Gorean culture is much less technologically oriented than Terran society. While the Cylinder Cities of Known Gor – called this because their principle architectural form is large round buildings not unlike Chicago’s Marina Towers – have a fairly sophisticated technological knowledge, because of the Weapons and Technology Laws (see above) they seem what a modern Terran would consider primitive at first glance. However, like Terran cities, they are organized around the principles of common defense (Gorean cities are always walled, for good reason,) economic interaction, and social activity. A citizen of Rome at the Empire’s height would not feel out of place in Ar, Gor’s largest city, although he would be amazed at the general health of the citizenry and the cleanliness of the streets.

As most of the Chronicles take place either in the Cylinder Cities, or in areas such as the basin of the Vosk River which are strongly influenced by them, they will be discussed first and in the most detail. The reader should be aware that when someone refers to how things are done "on Gor" they usually mean in the Cylinder Cities. Exceptions to almost every cultural practice can be found somewhere on Gor in some other culture and this should not be taken to mean that the Chronicles are inconsistent (although at times they are) but rather that Gor is a very complex world, not unlike our own.

One practice common to all Gorean cultures, without exception, is chattel slavery. This will be addressed in depth in the section on Gorean Slavery, but will be mentioned wherever appropriate.

Language

Most Goreans speak the same language, which they simply call the Language, or Gorean. It is an extremely complicated language, similar to the Romance languages but with English’s habit of absorbing useful words from other languages. A person who spoke Latin and Greek could probably make themselves understood in Gorean with some effort. Goreans of Known Gor often refer to "barbarians." This includes Terrans, such as slave girls captured and brought to Gor, and many people think that that is what it means. Actually it refers simply to people who do not speak Gorean or who are not native speakers of it. A Red Savage who could not speak Gorean would also be referred to as a "barbarian" just as a Terran girl would.

Other languages do exist on Gor in other cultures, but many members of those cultures also speak Gorean so that they may trade knowledge and goods with others. The Sardar Fairs (see below) do much to encourage the widespread dissemination of Gorean and its uniformity over most of the planet.

The Sardar Fairs

The Sardar Mountains have a narrow pass by which one may enter the range and try to reach the Priest-Kings. No one who has done so has ever returned. (Animals will not enter the Sardar and tarns will not overfly it.) However, at the base of that pass is a large area of neutral territory where the Sardar Fairs are held four times a year at the equinoxes and solstices. The individual fairs are known as "The Fair of" the month they are held: collectively they are the Sardar Fairs. These are huge gatherings for social, cultural, and economic interchange. The fairs are safe territory: no one may be slain or enslaved at the Fair, although slaves may be bought and sold. The various Castes exchange information at the Fairs, news of Gor is muchly traded, and varied goods from the far corners of the planet are interchanged.

Also at the base of the pass is a sort of shrine to the Priest-Kings. Every citizen of Known Gor, and many other cultures of Gor as well, is expected to make a pilgrimage to the Sardar before their twenty-first year to salute the Priest-Kings. While richer people can afford guards, the common folk must take their chances – and the approaches to the Fairs are not safe territory. Many women who meant to make an honorable pledge to the Priest-Kings have ended up seeing the Sardar from a slaver’s wagon. This encourages the mixing of bloodlines and slave stock from all over the planet and is also a primary, if little-known, purpose of the Fairs and the Sardar pilgrimage.

The First and Second Knowledge

One peculiar element of Gorean culture is the Two Knowledges. The First Knowledge is held generally by the Lower Castes. It holds such pre-technological references as believing that the world is flat, that names have magic power, and so forth. It is a simple worldview for simpler members of society.

The Second Knowledge, held by all of High Caste, is not exactly a secret, but is taken much more seriously by those of High Caste. It includes the knowledge that the world is in fact round, and that most superstitions are just that, superstition. Interestingly, it also includes the knowledge of the existence of Earth. As all Gorean humans are of Earth origin, it is not unlikely that this has simply been passed down through the High Castes, especially the Scribes. Not all members of the High Castes necessarily believe the Second Knowledge to be true, but they are all exposed to it.

Home Stones

The word "Gor" translates literally to "Home Stone." Home Stones are central to the culture of Known Gor. A Home Stone is just that, a rock. Typically, each man will have his own Home Stone, a rock kept in his home to show that it is his place and that he claims it as his own. While Terrans think of borders from the outside in, Goreans think of them from the inside out, with the center being the Home Stone of a city. Citizens of a city swear allegiance to its Home Stone, not to individual rulers or ruling bodies, typically in a ceremony on reaching adulthood. Home Stones are very dear to Goreans: a man who speaks of Home Stones should stand, as matters of honor are at stake. A conqueror may destroy the Home Stone of a city, which in essence destroys the city, but while the Home Stone survives and is uncaptured, its city lives and fights. A meek and mild man is a larl in the place of his Home Stone, and a man defending his Home Stone is not to be trifled with even by a Warrior.

It is a common practice in some online circles to refer to a Home Stone as a place, as in "Let us return to the Home Stone," or "You are welcome in my Home Stone." This is categorically incorrect. A Home Stone is a rock, not a place. Persons from the same city might refer to themselves as "sharing a Home Stone," and this does indicate some minimal social bonding, but they do not refer to their City as a Home Stone. A person would not say "Ar is my Home Stone," but rather "my Home Stone is that of Ar." The reverence for the two is somewhat interchangeable: while a citizen of Ar might speak negatively of the rulers of his city, he will always express profound reverence for "Glorious Ar" herself, and a man who insults his city, insults him.

The bonding of the Home Stone, while profound, is very nebulous: for instance, merchants will try to get dear prices from customers whether or not they share a Home Stone. However, persons who do not share a Home Stone will be naturally suspicious of each other: the Gorean word for "stranger" is the same as the word for "enemy." Goreans are not irrationally xenophobic: they are aware that there are friendly strangers and familiar enemies. The sharing of a Home Stone basically entitles a person to the benefit of the doubt, whereas persons who do not share the Home Stone have a higher burden of proof to show that they are not hostile or otherwise negative.

The definition of "outlaw," on Gor, is "one who has no Home Stone." As this implies it is a very serious matter indeed not to have a Home Stone. Only outlaws and slaves have no Home Stone. Note that not all Gorean cultures have the institution of the Home Stone.

Free Women

Free Women on Gor hold a precarious position. They are expected to be submissive to men, but not to demonstrate their submissive needs openly or deeply, for that indicates suitability for the collar of a slave. Typically, free women of any status or position wear the Robes of Concealment, similar to the robes worn by Muslim women, and are veiled. Even in the presence of male relatives, a Free Woman wears a light House Veil so as to appear modest. A Free Woman who exposes her face in public is said to be "face-stripped" and is considered extremely exposed and immodest: a Free Woman would rather be naked save for a face veil than clothed and unveiled.

Free Women are allowed to demonstrate their needs in private, and to take pleasure in the sexual act. However, even then, they are expected to hold back just a bit, to demonstrate that they are not helpless in their need like a slave.

All Gorean Free Women are addressed as "Lady" when speaking formally, even a child, a beggar, or a Peasant woman. This indicates that they are not slaves and they become very angry when slighted in this regard. Free Women are always addressed as "mistress" by slaves.

Free men and Free Women are joined formally in the Ceremony of Free Companionship, and the two are referred to as "Free Companions." Free Companionship must be renewed once a year, or the Companionship is terminated. This is necessary given the long lifespan of Goreans and the uncertain and hazardous nature of Gorean society. The enslavement of either Companion also immediately terminates the Companionship. While typically in the upper Castes Companionships are entered into for political purposes or monetary gain, Companionship for love is also very common, and even in arranged Companionships it is not unheard of.

Other than the above restrictions on behavior, Free Women may do much as they please. They can own property, maintain businesses, and so forth. Many upper Caste Free Women have guards who accompany them outside their homes, ride in sedan chairs, and have personal slaves. While Free Women are usually allowed to have their own slaves, including those for sexual use, they are forbidden to couch with the slaves of others in some cities, notably Ar. The penalty for such is immediate reduction to slavery. Male slaves used for sexual purposes by women are usually referred to as "silk slaves."

Castes

Most Gorean societies operate under a Caste system. Although the Castes are largely hereditary, they are not immutable, and a person who demonstrates aptitude in a Caste other than that they were born into may change with the permission of both Castes and the ruling body of the city. In this respect the Castes are more like a medieval guild system than the castes of Hindu India. Family is also very important to Goreans, and they have a clan system which recognizes ties of blood to the fifth degree.

Goreans are fond of their Caste system and view it as a stabilizing and civilizing influence. There are five High Castes: all others are Low Castes. However, while only members of High Caste may exercise political power, most Gorean cities have a more or less democratic system for picking the ruling Councils and Administrators in which all free citizens of High Caste may vote and in which the will of the populace is ignored only at the peril of the powers that be. Of course, money, as always, also translates into power, and as a result of all these factors the Caste system does not greatly hinder the rise of men of ability in government. Furthermore, Castes are not a "licensing system." If one wanted to build a wall, one would hire laborers: if one wanted to build a large public building, one would hire a Builder. Most soldiers are not Warriors, but most leaders of soldiers are. Anyone may bake bread for his own use: only Bakers mass-produce it for public sale.

Initiates

The first High Caste is the Initiates. The Initiates devote themselves to studying, worshipping, and interpreting the will of the Priest-Kings. Their Caste color is White. Culturally, the Initiates are generally either the most powerful High Caste of a given city, or the least, depending on various factors. In times of trouble the status of the Initiates usually either dramatically improves as the populace seeks their intercession with the Priest-Kings, or falls sharply as the populace blames them for not interceding properly on their behalf. Only men may join the Initiates – making it an exception to the hereditary nature of the Caste system. Initiates do not eat meat or beans, shave their heads, and spend much time studying obscure prayers and mathematics which they claim will enable them to enter the afterlife when they die.

The Initiates as a group do not, in fact, know the nature of the Priest-Kings: they consider them beings of spirit with no fixed form and regard them as gods. The Priest-Kings find the Initiates both puzzling and extremely amusing, and take no special steps to improve or degrade their claims to know the will of Priest-Kings. Certain members of the Initiates are in contact with the Priest-Kings (as are various people all over Gor, although how this contact is made is not clear and such agents do not know what the Priest-Kings are like) and do perform certain tasks on their behalf.

The Initiates form the only generally found religious body on Gor although there are also sun-worshippers, sky-worshippers, and followers of a modified Norse pantheon, among others. The average Gorean is not very religious – although he may be superstitious – and basically seeks to have the Priest-Kings leave him alone. Since the Initiates teach that only Initiates can find the afterlife, and most Goreans do not believe in an afterlife anyway, the populace respects them but does not seek to follow them fervently. Goreans often speak of someone who has died as having gone to the "Cities of Dust," which may be a reference to an Assyrian/Mesopotamian version of the afterlife, where the dead are ghosts who live on dust. However, they do not believe in an actual afterlife, saying rather than a man’s deeds live after him, as do his children.

Scribes

The second High Caste is the Scribes. It is generally held to be the highest Caste after the Initiates, although this varies by city - as does the ranking of the Initiates themselves. The Caste of Scribes concerns itself with the acquisition, storage, and dissemination of knowledge. The Caste Color of the Scribes is Blue. They generally wear long robes, which like the academic robes of historical Terran institutions are often tattered and worn as Scribes have better things to do than worry about the state of their robes. Scribes in general are very circumspect and proper in their speech and action, with a concern for Caste demarcation and precision in language. The Caste of Scribes includes lawyers, judges, librarians, teachers, and almost any other field where large amounts of abstract learning are required.

As a High Caste, and of course as the Caste of the keepers of information, Scribes hold the Second or Double Knowledge, and are aware of the existence of Earth and the nature of the physical world. Given the love of Scribes for knowledge, any knowledge, it is not impossible that one might find a Scribe who could speak or read one or more Terran languages, pulled from a slave girl, simply for the sake of knowing it. A scroll in English would be treasured by a Scribe every bit as much as one in Gorean, even if he could not read it, simply because it was knowledge.

Scribes are not, by and large, scientists - that distinction belongs to the Builders, for the world of physical science, and the Physicians, for the world of biological science. However, a Scribe with an interest might study almost anything, and given that knowledge is their field one should not be too surprised with a Scribe who knows the workings of optics, ballistics, or physiology, although he would be very unlikely to be actively contributing to such a field. Someone who wrote fiction or poetry would not be a Scribe, but a Poet or Singer - Scribes deal in knowledge, not entertainment.

The most famous example of the Scribes in the novels of Gor is Torm of Ko-ro-ba, Although he was rather derisive of the combat training given to Tarl by the Older Tarl, he was a true friend and a very brave man, although he took great pains to conceal this fact.

Although Scribes are not skilled with weapons nor the arts of combat it should never be forgotten that men of this Caste, and all others, are free men, Gorean men, and are not to be underestimated. A slave girl who thinks that without the Scarlet tunic or a sword a man is not to be pleased, and completely, does so at her peril.

Physicians

The third High Caste is the Physicians. Their Caste Color is Green. The Physicians of Gor are extremely knowledgeable: their grasp of anatomy, physiology, and biology is equal to that of Terran science. Their diagnostic capabilities are extremely advanced. Their crowning achievement, of course, is the Stabilization Serums. They have also discovered an extremely effective birth control known as "slave wine." This is brewed from various native plant species, and drunk by women who do not wish to conceive. Although it is recommended to be renewed every month, so effective is it that most women who have it will not conceive unless and until given the counter-agent, referred to as a "releaser."

Builders

The fourth High Caste is the Builders. Their Caste Color is Yellow. The Builders are the engineers, physicists, and physical scientists of Gor. They developed the Energy Bulbs, co-developed the Slave and Tarn Goads with the Physicians, and have developed the telescope, which is referred to as the "glass of the Builders." They are also highly proficient civil engineers: the cities of Gor have good waste management, aqueducts, and impressively large buildings.

Warriors

The fifth High Caste is the Warriors. (The Gorean word for Warrior is "Rarius," plural "Rarii.") Their Caste Color is Scarlet. Warriors, naturally, study the arts of war, from individual weapons to theories of battle, siegecraft, and the attainment of military goals by political means. With the possible exception of the Initiates, the Warriors are always regarded as the "lowest" of the High Castes. While the Administrator of a city may be of any High Caste, if the city goes to war, an Ubar, or War Leader, is chosen, who is always a Warrior. Typically, the Ubar steps down when the crisis has passed. If he refuses to do so, typically the Warriors of the city impale him. But if he has gained their loyalty, they may support him, and he can then rule as a tyrant until such time as he is overthrown. Given the independent nature of Goreans in general and Warriors in particular, a Roman-style "mad emperor" would not survive long on Gor. A man who remains Ubar, while he may be brutal, will be a man of ability and will have the capability to govern well.

The training of Warriors is phenomenal, equaling anything in the history of Earth. A typical Warrior can run for hours at a steady jog, fight multiple opponents, and use a wide variety of weapons or his bare hands. Warriors typically shun bows and crossbows as coward’s weapons, but many of them are skilled in their use.

Lower Castes

Examples of Lower Castes include the Peasants, the Potters, the Bakers, and basically any other craft which has an organized body of knowledge. Persons of Lower Caste are not thought of as inferior per se by persons of High Caste, nor do they consider themselves unworthy. Social divisions are clear on Gor, and a Gorean would likely approve of the saying, "A place for everything, and everything in its place." However, Goreans will not long tolerate injustice or overt oppression, and even the lower Castes are capable of courageous and determined fighting. The Peasants, in particular, while the lowest Caste on Gor, consider themselves the "Ox upon which the Home Stone rests," and their practice with the Peasant Bow, a fearsome longbow, means that a body of Peasants would give even a number of Warriors serious pause.

Other Cultures of Gor

Gor has dozens of other cultures, which are found in various places on the planet. These are usually very analogous to some Terran culture, which is understandable since all Goreans originated on Earth. Some of the more important groups are as follows:

Wagon People / Turians

In the Southern Hemisphere of Gor lie a large plain similar to the Great Plains of North America or the Steppes of Asia. Huge bands of nomads known as the Wagon People herd a form of cattle known as bosk through these plains. The Wagon People are divided into four tribes, who war amongst themselves but will band together against outsiders or Turians if the need is great enough. The Wagon People, like all Goreans, acknowledge the power of Priest-Kings but believe that the Sky is the creator-figure of the world.

In the center of the Plains of the Wagon People lies Turia, the "Ar of the South." A great walled city, Turia trades finished goods and slaves with the Wagon People in exchange for meat and other products. While a great deal of animosity exists between Turians and Wagon people, the two societies are extremely interdependent. Women of the Wagon People, free and slave alike, wear golden nose rings, and these are often seen in slaves from the region. Also the main alternative to the flat slave collar originated in Turia, the round rod collars often referred to as "Turian Collars."

More information on these people may be found in Book Four, Nomads of Gor.

Rencers / Port Kar

The Rencers live in the delta swamps surrounding the city of Port Kar. They harvest a papyrus-like reed called the Rence which makes a fine paper, cloth, and other materials. They live on huge floating islands made of woven Rence. Historically the Rencers have been very vulnerable to the depredations of Port Kar slavers, but recently they have taken up the Peasant Bow and become a much more dangerous foe.

The City of Port Kar, "Scourge of Gleaming Thassa," is a city of pirates and slavers. Until recently, the city had no Home Stone, although lately it has become much more civilized as a result of the adoption of a Home Stone. Port Kar merchant-pirates trade goods all over Gor and control much of the wealth and shipping of the planet.

More information on these people may be found in Book Six, Raiders of Gor.

Torvaldslanders

The Torvaldslanders live in the North of Gor. They are very similar to medieval Vikings, even following a modified version of the Norse Pantheon, while acknowledging the power of the Priest-Kings. In Torvaldsland female slaves are called bond-maids and male slaves are called thralls, both Norse terms. They know more about Kurii than most Goreans, as planet-bound Kurii can be found in Torvaldsland.

More information on these people can be found in Book Nine, Marauders of Gor.

Tahari

In the Tahari Desert live several groups of nomads similar to the Bedouin of Earth. They live around oases in small enclaves or herd animals through the desert from place to place. Much of Gor’s salt comes from mines in the Tahari, notably the mines of Klima, and great wealth is to be found there. Natives of the Tahari are one of the few people on Gor who do not use the short sword: Tahari raiders use curved scimitars from kaiilaback just like Arabian raiders on Earth.

More information on these people can be found in Book Ten, Tribesmen of Gor.

Red Hunters

The Red Hunters live in the polar regions of Gor’s Northern Hemisphere. They are extremely similar to the Inuit of North America, although they are not as isolated since they can walk to areas controlled by the Cylinder Cities and some of them make the Sardar Pilgrimage. Like the Inuit, they are friendly – much more so than most Goreans – and subsist mainly on food from the sea, notably whales and sea sleen. They also physically resemble the Inuit, being short, black-haired, and stout, with coppery skin. They are very joyous people, singing many songs and making many jokes. They believe that the spirit lives on after death and that it may move from animal to man and back again. They are also familiar with Kurii as the Kurii can be found in their territory.

More information on these people can be found in Book Twelve, Beasts of Gor.

Red Savages

The Red Savages live on a large area of plains and hills. They are extremely similar to the pre-Columbian North American Aborigines and tend to share their physical features and culture. They do not like "white" Goreans such as are found in the Cylinder Cities and usually kill or enslave them if they find them in their territory. One tribe of the Red Savages has mastered the tarn: the rest ride kaiila. (Recently other tribes have begun adopting the tarn as well.)

More information on these people can be found in Books Seventeen and Eighteen, Savages of Gor and Blood Brothers of Gor.

 

NOTE: This write-up, in its basic form, was sent to me by an unknown source. I really liked it, and so use it here, with editing to suit my needs, but would like to credit the author. If this is you, Contact Me to be acknowledged.