whole, as more of a missile weapon than a hand knife
---Nomads of Gor, p 124
Most quivas, incidentally,
are wrought in the smithies of Ar.
---Nomads of Gor, p 124
in the saddle itself, on
the right side, indicating the rider must be right-handed, were the seven
sheaths for the almost legendary quivas, the balanced saddleknives of the
prairie.
---Nomads of Gor, p 11
Hook Knife
What we know of the hook knife, is that its blade is short, thick, rasor-sharp
and as the name indicates, curved. There is no description of the hook knife
supplied other than the fact that it is used in close, duel type combat.
Then the large man with
missing teeth seized Hup's hair and pulled up the head, to expose the throat,
holding in his right hand a small, thick, curved blade, the hook knife of Ar,
used sheathed in the sport of that name, but the knife was not now sheathed.
---Assassin of Gor
Panga
Bush knife of the jungle region of Schendi, used both as a weapon and as a
trail cutter. It is described as being sharp enough to slice through small trees
with ease.
The Pan ga is defined, by most dictionnaries of Earth, as a hacking tool, a broad sword made for cutting down heavy vegetation such as sugar cane or thick brush. The word Panga or Pan ga itself is of Swahili origin, and is synonympus to the Spanish word machete.
The results of our trading
had been two baskets of dried fish, a sack of meal and vegetables, a length of
bark cloth, plaited and pounded, from the pod tree, dyed red, a handful of
colored, wooden beads, and, most importantly, two pangas, two-foot-long, heavy,
curve-bladed bush knives.
---Explorers of Gor, 27:287
Saddle Knife See Quiva
Snow Knife
Large bone knife of the Red Hunters, used both as a weapon and building
tool.
I did as I was told, and
Imnak, with a large, curved, bone, saw-toothed knife, a snow knife, began to cut
at a nearby drift of snow.
---Beasts of Gor, 26:
He continued to cut blocks
of snow, though he now made no effort to place them in the walls. One normally
places such blocks from the inside. When the domed shelter is completed, as ours
was not, the last block is placed on the outside and the builder then goes
within, and, with the snow knife, trimming and shaping, slips it into place. A
hole is left for the passage of air and smoke. Imnak's walls were rough, and not
too well shaped. The snow knife suffices, when there is time, to shape the
dwelling. Chinks between blocks are filled with snow, as though it were mortar.
---Beasts of Gor, 26:
Sleen Knife
This would apear to be a huntsmen's knife, mentioned at the waist of Panther
girls and Hunters throughout the Northern Forest episodes of the Chronicles of
the Counter-Earth. There is reference to its use in carving symbols on tree bark
which would indicate a fine, sharp point.
They stopped only long
enough to lift aside some branches and take up the light spears, and bows and
arrows, which they had hidden there. Each girl wore, too, at her waist, a
sheathed sleen knife.
---Captive of Gor, 9:122
Tarn Knife
No specific description is given for this knife, which would apear to be
part of the Tarnsman's saddle pack gear.
I saw that he had been
given another knife, a tarn knife, of the sort carried by riders.
---Assassin of Gor, p 363
Throwing Knife
As the name indicates, this weapon is primarily used as a missile weapon,
thrown from any distance the arm can manage. It is also refered to as a 'killing
Knife', clearly placing it in a category other than the more commonly seen
hunting and utility tools.
It was a throwing knife,
of a sort used in Ar, much smaller than the southern quiva, and tapered on only
one side. It was a knife designed for killing.
---Assassin of Gor, 1:42
In Mip''s hand I saw a
small dagger, a throwing knife, of a sort manufactured in Ar; it was smaller
than the southern quiva; it was tapered on only one side.
"It is an interesting knife," I said.
"All Tarn Keepers carry a knife," said Mip, playing with the blade.
"This afternoon," I said, "at the races, I saw a rider cut the
safety straps and free himself from a falling bird."
"It was probably with such a knife as this," said Mip. He now held it
by the tip.
I felt the breeze pick up, moving past me, cool and fresh that summer evening.
"Are you skilled with such a knife?" I asked.
"Yes," said Mip. "I think so. I could hit the eye of a tarn at
thirty paces."
"You are skilled indeed," I said.
"Are you familiar with such knives?" asked Mip.
"Not particularly," I said. My body was apparently relaxed, but each
nerve was alive and ready. I knew he could throw the knife before I could reach
him, before I could hope to unsheath the sword at my side. I was keenly aware of
the height of the perch, the street far below. I heard two men hailing one
another below. The sound drifted up.
"Would you like to examine the knife?" asked Mip.
"Yes," I said. I tensed myself.
Mip tossed the knife underhanded to me, and I caught it. My heart had nearly
stopped beating.
I examined the knife, the balance of it, the hilt, the tapered blade.
---Assassin of Gor, 13:
Turf Knife
Sharp, shovel-like bladed tool of the Red Savages.
The turf knife is a
wooden-bladed, saw-edged, paddlelike tool. It is used to cut and saw sod and,
when the handle is held in the right hand and the blade is supported with the
left,it may be used, also, rather like a shovel, to move dirt.
Blood Brothers of Gor, 36:311-312
Ulo
Woman's knife of the Red Hunters.
The ulo, or woman's knife,
with its semicircular blade, customarily fixed in a wooden handle, is not well
suited to carving. It is better at cutting meat and slicing sinew. Also, carving
ivory and bone requires strength.
---Beasts of Gor, 20:262
Whip Knife
Said to be a weapon unique to Port Kar, the whip knife is described quite
simply, as a rather complex arrangement of blades set at the tips of the whip.
To my surprise I noted,
coiled at the side of his saddle, in four loops, was a whip knife, of the sort
common in Port Kar, a whip, but set into its final eighteen inches, arranged in
sets of four, twenty thin, narrow blades; the tips of whip knives differ; some
have a double-edged blade of about seven or eight inches at the tip; others have
a stunning lead, which fells the victim and permits him, half-conscious, to be
cut to pieces at the attacker''s leisure; the whip knife of Menicius, however,
held at its tip the double-edged blade, capable of cutting a throat at twelve
feet.
---Assassin of Gor, 22:
The two drunken seamen
were now cutting away, wildly, at one another, with whip knives. They fought in
the square of sand among the tables. The girl, who had danced there, she who had
worn the delicate vest and belt of chains and jewels, with shimmering metal
droplets attached, with the musicians, had withdrawn to one side. Men were
calling odds in betting.
The whip knife is a delicate weapon, and can be used with elegance, with
finesse; it is, as far as I know, unique to Port Kar.
---Raiders of Gor, 9:107
AXES and CLUBS
Cahnpi and War Clubs of
the Red Savages
This weapon consists of a shaped wooden handle up to two feet in length, capped
with a narrow hatchet-type blade comprised either of sharpened metal, shaped
stone or obsidian glass. Often carved with ceremonial inscriptions. Can be used
as a hand weapon, often in conjunction with a shield of dried rawhide over a
wood frame, or thrown as a missle weapon. It is gives a particularly vicious
attack.
There is, as well, description of a carved, shaped club of wood or bone, often mounted with a stone or metal head of some sort, about two or three feet in length and refered to as a 'war club'.
These two descriptions would essentially fit the descriptions given to us of weapons used by Native Americans, one sharp and clearly meant to cut, the other, used more as a club, its end being of a duller, heavier material.
The knife blades and long
nails are sometimes mounted into clubs. The blades, of course, may also be
fitted into carved handles of wood and bone.
Savages of Gor, p 145
The other drew back a
heavy club, the termination of which contained a heavy, wooden, ball-like knob.
They were preparing, apparently, to dash out my brains.
Savages of Gor, p 288
The word canhpi strangely ressembles, both in spelling and definition, the word cb'anpi, a weapon which is described as used by early South Americans.
From the Ecuador Ministry
of National Defense History reference guide :
The axe battle or kunkakuchuna cb'anpi, was used specially to cut the head of
the enemies killed in a combat (kunkaqta kuruni), it was a trophy. The handle
was made of hard wood and the leaf could be made of stone or metal (cooper or
bronze). The same axes, or other resemblance, were used habitually like
agricultural tools, carpentry, and in other activities.
The club, churns or cb'anpi, was a military weapon: it was used to strike the enemy in the hand-to-hand combat. It consisted in a heavy wood handle that in an end took fitted a heavy disc of polished stone or metal; the outer part of the disc could be circular or be starred. Sometimes several together discs in a same mace were combined.
At the left side of Hci's
face, at the chin, there was an irregular, jagged scar, some two inches in
length... ...It had been given to him by a Yellow Knife in mounted combat, the
result of a stroke by a long-handled, stone-bladed tomahawk, or canhpi.
---Blood Brothers of Gor, p 9
Francisca (Alar Ax)
This axe also known as a Francisca is the axe of the Danes, sometimes also
known as the bearded axe. Historically warriors liked to throw these as they
never bounced the same twice and would wreak havok upon the the lines of the
enemy.
Hurtha threw his things
into the wagon. Among them was the heavy, single bladed Alar was ax. In the
dialect of the Alars, if it is of interest, this particular type of ax is called
the francisca. Among those, too, who have learned to fear it, it is also often
referred to by that name.
---Mercenaries of Gor, 5:71
Hammer (War hammer
of Hunjer)
No description is offered. One can easily presume that as this is a Northern
weapon, it might be somewhat akin to Viking war hammers.
I had learned that the Kur
shield could be as devastating a weapon as the war hammer of Hunjer.
---Marauders of Gor, 15:
Kurii Ax
Big, ugly and mean, like the creatures that use them. This is the only two
headed axe on Gor, too large for a man to weild they are capable of incredible
damage. The axe of the Kurri is a gigantic weapon, too large to used even by the
huge men of Torvaldsland. It is easily capable of choping a man in half.
Behind the Kur, to one
side, stood two other Kurii. They, like the first, were fearsome creatures. Each
carried a wide, round shield, of iron, some four feet in diameter. Each, too,
carried a great, double-bladed iron ax, which, from blade tip to blade tip, was
some two feet in width. The handle of the ax was of carved, green needle wood,
round, some four inches in diameter. The axes were some seven or eight feet in
height.
---Marauders of Gor, p 171
Few men could as much as
draw their weapons.
---Marauders of Gor, p 206
His sword was drawn, but
it would prove of little efficacy against the great metal shields, the sweeping
axes of the Kurri. They could cut a man down before he could approach, even with
the long blade of the north.
---Marauders of Gor, p 207
Torvaldsland Ax
The axes most used by the Torvaldslanders are the same as those used by the
vikings, a single bladed axe with no back spike or blade. This weapon can be
weilded two handed or single handed if the man was strong enough. It has a
handle of 3 to 5 ft and a blade measuring up to 12 inches.
These axes are truely fearsome weapons, able to shred sheilds, armor and people with ease. The greater reach when teamed up with a large torvaldslander shield make for a superior fighting style, the only draw back being the somewhat slower speed when compared to a shortsword.
It had been he and his men
, who had freed Chenbar of Tyros, the sea slean, from a dungeon in Port Kar,
breaking through to him, shattering his chains from the walls with the blunt
hammerlike backs of their great , curved, single-bladed axes.
---Marauders of Gor, p 27
....Ivar Forkbeard, almost
seven feet in height, leaped to his feet, in his right hand clutching a great,
curved, single bladed ax of hardened iron.
---Marauders of Gor, p 39
There are many tricks in
the use of the ax; feints are often used, and short strokes; and the handle,
jabbing and punching; a full swing, of course, should it miss, exposes the
warrior; certain elementary stratagems might be mentioned; the following are
typical: it is pretended to have taken a full swing, even to the cry of the
kill, but the swing is held short and not followed through; the antagonist then,
if unwary, may rush forward, and be taken, the ax turned, off-guard, by the back
cut, from the left to right
---Marauders of Gor, p 101
The ax of Torvaldsland is
one of the most fearful of the weapons on Gor. If one can get behind the ax, of
course, one can meet it; but it is not easy to get behind the ax of one who
knows its use, he need only strike one blow; he is not likely to launch it until
it is assured of its target.
---Marauders of Gor, page 101
The spine, of course would
be immediately severed; moreover, part of the ax will, if the blow be powerful,
emerge from the abdomen. It takes, however, more than one blow to cut a body,
that of a man, in two. To strike more than twice, however, is regarded as
clumsiness.
---Marauders of Gor, p 104
Though the only book of the series which carries the reader to Torvaldsland repeatedly speaks of the Torvaldsland ax as a single bladed weapon, the description below clearly refers to a two bladed ax. An oversight of the author? Or is it simply that as the ax was the favored combat tool of these Northern giants, more than one type exists?
The other, sitting
cross-legged with him, was the broad-shouldered, blond giant from Torvaldsland
whom I had seen earlier. He wore a shaggy jacket. His hair was braided. His feet
and legs were bound in skins and cords. The large, curved, double-bladed,
long-handled ax lay beside him. On his large brown leather belt, confining the
long shaggy jacket he wore, which would have fallen to his knees, were carved
the luck signs of the north.
---Marauders of Gor, 3:
Trade Ax
Blunt backed ax which is seen used as a tool for driving pegs into the ground,
in the building of Red Savages dwellings.
A long-handled,
single-bladed ax was pressed into her hands. It was a trade ax. Its back was
blunted, for the driving of pegs, stakes and wedges.
---Blood Brothers of Gor, p 35
BOWS
The common peasant weapons are the long staff, as in the medieval quarterstaff and the "Peasant Bow," or Longbow, which earns them respect from all castes, even the Warriors.
The common missile weapon of the Assassins is the crossbow, which can remain set indefinitely, while waiting in ambush. It is also useful in fighting from room to room, when one may have to fire on an instant's awareness. Too, of course, it can be fired from the prone position and is easy to use behind defensive works. Crossbows are of either the hand-drawn or windlass variety.
The hand-drawn variety is most frequently used by the Assassins. Both have a stirruplike fixture before the bow. The weapon is lowered, and a foot placed in the stirrup, to hold the weapon in place, while the bow is drawn, by hand or windlass. The hand-drawn variety utilizes a wooden bow, and the windlass variety utilizes a steel bow. The windlass variety, with two handles, each turned by one hand, can draw a more powerful bow, because of the leverage involved and the ratchet-and-pawl arrangement. Both sorts can pierce most armor, the windlass variety at longer range. The hand-drawn variety, naturally, can be more quickly reloaded, but it lacks the range of the windlass variety.
The bolts or quarrels used
in the crossbow are short, say , ten inches in length, and may be of metal or
wood. The metal quarrels can be metal-finned. The arrows of the longbow, in
contrast, are generally long, a yard or more in length, slender, of wood, and
feathered. Tarnsmen, incidentally, when on tarnback, commonly use the
"cavalry bow," or "short bow." The prime advantage of this
bow is that it can clear the saddle, making it easier, for example, to fire
either to the left or right. One thinks of the dagger, of course, as the
prototypical weapon of the Assassin.
---John Norman, Letter to the Gorean Group, Sept 20th 2000
In some cities, Port Kar,
for example, the long bow is almost unknown. Similarly it is not widely known
even in Glorious Ar, the largest city of known Gor. It is reasonably well know
in Thentis, in the Mountains of Thentis, famed for her tarn flocks, and in
Ko-ro-ba, my city, the Towers of Morning. Cities vary. But generally the bow is
little known. Small straight bows, of course, not the powerful long bow, are, on
the other hand, reasonably common on Gor, and these are often used for hunting
light game, such as the brush-maned, three-toed Qualae, the yellow-pelted,
sing-horned Tabuk, and runaway slaves
---Raiders of Gor, p 2
Long Bow - The Great
Peasant Bow
The little known, yet much respected weapon of the Peasants, described as
difficult to use but vicious and extremely powerfull in long range situations,
in the hands of those who have mastered it. It is the weapon that leads Rencers
to independance from Port Kar.
And there was, too, the
great bow, of yellow, supple Ka-la-na, tipped with notched bosk horn, with its
cord of hemp, whipped with silk, and the roll of sheaf and flight arrows. I
counted the arrows. There were seventy arrows, fifty of which were sheaf arrows,
twenty flight arrows.
---Raiders of Gor, p 68
The bow is not commonly favored by Gorean warriors, but all must respect it. It is the height of a tall man; its back, away from the bowman, is flat; its belly, facing the bowman, is half-rounded; it is something like an inch and a half wide and an inch and a quarter thick at the center; it has considerable force and requires considerable strength to draw; many men, incidentally, even some warriors, cannot draw the bow; nine of its arrows can be fired aloft before the first falls again to the earth; at point-blank range it can be fired completely through a four-inch beam; at two hundred yards it can pin a man to a wall; at four hundred yards it can kill the huge, shambling bosk; its rate of fire is nineteen arrows in a Gorean Ehn, about eighty Earth seconds; and a skilled bowman, but not an extraordinary one, is expected to be able to place these nineteen arrows in one Ehn into a target, the size of a man, each a hit, at a range of some two hundred and fifty yards.
Yet, as a weapon, it has
serious disadvantages, and on Gor the crossbow, inferior in accuracy, range and
rate of fire, with its heavy cable and its leaves of steel, tends to be
generally favored. The long bow cannot well be used except in a standing, or at
least kneeling, position, thus making more of a target of the archer; the long
bow is difficult to use from the saddle; it is impractical in close quarters, as
in defensive warfare or in fighting from room to room; and it cannot be kept
set, loaded like a firearm, as can the crossbow
---Raiders of Gor, p 2
Crossbow
The common missile weapon of the Assassins, the crossbow comes in either the
hand-drawn or windlass variety.
The hand-drawn variety is
most frequently used by the Assassins. Both have a stirruplike fixture before
the bow. The weapon is lowered, and a foot placed in the stirrup, to hold the
weapon in place, while the bow is drawn, by hand or windlass. The hand-drawn
variety utilizes a wooden bow, and the windlass variety utilizes a steel bow.
The windlass variety, with two handles, each turned by one hand, can draw a more
powerful bow, because of the leverage involved and the ratchet-and-pawl
arrangement. Both sorts can pierce most armor, the windlass variety at longer
range. The hand-drawn variety, naturally, can be more quickly reloaded, but it
lacks the range of the windlass variety.
---John Norman, Letter to the Gorean Group, Sept 20th 2000
and on Gor the crossbow,
inferior in accuracy, range and rate of fire, with its heavy cable and its
leaves of steel, tends to be generally favored.
---Raiders of Gor, p 2
the crossbow is the
assassin's weapon, par excellence; further, it might be mentioned that, although
it takes longer to set the crossbow, a weaker man, with, say, his belt claw or
his winding gear, can certainly manage to do so; accordingly, for every man
capable of drawing a warrior's long bow there will be an indefinite number who
can use the crossbow; lastly, at shorter distances, the crossbow requires much
less skill for accuracy than the long bow.
---Raiders of Gor, p 2
Hornbow of the Inuits
A small bow built of layered pieces of tabuk horn bound with sinew. It is a
weapon of the Red Hunters, native of Gor's Polar bassin.
About his shoulder he had
slung some coils of braided rope, fashioned from twisted sleen hide, and, in his
hand, he carried a sack and a bundle of tied furs; at his back was a quiver
containing arrows, and a short bow of sinew-bound, layered horn.
---Beasts of Gor, 3:
The horn bow,
unfortunately, formed of pieces of split tabuk horn, bound with sinew, is not
effective beyond some thirty yards, One must, thus, be almost upon the animal
before loosing the shaft. Wood is scarce in the north and the peasant bow, or
longbow, is not known there. More importantly, in the colder weather, the long
bow would freeze and snap, unable to bear the stress of being drawn to its
customary extent.
---Beasts of Gor, 13:
Hornbow of Wagon People
A small bow built of layered pieces of bosk horn bound and reinforced with metal
and leather, banded with metal at seven points, including the grip. It is a
weapon of the Wagon People, native of Gor's Southern Plains.
I learned as well the rope
and bow. The bow, of course, small, for use from the saddle, lacks the range and
power of the Gorean longbow or crossbow; still, at close range, with
considerable force, firing rapidly, arrow after arrow, it is a fearsome weapon.
---Nomads of Gor, p 66
His lance remained on his
back, but he carried in his right hand the small, powerful horn bow of the Wagon
Peoples an attached to his saddle was a lacquered, narrow, rectangular quiver
containing as many as forty arrows.
---Nomads of Gor, p 11
An attendant, from beneath his cloak, threw to the saddle the tiny, swift bow of Tuchuks, the narrow, rectangular quiver, with its forty arrows.
Not hurrying I strung the bow. It is small, double-curved, about four feet in length, built up of layers of bosk horn, bound and reinforced with metal and leather; it is banded with metal at seven points, including the grip, metal obtained from Turia in half-inch rolled strips; the leather is applied diagonally, in two-inch strips, except that, horizontally, it covers the entire grip; the bow lacks the range of both the longbow and the crossbow, but, at close range, firing rapidly, it can be a devastating weapon; its small size, like the crossbow, permits it to clear the saddle, shifting from the left to the right, or to the rear, with equal ease, this providing an advantage lacked by the more powerful but larger longbow; but, like the longbow, and unlike the crossbow, which requires strength and time to reset, it is capable of a considerable volume of fire; a Tuchuk warrior can, in swirling combat, from the saddle of the running kaiila, accurately fire twenty arrows, drawn to the point, in half an Ehn.
The small bow,
interestingly, has never been used among tarnsmen; perhaps this is because the
kaiila is almost unknown above the equator, and the lesson of kaiilaback
fighting has not been much available to them; perhaps it is because of
tradition, which weighs heavily in Gorean life, and even in military affairs;
for example, the phalanx was abandoned only after more than a century of
attempts to preserve and improve it; or perhaps the reason is that range is
commonly more important to tarnsmen in flight than maneuverability of the bow. I
suspect, however, that the truest reason is that tarnsmen, never having learned
respect for the small bow, tend to despise such a weapon, regarding it as
unworthy a Warrior''s hand, as being too puny and ineffective to win the
approval of a true Gorean fighting man. Some of the riders of the Steels, I
recalled, seeing it among the belongings of Gladius of Cos, had jested with me
about it, asking if it were a toy, or perhaps a training bow for a child; these
men, of course, had never, on kaiilaback, and it is just as well for them, met
Tuchuks. It seemed to me that combat on kaiilaback, and combat on tarnback, had
much in common; I suspected that the small bow, though it had never been proven
in battle on tarnback, might prove that it had worth in the Gorean skies as well
as on the dusty, southern plains; I had further, in many nights of training with
my tarn, taught it to respond to a variety of voice commands, thus freeing my
hands for the use of weapons. Commonly, the tarn responds only to one voice
command, that of "Tabuk," which tends, roughly, to mean "Hunt and
feed"; further, I would have liked to use the Tuchuk temwood thrusting
lance from the saddle of a tarn. The tarnsman commonly carries, strapped to the
saddle, a Gorean spear, a fearsome weapon, but primarily a missile weapon, and
one more adapted to infantry. The tarnsmen, of course, centuries before, had
been developed from land forces; it had always seemed to me that the tarn
cavalries of Gor might be considerably improved by a judicious alteration of
weapons and training practices; however, I had never had a command of tarnsmen
of my own, and my ideas were of little interest, even to the tarnsmen of
Ko-ro-ba, my city.
---Assassin of Gor, 22:
Ship Bow
High firing rate short, stout and maneuverable bow used in crowded quarters and
galleys locked in combat.
The bows were put to their feet. They were short, ship bows, stout and maneuverable, easy to use in croweded quartes, easy to fire across the bulwarks of galleys locked in combat. I had seen only such bows in the holding of Policrates. Their rate of fire, of course, is much superior to that of the crossbow, either of the drawn or windlass variety.
All things considered, the
ship bow is an ideal missile weapon for close-range naval combat. it is superior
in this respect even to the peasant bow, or long bow, which excells it in
impact, range and accuracy.
---Rogue of Gor, 32:307-308
Northern Short Bow
Short bow of the Northern areas of Gor, used with short, heavy arrows. Said
to be accurate with a short range of a hundred and fifty yards. Useful in close
combat on a ship, and easily fired through a thole port with the oar withdrawn.
the short bow of the
Gorean north, with its short, heavy arrows, heavily headed, lacks the range and
power of the peasant bow of the south, that now, too, the property of the
rencers of the delta, but, at short range, within a hundred and fifty yeard, it
can administer a considerable strike. It has, too the advantage that it is more
manageable in close quarters than the peasant bow, resembing somewhat the Tuchuk
bow of layered horn, in this respect. It is more useful in close combat on a
ship, for example, than would be the peasant bow. Too, it is easier to fire it
through a thole port, the oar withdawn.
---Marauders of Gor, p 52
Small Bow of Red
Savages
Said to be by far, the quickest in rate of fire of all Gorean weapons, this bow
is favored by the Red Savages of the Barrens.
The small bow has many
advantages. High among these is the rapidity with which it may be drawn and
fired. A skilled warrior, in the Gorean gravity, can fire ten arrows into the
air, the last leaving the bow before the first has returned to the earth. No
Gorean weapon can match it in its rate of fire. At close range, it ca be
devastating. Two further advantages of the small bow that might be mentioned are
it manoeuverability and its capacity to be concealed, say beneath a robe. It can
be easily swept from one side of the kaiila to the other.
---Savages of Gor, 1:46
Arrows
Flight arrow
A metal-piled arrow for the great bow, fletched with three Vosk gull wing
half-feathers, approximately forty inches in length.
...the flight arrow is
about forty inches in length. Both are metal piled and fletched with three
half-feathers, from the wings of the Vosk gulls.
---Raiders of Gor, p 68
The arrows of the longbow,
in contrast, are generally long, a yard or more in length, slender, of wood, and
feathered.
---John Norman, Letter to the Gorean Group, Sept 20th 2000
Hunting arrow
As the name indicates, an arrow fitted with a head made for hunting. More
specifically, this term is used in describing one of the two types of arrows
used by the red Savages.
The hunting arrow, incidentally, has a long, tapering point, and this point is firmly fastened to the shaft. This makes it easier to withdraw the arrow from its target.
... The heads of certain war arrows and
hunting arrows differ, too, at least in the case of certain warriors, in an
interesting way, with respect to the orientation of the plane of the point to
the plane of the nock. The heads of certain war arrows and hunting arrows
differ, too, at least in the case of certain warriors, in an interesting way,
with respect to the orientation of the plane of the point to the plane of the
nock. In these war arrows, the plane of the point is perpendicular to the plane
of the nock. In level shooting, then, the plane of the point is roughly parallel
to the ground. In these hunting arrows, on the other hand, the plane of the
point is parallel to the plane of the nock. In level shooting, then, the plane
of the point is roughly perpendicular to the ground. The reason for these
different orientations is particularly telling at close ranges, before the arrow
begins to turn in the air. The ribs of the kailiauk are vertical to the ground;
the ribs of the human are horizontal to the ground.
Savages of Gor, pp 40-41
Quarrel
Small, high velocity arrow used with crossbows.
The bolts or quarrels used
in the crossbow are short, say , ten inches in length, and may be of metal or
wood. The metal quarrels can be metal-finned.
---John Norman, Letter to the Gorean Group, Sept 20th 2000
On each side of the saddle
hung a missile weapon, a crossbow with a quiver of a dozen quarrels, or bolts,
on the left, a longbow with a quiver of thirty arrows on the right.
---Tarnsman of Gor, 5:
The latter had trained his
crossbow on my breast. At that distance he could not have missed, and if he had
fired at that range, most probably the quarrel would have passed through my body
and disappeared in the woods behind. The initial velocity of a quarrel is the
better part of a pasang per second.
---Tarnsman of Gor, 7:
Sheaf arrow
A metal-piled arrow for the great bow, fletched with three Vosk gull wing
half-feathers, a little over a yard in length.
The Gorean sheaf arrow is slightly over
a yard long, the flight arrow is about forty inches in length. Both are metal
piled and fletched with three half-feathers, from the wings of the Vosk gulls.
---Raiders of Gor, p 68
As I strode toward the camp, my hand
held the great bow. Over my left shoulder, slung, was sword and scabbard. At my
belt was a sleen knife; at my hip, in a verr-skin quiver, temwood sheaf arrows,
nineteen of them, piled with steel, winged with the feathers of the vosk gull.
---Hunters of Gor, 12:
I fitted an arrow, of black tem-wood,
with a pile point, to the string of the yellow (long) bow. The string was of
hemp, whipped with silk. The arrow was winged with the feathers of the Vosk
gull.
---Beasts of Gor, 11:
Simple pile arrow
This term may be applied to flight or sheaf arrows and indicates that the
tip of the arrow, is shaped in such a way that it may be withdrawn from a wound
in the direction of entry, as opposed to a Tuchuk barbed arrow, which requires
'pushing' it through the wound to remove it.
I had used simple-pile arrows, which
may be withdrawn from a wound. The simple pile gives greater penetration. Had I
used a broad-headed arrow, or the Tuchuk barbed arrow, one would, in removing
it, commonly thrust the arrow completely through the wound, drawing it out
feathers last. One is, accordingly, in such cases, less likely to lose the point
in the body.
---Raiders of Gor, p 79
Tuchuk barbed arrow
A type of flight or sheaf arrow, also called a broad-headed arrow which
carries barbs; the barbs prevent it from being withdrawn from a wound and must
be pushed through to exit and is therefore more difficult to recover during
combat.
Had I used the broad-headed arrow, or
the Tuchuk Barbed arrow, one would, in removing it, commonly thrust the arrow
completely through the wound...
---Raiders of Gor, p 79
War arrow
An arrow loosely fitted with a barbed head that tends to remain in the wound
when the arrow is pulled out. More specifically, this term is used in describing
one of the two types of arrows used by the red Savages.
The war arrow, on the other hand, uses an arrowhead whose base is either angled backwards, forming barbs, or cut straight across, the result in both cases being to make the arrow difficult to extract from the wound. The head of the war arrow too, is fastened less securely to the shaft than is that of the hunting arrow. The point thus, by intent, if the shaft is pulled out, is likely to linger in the wound.Sometimes it is possible to thrust the arrow through the body, break off the point and then withdraw the shaft backwards. At other times, if the point becomes dislodged in the body, it is common to seek it with a bone or greenwood probe, and then, when one has found it, attenpt to work it free with a knife. There are cases where men have survived this. Much depends, of course, on the location of the point.
... The heads of certain war arrows and
hunting arrows differ, too, at least in the case of certain warriors, in an
interesting way, with respect to the orientation of the plane of the point to
the plane of the nock. In these war arrows, the plane of the point is
perpendicular to the plane of the nock. In level shooting, then, the plane of
the point is roughly parallel to the ground. In these hunting arrows, on the
other hand, the plane of the point is parallel to the plane of the nock. In
level shooting, then, the plane of the point is roughly perpendicular to the
ground. The reason for these different orientations is particularly telling at
close ranges, before the arrow begins to turn in the air. The ribs of the
kailiauk are vertical to the ground; the ribs of the human are horizontal to the
ground.
Savages of Gor, pp 40-41
CLUBS and STICKS
Peasant Staff
The common peasant weapons
are the long staff, as in the medieval quarterstaff and the "Peasant
Bow," or Longbow, which earns them respect from all castes, even the
Warriors.
---John Norman, Letter to the Gorean Group, Sept 20th 2000
Throwing sticks
A curved stick used by rencers to hunt gant, it is thrown to stun the bird.
In her hand was a curved
throwing stick, used for hunting birds. It is not a boomerang, which would be
largely useless among the sedges and rushes, but it would, of course, float, and
might be recovered and used indefinitely. Some girls are quite skilled with this
light weapon. It stuns the bird, which is then gathered from the water and tied,
alive, in the craft.
---Raiders of Gor, 2:10
OTHER WEAPONS
Bola
The three weighted bola of the Wagon People, was originally designed and
used in the hunting of Tumits, a large flightless bird of the Plains. Its
description and purpose, clearly stem from the Native American bola, more
particularly, the boleadora of the Southern-most areas of America. Early South
American tribes used the boleadora in the hunting of rheas, a large South
American ostrichlike birds called also the American ostrich.
Like the bola of Earth, the bola of the Wagon People eventually became a weapon of war.
From the Ecuador Ministry
of National Defense History reference guide :
The boleadora (ayllu or riwi) is a hand-thrown weapon constituted by three small
balls of covered stone or crude leather lead. To each cover a crude leather rope
or thin strap is fixed; the three are united by the opposite end to the balls,
trying that the ropes or strap have the same length exactly.
For the launching, the weapon is taken with the hand by one of the three balls,
turning to the other two until obtaining the necessary impulse.
When it was lost, the boleadora will follow a horizontal direction until the
target. In agreement with the size and weights of the balls, it was used to
catch small animals (coiling it to the legs, neck or wings), for the great
animal hunting (making them fall when coiling meetings two legs) or for the war
(coiling together the legs of an enemy).
Slowly, singing in a guttural chant, a Tuchuk warrior song, he began to swing the bola. It consists of three long straps of leather, each about five feet long, each terminating in a leather sack, which contains, sewn inside, a heavy, round metal weight. It was probably developed for hunting the tumit, a huge, flightless carnivorous bird of the plains, but the Wagon Peoples use it also, and well, as a weapon of war. Thrown to low the long straps, with their approximate ten-foot sweep, almost impossible to evade, strike the victim and the weighted balls, as soon as resistance is met, whip about the victim, tangling and tightening the straps.
Sometimes legs are broken.
It is often difficult to release the straps, so snarled do they become. Thrown
high the Gorean bola can lock a man's arms to his sides; thrown to the throat it
can strangle him; thrown to the head, a difficult cast, the whipping weights can
crush a skull. One entangles the victim with the bola, leaps from one's mount
and with the quiva cuts his throat.
---Nomads of Gor, p 24
Spiked or bladed hand
wraps
These items, though little description is offered of them, are usually mentioned
either in situations of gladiatoral style combats and the pit fights of fighting
slaves or then simply as belonging to a particuar culture.
There were various matches
in the pit of sand that evening. There was a contest of sheathed hook knife, one
of whips and another of spiked gauntlets.
---Assassin of Gor, 10:
Sometimes men wrestle to
the death or use the spiked gauntlets.
---Assassin of Gor, 15:
The wooden shields of
Torvaldsland no more stopped the great axes than dried skins of larma fruit,
stretched on sewing frames, might have resisted the four-bladed dagger cestus
of Anango or the hatchet gauntlet of eastern Skjern.
---Marauders of Gor, 14:
Cestus \Ces"tus\, n. [L. caestus, and cestus.] (Antiq.) A covering for the hands of boxers, made of leather bands, and often loaded with lead or iron. -- Ref Webster.
"That is no ordinary
fighting slave," I told Kenneth.
"No," said Kenneth, not looking back. "That is Krondar. He is a
famous fighting slave of Ar."
"His face," I said, half in awe.
"In the pits of Ar," he said, "he has fought with the spiked
leather, and with the knife gauntlets."
---Fighting slave of Gor, 25:
It would be difficult,
once seen, to ever forget the massively scarred, misshapen countenance of
Krondar, a veteran of many bouts with the spiked leather, and the knife
gauntlets, in Ar.
---Guardsman of Gor, 10:
Kurii Beam Projector
A handheld device big enough to fit comfortably in the hand of a Kur. This
missile weapon fires a highly concussive heat blast, which strikes its target
fiercely.
Kurii Dart Thrower
A missile weapon of the Kurii, seen used by its agents and which can fire
gas propelled darts of various types.
The men on either side of
the cage cart carried some sort of projectile weapon. It feed, I conjectured,
judging from the breech, a long, conical, gas-impelled dart. The principles of
the weapon, I assumed, were similar to those of a rifle, except that the missile
would not be a slug of metal but something more in the nature of a tiny quarrel,
some six inches in length. The weapons had carved wooden stocks, reminiscent of
a time in which rifles were the work of craftsmen. Eccentric designs surmounted
these stocks. The actual firing of the weapon was apparently by means of a
button in the forepart of the stock. Although this button could be depressed
quickly it could not be jerked, as a trigger might be, either on a rifle or
crossbow, an action which sometimes, in moving the weapon, ruins or impairs the
aim. Each man carried a bag at his left hip. It contained, I supposed, among
other accouterments, the missiles, or darts, for the weapon
---Beasts of Gor, 29:
Silver Tube
Charged, cylindrical weapon which fires beams of flame lock, the substance
used by Priest-Kings for the famed 'flame death'. This weapon of course, is
found only within the nest of Priest-Kings.
These were charged,
cylindrical weapons, manually operated but incorporating principles much like
those of the Flame Death Mechanism. Unused, they had lain encased in plastic
quivers for a matter of centuries and yet when these quivers were broken open
and the weapons seized up by angry Priest-Kings they were as ready for their
grim work as they had been when first they were stored away.
--- Priest-Kings of Gor, 28:229
SHIELDS
The most common shield on Gor, is simply refered to as 'a Warrior shield'.
It is built of died leather draped over wood or metal framed ovals or circles.
Then Gorean warrior shild is strapped to the arm or carried across the
travelling warrior's back. Commonly, shields will bear the crest or emblem of
the City from which the Warrior is from, in decorated patterns and colors which
others would recognize as those of a given City or aea..
The shield was rather like
the old Greek shields on some of the red-figured vases in the London Museum. The
design on the shield was unintelligible to me. I could not be sure that it was
supposed to mean anything. It might have been an alphabetic monogram or perhaps
a mere delight to the artist.
---Tarnsman of Gor, p 22
The round shield,
concentric overlapping layers of hardened leather riveted together and bound
with hoops of brass, fitted with the double sling for carrying on the left arm,
was similarly unmarked. Normally the Gorean shield is painted boldly and has
infixed in it some device for identifying the bearer's city.
---Outlaw of Gor, p 21
Shields, depending on the
city, are round or curved, rectangular, like the Roman scutum. Generally,
however, in most cities, shields are round, in the Homeric manner. In Turia, in
the southern hemisphere, an oval shield is common. Shields are decorated,
naturally.
---John Norman, Letter to the Gorean Group, Sept 20th 2000
Askari Shield
Oval leather shileds of the Schendi regions.
I looked about. The oval
leather shields and the stabbing spears of the askaris might have been ideal
armament for invincibility in tribal warfare but they afforded little in the way
of martial equity when compared to the weighty, slashing pangas of the Kurii.
They were not the mighty axes and heavy shields of Torvaldsland.
---Explorers of Gor, 53:
Buckler
A small shield rarely exceeding 12 inch in diameter and usually round.
Buckler and short sword
are perhaps most popular, but there are few weapons on Gor which are not seen
over a period of three or four days of the games.
---Assassin of Gor, p 189
Red Savages Shield
Made of the hides of kailiauk, the small round shields of the Red Savages,
covered with medicine signs, carry a lot more than mere physical protection.
They are believed to be 'alive' with the sun's energy, and considered to be a
gardian of one's soul.
"One's shield might betray
one," said Cuwignaka.
I regarded Cuwignaka.
"Yes," said Cuwignaka. "It is a well known fact. One's shield may
choose not to defend one, if one is a liar."
"Shields do not behave like that outside of the Barrens," I told
Cuwignaka, smiling.
"You are skeptical, I see," said Cuwignaka. "Well, be assured, my
friend, I am speaking of the shields of the peoples of the Barrens and within
the Barrens. These are not your ordinary shields. These are made with the aid of
spells. The medicines of war are important in their construction and designs.
They are not merely equipment, not merely contraptions of metal or leather. They
are holy. They are precious. They are friends and allies. Surely you have seen
them suspended from tripods behind the lodges, being sunned?"
"Yes," I admitted.
"That is to soak up power from the sun."
---Blood Brothers of Gor, p 175-176
Torvaldsland Shield
The shields were round,
and of wood, variously painted, some reinforced with iron bands, others with
leather, some with small bronze plates.
---Marauders of Gor, p 32
Turian Shield
The morning sun flashed
from their helmets, their long tharlarion lances, the metal embossments on their
oval shields, unlike the rounded shields of most Gorean cities."
---Nomads of Gor, p 113
Wagon People Shield
HELMETS
Gorean War Helmet
The usual Gorean helmet
encloses much of the head, with a "Y" shaped aperture for the eyes and
front of the face, rather like certain early Greek helmets, from which they may
be derived.
---John Norman, Letter to the Gorean Group, Sept 20th 2000
Helmets are often of the
Greek sort, with the "Y"-like opening. They may be, but need not be,
adorned with crests of hair, analogous to the Homeric horsehair crests, or
perhaps ribboned or plumed, etc.
---John Norman, Letter to the Gorean Group, Dec 2000
Above the shield was a
suspended helmet, again reminiscent of a Greek helmet, perhaps of the Homeric
period. It had a somewhat 'Y'-shaped slot for the eyes, nose, and mouth in the
nearly solid metal. There was a savage dignity about it, with the shield and
spears, all of them stable on the wall, as if ready, like the famous colonial
rifle over the fireplace, for instant use; they were all polished and gleamed
dully in the half light.
---Tarnsman of Gor, p 22
The helmet was bronze,
worked in the Greek fashion, with a unitary opening somewhat in the shape of a
Y.
---Outlaw of Gor, p 21
Conical Helms and colored chains
I could see he carried a
small, round, leather shield, glossy, black, lacquered; he wore a conical,
fur-rimmed iron helmet, a net of colored chains depending from the helmet
protecting his face, leaving only holes for the eyes.
---Nomads of Gor, 2:
Northern Helms
I could see helmeted men
at its gunwales, some five feet above the water line. The helmets of the north
are commonly conical, with a nose-guard, that can slip up and down. At the neck
and sides, attached by rings, usually hangs a mantle of linked chain.
---Marauders of Gor, 5:
The helmet of Thorgard
himself, however, covered his neck and the sides of his face. It was horned.
---Marauders of Gor, 5:
Then from his chests,
within the hall, he had given me a long, swirling cloak of the fur of sea sleen;
a bronze-headed spear; a shield of painted wood, reinforced with bosses of iron;
the shield was red in color, the bosses enameled yellow; a helmet, conical, of
iron, with hanging chain, and a steel nosepiece, that might be raised and
lowered in its bands; and, too, a shirt and trousers of skin; and, too, a broad
ax, formed in the fashion of Torvaldsland, large, curved, single-bladed; and
four rings of gold, that might be worn on the arm.
---Marauders of Gor, 6:
Weight
The meaning of history lies not in the future but in the moment. It is never anywhere but within our grasp. And if the history of man, terminated, should turn out to have been but a brief flicker in the midst of unnoticing oblivions let it at least have been worthy of the moment in which it burned.
But perhaps it would prove to be a
spark which would, in time, illuminate a universe.
---Explorers of Gor, p 230
Distance
The Hort
1 1/4 inches
The hort is approximately and inch and
a quarter in length.
---Tribesmen of Gor, p 49
The Foot
The Gorean foot is equivalent to 10 horts, approxiamtely 12 1/2 earth inches
The Gorean foot is, in my estimation,
just slightly longer than the Earth foot; based on the supposition that each of
its ten horts is roughly one and one-quarter inches long.
---Raiders of Gor, p 127
The Pasang
The pasang is a measure of distance on
Gor, equivalent approximately to 0.7 of a mile.
---Tarnsman of Gor, p 58
Length
The Ah-il and Ah-ral
Measures used in the sale and use of cloth.
Cloth is measured in the ah-il, which
is the length from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, and the ah-ral,
which is ten ah-ils.
---Tribesmen of Gor, p 50
Volume
The Gill
Measures liquids.
In a matter of perhaps two or three
seconds, it had drawn perhaps a gill of liquid.
--- Outlaw of Gor, p 34
The Tef
Basically the equivalent of a fistfull.
The Tefa
6 Tefs
The Huda
5 Tefa
A handful with the five fingers closed,
not open, is a tef. Six such handfuls constitute a tefa, which is a tiny basket.
Five such baskets constitute a huda.
---Tribesmen of Gor, p 46
Weight
The Stone
The basic unit of weight, equivalent to 4 Earth pounds.
I have calculated this from the Weight,
a Gorean unit of measurement based on the Stone, which is about four Earth
pounds.
---Raiders of Gor, p 127
The Weight
10 Stones
A given tree, annually, yields between
one and five Gorean weights of fruit. A weight is some ten stone, or some forty
Earth pounds.
---Tribesmen of Gor, p 37
I have calculated this from the Weight,
a Gorean unit of measurement based on the Stone, which is about four Earth
pounds. A Weight is ten Stone.
---Raiders of Gor, p 127
