Legalities

"There is a difference, of course," I told her, "in the name Ilene you once wore, and in the name Ilene you now wear."

She nodded, miserably. Her old name, her old identity, had been taken from her forever. Her new name, though in sound the same, was not her old. Between them there was a difference of worlds, a gulf wider than that dividing planets. Her old name had been hers as a free person, publicly registered, legally certified, historically identified with her throughout her life, until her capture by slavers. It had been a proud, intimate possession, giving her pleasure and dignity. It had ennobled her. It had served, with other properties, to distinguish her as a precious person, a unique individual, among all others on the planet Earth. When asked who she was, it was with that name that she would answer. That was who she was. Then the name had been taken from her. She was then only an animal in bondage. In Gorean courts her testimony would normally be exacted only under torture. In such courts she could not, legally, be named, but would rather be described as, say, Ilene, the slave of Hesius of Laura, or Ilene, the slave of Bosk of Port Kar. Her name might be changed, or altered, as often as the master wished. Indeed, he need not even give her a name. Changing a girl's name, or taking it away, are common modes of Gorean slave discipline.

So I would call her Ilene.

But this was not her old name, though in sound it was the same. This was now a Gorean slave name. It carried no dignity nor civil significance.
Hunters of Gor     Book 8     Pages 225 - 226


"Let us watch duels," said the Forkbeard. The duel is a device by which many disputes, legal and personal, are settled in Torvaldsland. There are two general sorts, the formal duel and the free duel. The free duel permits all weapons, there are there are no restrictions on tactics or field. At the thing, of course, adjoining squares are lined out for these duels. If the combatants wished, however, they might choose another field. Such duels, commonly, are held on wave-struck skerries in Thassa. Two men are left alone; later, at nightfall, a skiff returns, to pick up the survivor. The formal duel is quite complex, and I shall not describe it in detail. Two men meet, but each is permitted a shield bearer; the combatants strike at one another, and the blows, hopefully, are fended by each's shield bearer; three shields are permitted to each combatant; when these are hacked to pieces or otherwise rendered useless, his shield bearer retires, and he must defend himself with his own weapon alone; swords not over a given length, too, are prescribed. The duel takes place, substantially, on a large, square cloak, ten feet on each side, which is pegged down on the turf; outside this cloak there are two squares, each a foot from the cloak, drawn in the turf. The outer corners of the second of the two drawn squares are marked with hazel wands; there is this a twelve-foot-square fighting area; no ropes are stretched between the hazel wands. When the first blood touches the cloak the match may, at the agreement of the combatants, or in the discretion of one of the two referees, be terminated; a price of three silver tarn disks is then paid to the victor by the loser; the winner commonly then performs a sacrifice; if the winner is rich, and the match of great importance, he may slay a bosk; if he is poor, or the match is not considered a great victory, his sacrifice may be less.
Marauders of Gor     Book 9     Pages 145 - 146

"Legally," said he, "clearly you are free."

"More real than the law is the heart," said the girl, quoting a proverb of the Tahari.

"It is true," said Hassan.

"Keep me," she said.

"I do not want you," he said.

"No!" she cried.

"I do not want you," he said. Then he said, "Conduct this free woman from the camp."

One of the men seized her by the arm.

"Let me sell myself!" she wept.

As a free woman she could do this, but, of course, she could not revoke the transaction for, after its completion, she would be only a slave.

"I will sell myself into slavery," she said.

Hassan indicated to his man that he should release the girl He did so.

"Do you understand what you are saying?" asked Hassan.

"Yes," she said.

"Kneel," he said.

She knelt before him.

"What have you to offer?" he asked.

She held out the golden tarn disk.

He looked at it, held in her small palm, proffered to him, piteously.

"Please, Hassan," she said.

"I see that you are a true slave, Zina," he said.

"Yes, Hassan," she said. "I am a true slave."

"It is far more than you are worth," he said.

"Take it," she begged.

He looked at her.

"Please take it!" she begged.

He smiled.

She took a deep breath; she closed her eyes. Then she opened her eyes. "I sell myself into slavery," she said.

His hand, open, was poised over the coin. Her eyes looked into his. His hand closed upon the coin; the transaction was completed.

"Chain this slave," he said.
Tribesmen of Gor     Book 10     Pages 146 - 147


The brand was on Gor legal, institutional status; that which it marks it makes an object; its victim has no fights, or appeal, within the law.
Slave Girl of Gor     Book 11     Page 60


. . . the most perfect satisfaction of that equation for complex, acculturated psychophysical organisms is the institutionalized bondage relation; this exists on Gor, where girls may be the legal slaves of strong men, capable of mastering them.
Slave Girl of Gor     Book 11     Page 77


The veil, it might be noted, is not legally imperative for a free woman; it is rather a matter of modesty and custom.
Slave Girl of Gor     Book 11     Page 107


I was his slave, totally and completely, whether I loved him or not. That was legal, institutional, on this world. I was his to do with as he pleased, completely. I was without rights; his will determined all. He was everything; I was nothing; he was master; I was slave.
Slave Girl of Gor     Book 11     Page 168

"Also," I said, "if you are interested in these matters, you are not simply an animal in the literal sense, in the biological sense of 'animal', but in the sense that persons, individuals with rights before the law, are distinguished from animals."

She regarded me, frightened.

"In that sense, my dear," I said, "I am not an animal, and you are an animal. Yes, my dear, you are legally an animal. In the eyes of Gorean law you are an animal. You have no name in your own right. You may be collared and leashed. You may be bought and sold, whipped, treated as the master pleases, disposed of as he sees fit. You have no rights whatsoever. Legally you have no more status than a tarsk or vulo. Legally, literally, you are an animal."
Explorers of Gor     Book 13     Page 316


They had declared themselves slaves. The slave herself, of course, once the declaration has been made, cannot revoke it. That would be impossible, for she is then only a slave. The slave can be freed only by one who owns her, only by one who is at the time her master or, if it should be the case, her mistress. The legal point, I think, is interesting. Sometimes, in the fall of a city, girls who have been enslaved, girls formerly of the now victorious city, will be freed. Technically, according to Merchant Law, which serves as the arbiter in such intermunicipal matters, the girls become briefly the property of their rescuers, else how could they be freed? Further, according to Merchant Law, the rescuer has no obligation to free the girl. In having been enslaved she has lost all claim to her former Home Stone. She has become an animal.
Explorers of Gor     Book 13     Pages 409 - 410


The two ladies, both of Vonda, were Leta and Perimene, both friends of the Ladies Florence and Melpomene. As free citizens of Vonda they could witness legal transactions.
Fighting Slave of Gor     Book 14     Page 277


Slaves, generally, are not permitted to touch legal documents.
Fighting Slave of Gor     Book 14     Page 279


"But I am not a slave girl!" she said.
"Not legally," I said.
"How could a mere legal convention make me a slave," she asked. "It is meaningless."
"Tell that to girls who wear collars, and find themselves at the total mercy of masters," I said.
Fighting Slave of Gor     Book 14     Page 350


She was, after all, a woman of Earth. Later, of course, she had been captured by Kliomenes, the lieutenant to Policrates, the pirate, and taken to the stronghold of Policrates. There, in full Gorean legality, she had been again enslaved, as, months before, she had been in the House of Andronicus, in Vonda, when first she had been brought to Gor as a helpless Earth girl, to be branded and collared, and sold to Gorean brutes for their pleasure.
Rouge of Gor     Book 15     Page 255


She looked wildly to Tasdron, her master, and, interestingly, to Callimachus. She looked to Tasdron, of course, because he was her legal master, her owner. In looking to Callimachus, on the other hand, she had revealed, inadvertently, not even understanding what she had done, that he was in her heart her master, and that she was, in her heart, his slave.
Rouge of Gor     Book 15     Page 261


"He who ties a woman owns her," is a Gorean saying. To be sure, strictly, a woman might find herself tied by a man who does not own her legally, but even in such a case, she will experience herself as being owned in a rather practical and significant sense, that sense, namely, in which she is completely at his mercy and under his control, that sense in which he may do with her as he pleases.
Guardsman of Gor     Book 16     Page 267


Slaves may buy and sell in the name of their masters, but they cannot, of course, buy and sell for themselves because they are only animals.
Savages of Gor     Book 17     Page 61


Goreans, though recognizing the legal and economic legitimacy of male slavery, do not regard it as possessing the same biological sanction as attaches to female slavery.
Savages of Gor     Book 17     Page 70


In most Gorean cities it is illegal to offer an unbranded woman in a public sale.
Savages of Gor     Book 17     Page 101


A free woman, understandably, cannot even begin to compete with a female slave for a man's love. That is perhaps another reason why free women so hate their vulnerable, imbonded sisters. If a free woman would assure herself of her man's love she could not do better than, in effect, become his slave. She can beg of him, if she senses in herself the true bondage of love, an enslavement ceremony, in which she proclaims herself, and becomes, his slave. In their most secret and intimate relations thereafter she lives and loves as his slave. If a woman fears to do this she may, on an experimental basis, resort to limited self-contracting, in which her documents will contain stated termination dates. Thus, by her own free will, she becomes a slave for a specific period, ranging usually from an evening to a year. The woman enters into this arrangement freely; she cannot, of course, withdraw from it in the same way. The reason for this is clear. As soon as the words are spoken, or her signature is placed on the pertinent document, or document, she is no longer a free person. She is then only a slave, an animal, no longer with any legal powers whatsoever. She is, then, until the completion of the contractual period, until the expiration date of the arrangement, totally subject to the will of her master.
Blood Brothers of Gor     Book 18     Pages 101 - 102


The question is sometimes put to her in somewhat the following fashion. "If you are a free woman, speak your freedom and advance, now, to the headsman's block, or, if you are truly a slave, and have only been masquerading until now as a free woman, step now, if you wish, upon the mat of submission and kneel there, in this act becoming at last, explicitly, a legal slave." She is then expected, sometimes, kneeling, to lick the feet of a soldier, who then rapes her on the mat. It is commonly regarded as an acceptable introduction for a woman to her explicit and legal slavery.
Blood Brothers of Gor     Book 18     Page 337

"Beware of the words you speak," said Seibar. This was true. Such words, in themselves, in the appropriate context, effected enslavement. Intention, and such, is immaterial, for one might always maintain that one had not meant them, or such. The words themselves, in the appropriate context, are sufficient. Whether one means them or not one becomes, in their utterance, instantly, categorically and without recourse, fully and legally a slave, something with which masters are then entitled to do with as they please. Such words are not to be spoken lightly. They are as meaningful as the collar, as significant as the brand.

"The words I speak, I speak knowingly," she said.

"Speak clearly," he said.

"I herewith proclaim myself a slave," she said. "I am a slave."
Blood Brothers of Gor     Book 18     Page 364


she who was now my own slave, she to whom I now held full legal title
Blood Brothers of Gor     Book 18     Page 466


The expression 'my master' is not an uncommon one among Gorean slave girls but it is almost invariably reserved for use with a legal master.
Kajira of Gor     Book 19     Page 361

She belonged to Samos, of course. It had been within the context of his capture rights that she had, as a free woman, of her own free will, pronounced upon herself a formula of enslavement. Automatically then, in virtue of the context, she became his. The law is clear on this. The matter is more subtle when the woman is not within a context of capture rights. Here the matter differs from city to city. In some cities, a woman may not, with legal recognition, submit herself to a specific man as a slave, for in those cities that is interpreted as placing at least a temporary qualification on the condition of slavery which condition, once entered into, all cities agree, is absolute. In such cities, then, the woman makes herself a slave, unconditionally. It is then up to the man in question whether or not he will accept her as his slave. In this matter he will do as he pleases. In any event, she is by then a slave, and only that.

In other cities, and in most cities, on the other hand, a free woman may, with legal tolerance, submit herself as a slave to a specific man. If he refuses her, she is then still free. If he accepts her, she is then, categorically, a slave, and he may do with her as he pleases, even selling her or giving her away, or slaying her, if he wishes. Here we might note a distinction between laws and codes. In the codes of the warriors, if a warrior accepts a woman as a slave, it is prescribed that, at least for a time, an amount of time up to his discretion, she be spared. If she should be the least bit displeasing, of course, or should prove recalcitrant in even a tiny way, she may be immediately disposed of.

It should be noted that this does not place a legal obligation on the warrior. It has to do, rather, with the proprieties of the codes. If a woman not within a clear context of rights, such as capture rights, house rights, or camp rights, should pronounce herself slave, simpliciter, then she is subject to claim. These claims may be explicit, as in branding, binding and collaring, or as in the uttering of a claimancy formula, such as "I own you," "You are mine," or "You are my slave," or implicit, as in, for example, permitting the slave to feed from your hand or follow you.
Players of Gor     Book 20     Page 21


He now had her kneeling naked at his feet, addressing him as "Master." In the Gorean culture, of course, this sort of thing is very significant. Indeed, in some cities such things as kneeling before a man or addressing him as "Master" effects legal imbondment on the female, being interpreted as a gesture of submission.
Players of Gor     Book 20     Page 139


The wagons often move. There must be new grazing for the bosk. There must be fresh rooting and browse for the tarsk and verr. The needs of these animals, on which the Alars depend for their existence, are taken to justify movements, and sometimes even migrations, of the Alars and kindred peoples. Needless to say, these movements, particularly when they intrude into more settled areas, often bring the folk of the laagers into conflict with others peasants and, of course, shortly thereafter, townsfolk and city dwellers who depend on the peasants for their foodstuffs. Also, of course, their movements often, from a legal point of view, constitute actual invasions or indisputable territorial infringements, as when, uninvited, they enter areas technically within the jurisdiction or hegemony of given cities or towns.
Mercenaries of Gor     Book 21     Pages 43 - 44


We had surrendered our weapons at the entrance to the wagon camp, as, in the company of Mincon, we had left it a few Ehn ago. A strict weapons control had been instituted in Torcadino. Possession of an unauthorized weapon could be construed as a capital offense, the penalty for which, at the discretion of any soldier, could be exacted in place, instantly and without recourse or appeal. The talons of the silver tarn did not grasp weakly. Yet this had been done in a legalistic fashion. In my wallet was a scrap of paper with a number on it, a number which matched another, that left with my weapons, left behind near the weapons table, that set up at the entrance of the camp.
Mercenaries of Gor     Book 21     Page 130


"Let her be tortured for the truth," said Boabissia. It is legal in Gorean courts for the testimony of slaves to be taken under torture. Indeed, it is commonly done.
Mercenaries of Gor     Book 21     Page 240


"How could this Talena become Ubara of Ar?" I asked. "I thought she was sworn from the line of Marlenus."
"She can be given legal entitlement to the succession," said a fellow. "I have heard it discussed."
Mercenaries of Gor     Book 21     Page 272


Goreans are usually rather careful about such things as crests, signs, family emblems, and such. Sometimes such things are actually registered, and legally restricted in their use to given lines.
Mercenaries of Gor     Book 21     Page 292


"Do you think I am a slave?" she asked.
"Of course not," I said.
"Oh, I do not mean legally," she said. "I mean really."
"Oh," I said, "then of course."
"Of course!" she said.
"Yes," I said.
"Beware!" she said. "I am a free woman!"
"Not really," I said.
"Not really?" she asked.
"No," I said. "You are really a slave. All you lack are some minor legal technicalities, such as the collar."
Mercenaries of Gor     Book 21     Pages 404 - 405

"What does a free woman do," she asked, "when she learns she is a slave?"

"You are free," I said. "The decision is yours. But beware of certain decisions, for if you make them, you would then no longer be free. Your decisions then might rather be concerned with such things as how to best please your master, within certain latitudes which he might permit you."

She was quiet, her head on my chest.

"The self-enslavement decision is an interesting one," I said, "for it is a decision which is freely made, being made by a free individual, but, once made, it is irrevocable, for the individual is then no longer free, but only a property."

She lifted her head. She was then on her elbows beside me. Her breasts were lovely. "You could take me to a slaver's, and sell me," she said.

"True," I said.

"Do so!" she said.

"No," I said.

"Why not?" she asked.

"Because it amuses me to treat you like a slave," I said.

"Beast," she said, and put her head down again on my chest.

"You could turn yourself in, to a slaver," I said.

"True," she said.

"You call upon him, dressed in your finest veils and robes of concealment," I said, "probably first having made an appointment. That would be a, common courtesy. He may, after all, be a busy man. Then, in the privacy of his office, as he observes, you strip yourself. You do this as gracefully and as well as you can, without training. You reveal yourself to him completely. You are absolutely naked. He will presumably put you through some simple slave paces, forming some conception of your capacity to move well before men. In the process of this, you are, of course, being assessed. You then, when permitted, kneel. You then humbly beg his permission to bind yourself into slavery before him, thereby making yourself a slave, and, in the context, submitting yourself to him as your first master. You keep your head down, and await his decision. In your case, I am sure the decision would be affirmative.

"Various things might then happen. He might have you sign a slave document, in the presence of witnesses. As soon as your signature is on the document, of course, you are a slave. On the other hand, he might proceed even more simply. He might merely have you utter a formula of enslavement, though, again, doubtless in the presence of witnesses, who might sign a paper certifying their witnessing of your declaration. Let us suppose you utter such a formula. The simplest is perhaps, 'I am a slave.' You are then a slave. He will perhaps then say, 'You are my slave.' This claims you. You are then his slave. This is sufficient in the context for in that context you have been momentarily an unclaimed slave, who may be claimed by the first free person who chooses to do so. Too, in this case, them are, of course, no counterclaims to be adjudicated. He is there first, so to speak. His claim is fully warranted, unchallengeable and legally indisputable. This is again done presumably in the presence of witnesses, who may be asked to certify their witnessing of the action. You might then say, though it is not necessary in the context, for you are, anyway, by this time, clearly his slave, 'Yes, Master, I am your slave.' By this utterance you officially acknowledge him as your master. It is sometimes thought that this sort of thing is good from the slave's point of view, that she hears herself say this. It is legally unnecessary, but it is sometimes thought to be a psychologically useful act on the part of the slave. She, in this pronouncement, at any rate, clearly acknowledges that she knows who owns her. This, too, of course, may be attested to in writing by the witnesses.
Mercenaries of Gor     Book 21     Pages 416 - 418


If he from whom she had intended to purchase tarn passage had not seen the collar, nor, of course, her brand, nor her tunic, or such, and, theoretically, at least, did not know she was a slave, he would not be held legally responsible for having sold her passage.
Dancer of Gor     Book 22     Page 275

"Your slave," said a man, a tall fellow, in swirling robes, "is not without interest."
. . .

"I think she was once a tavern dancer," said the man.

"Perhaps," said my master. "I do not know." He made as though to go.

"I think she is a stolen tavern dancer," said the man.

"I bought her properly," said my master.

"You have papers on her?" asked the man.

"No," said my master.

"You received stolen goods," said the man.

"Not to my knowledge," said my master.

"An investigation might nonetheless prove you have no legal hold on her."

"Are you a magistrate, or a praetor's agent?" inquired my master, narrowly.

"No," said the fellow.

My master relaxed, visibly.

"But I could always lodge a citizen's inquiry, and have the matter looked into," he said.

"What do you want?" asked my master.

"She is a hot slave, and is curvy, and beautiful," he said.

"So?" asked my master.

"Too, she dances well, and her ears are pierced," said the man.

"So?" inquired my master.

"What did you pay for her?" he asked.

"That is my business," said my master.

"Not much, I would suppose," said the man. "Stolen slaves seldom bring high prices, unless delivered to private dealers on contract, or to slavers, who know what to do with them, and where to sell them."

"She is mine," said my master. "I have held her in my collar for a sufficient time."

"I am prepared to accept that she is now yours," said the fellow. "For example, she seems clearly accommodated to your collar. The official recovery period is doubtless now passed."

"Then our conversation is at an end," said my master, angrily.

"Nonetheless it seems you might still count, officially, as a fellow who had received stolen goods," said the man.

"Not to my knowledge, if at all," said my master.

"Ignorance of the origin of the goods," said the man, "might indeed exonerate you from personal guilt in the matter."

My master shrugged.

"Still," said the man, "it might be of some interest to a praetor to hear you protest your innocence in the matter. He would be likely to be interested, too, in whom you bought the slave from, and such, and perhaps even where they obtained her."

"What do you want?" asked my master, angrily.

"I am prepared to be generous," said the man.

"She is not for sale," said my master.

"I have come from Argentum," he said. "I have come to Market of Semris looking for a certain type of slave. I think that your girl might be just what I need."

"Are you a slaver?" asked my master.

"No," he said. He looked down at me. "You are an exciting slut," he said.

I put my head down.

I did not want to be involved in this. In Gorean courts the testimony of slaves is commonly taken under torture.

"She is not for sale," said my master.

"I will give you five silver tarsks for her," said the man.

My master seemed stunned. I myself could scarcely believe what I had heard. Such prices are not paid for street dancers.

"Done!" said my master.
Dancer of Gor     Book 22     Pages 286 - 288


When the recovery period pertinent to the collar of Ionicus had expired, I had been in the power of Teibar of Ar. Indeed, I had been literally wearing his chains. The legalities of simple slave claim, based on active proprietorship, had now superseded, with respect to that collar, the rights contestable by the sword under which I had hitherto been held, those of sword claim.
Dancer of Gor     Book 22     Page 467

"Do you beg permission," I asked, "to legalize the matter, to speak appropriate words of self-enslavement?"

She nodded, vigorously, again.

I then loosened the hood and pushed it up, about her head and forehead. I had not remembered she was so beautiful. I then loosened the two ties of the gag and pulled the wadding out from her mouth, letting it hang over the loosened cords, putting the whole by her throat. She looked at me, wildly, gratefully.

"Speak," I said.

"I am a slave!" she said.

"She is a slave!" said Lady Claudia softly.

The prisoner shrank back, frightened, shuddering, helpless, thrilled, now knowing herself slave.
Renegades of Gor     Book 23     Page 269


She might turn herself over to a praetor, hoping for mercy, as she had surrendered herself. Or perhaps she might solicit some person to make active claim upon her, such a claim, after certain intervals, superseding prior claims. Although there are various legal qualifications involved, which vary from city to city, effective, or active, possession is generally regarded as crucial from the point of view of the law, such possession being taken, no other claims forthcoming within a specified interval, as conferring legal title.
Renegades of Gor     Book 23     Page 275

"And if I dressed in such a manner that my caste would not be clear," she said, "it is no more than many women do upon occasion. Surely some women even reserve the caste robes and colors for such things as formal occasions, and some even for ceremonial functions."

"True," said Aemilianus.

"I do not think then I should be held accountable under the charge of attempting to deceive with respect to caste," she said. "For example, I engaged in no business under false pretenses, and I never claimed explicitly to be of a caste other than my own." It seemed to me that she did have a point here. The legal problems connected with intent to deceive with respect to caste, of course, problems of the sort which presumably constitute the rationale of the law, usually come up in cases of fraud or impersonation, for example, with someone pretending to be of the Physicians.
Renegades of Gor     Book 23     Page 368

"Some fellows do not brand their slaves," I said.

"That is stupid!" she said.

"It is also contrary to the laws of most cities," I said, "and to merchant law, as well."

"Of course," she said.

Gorean, she approved heartily of the branding of slaves. Most female slaves on Gor, indeed, the vast majority, almost all, needless to say, are branded. Aside from questions of legality, compliance with the law, and such, I think it will be clear upon a moment's reflection that various practical considerations also commend slave branding to the attention of the owner, in particular, the identification of the article as property, this tending to secure it, protecting against its loss, facilitating its recovery, and so on. The main legal purpose of the brand, incidentally, is doubtless this identification of slaves.
Vagabonds of Gor     Book 24     Page 188


A slave, of course, being a domestic animal, cannot sign papers, not in a legal sense, no more than a tarsk or sleen. Her name, if she has one, is only a slave name, put on her for the convenience of a master. As she does not have a name in her own right, so, too, accordingly, she has no signature in her own right.
Vagabonds of Gor     Book 24     Page 254


"The discipline of a slave," I said, "may be attended to by any free person, otherwise she might do much what she wished, provided only her master did not learn of it." The legal principle was clear, and had been upheld in several courts, in several cities, including Ar.
Magicians of Gor     Book 25     Page 122


"She is legally free," I reminded him.
"A mere technicality," he said.
"It is not a mere technicality to those who find themselves in legal bondage," I said.
"I suppose not," he granted me.
Magicians of Gor     Book 25     Page 205


"I am a woman," she said, "why should I kneel?"
This seemed to me a strange response. I would have supposed it in excellent reason to kneel, being in the presence of men, if one were a woman. If she were a free woman, of course, fitting or not, there would be no legal proprieties involved. A free woman, as long as she remains free, can stand to the fullness of her short, graceful height before men.
Magicians of Gor     Book 25     Page 216


In the formation of most cursive letters, incidentally, there are few, if any, differences among the various cities. The differences tend to have more to do with the "cast" of the hand, so to speak, its general appearance, a function of a number of things, such as size, spacing of letters, linkages among them, length of loops, nature of end strokes, and such. Also, certain letters, at least for commercial or legal, if not personal, purposes, tended to be standardized. An excellent example are those standing for various weights and measures.
Magicians of Gor     Book 25     Page 347


It is illegal in many cities, incidentally, to take maps of the city out of the city. More than one fellow, too, has put himself in the quarries or on the bench of a galley for having been caught with such a map in his possession.
Magicians of Gor     Book 25     Page 388

"From the legal point of view," said Tolnar, "it makes no difference, of course."

"Release me!" she said. "Do you think I am a common person? Do you think you can treat one of my importance in this fashion! I shall have Seremides have you boiled in oil!"

"I am of the second Octavii," said Tolnar. "My colleague is of the Toratti."

"Then you may be scourged and beheaded, or impaled!" she wept.

"You would have us neglect our duty?" inquired Tolnar. He was Gorean, of course.

"In this case," she snapped, "you are well advised to do so."

"That is quite possibly true," said Tolnar.

"The principle here, I gather," said Marcus, "is that the Ubara is above the law."

"The law in question is a serious one," said Tolnar. "It was promulgated by Marlenus, Ubar of Ubars."

"Surely," said Venlisius to the netted woman, "you do not put yourself on a level with the great Marlenus."

"It does not matter who is greater," she said. "I am Ubara!"

"The Ubara is above the law?" asked Marcus, who had an interest in such things.

"In a sense, yes," said Tolnar, "the sense in which she can change the law by decree."

"But she is subject to the law unless she chooses to change it?" asked Marcus.

"Precisely," said Tolnar. "And that is the point here."

"Whatever law it is," cried the netted woman, "I change it! I herewith change it!"

"How can you change it?" asked Tolnar.

"I am Ubara!" she said.

"You were Ubara," he said.

She cried out in misery, in frustration, in the net.

"Interesting," said Marcus.

"Release me!" demanded the woman.

"Do you think we are fond of she who was once Talena," asked Tolnar, "of she who betrayed Ar, and collaborated with her enemies?"

"Release me, if you value your lives!" she cried. "Seremides will wish me free! So, too, will Myron! So, too, will Lurius of Jad!"

"But we have taken an oath to uphold the laws of Ar," said Tolnar.

"Free me!" she said.

"You would have us compromise our honor?" asked Tolnar.

"I order you to do so," she said.

Tolnar smiled.

"Why do you smile?" she asked.

"How can a slave order a free person to do anything?" he asked.

"A slave!" she cried. "How dare you!"

"You are taken into bondage," said Tolnar, "under the couching laws of Marlenus of Ar. Any free woman who couches with, or prepares to couch with, a male slave, becomes herself a slave, and the property of the male slave's master."

"I, property!" she cried.

"Yes," said Tolnar.

Absurd!" she said.

"Not at all," he said. "It is, I assure you, all quite legal."
Magicians of Gor     Book 25     Pages 454 - 456


The brands, which we all wore, of course, mark us as what we are. That is useful, as I have suggested, for legal, and commercial, purposes. The collar, commonly, identifies the house, or he who holds absolute rights over us. Both the brand and the collar are in their diverse ways, identifications, but the collar, as you can understand, is somewhat more specific. Collars can change, of course. But the brand does not. It remains.
Witness of Gor     Book 26     Page 73


Legally, of course, the slave can own nothing, not even as little as a tarsk-bit.
Witness of Gor     Book 26     Page 670


Although Ellen had never been outside the house she understood that there was no escape for the Gorean slave girl, even outside. There was the brand, the collar, the garmenture. More importantly, there was no place to go, no place to hide, no place to run. The legal rights of the masters were everywhere acknowledged, respected and enforced. At their back was the full power of custom, tradition and law.
Prize of Gor     Book 27     Page 137

"You affirm," said a man, "that she has been properly embonded, and that all legal proprieties have been satisfied?"

"Yes," said the auctioneer. "All is in impeccable order, to the last detail."
Prize of Gor     Book 27     Page 479

"In the legal sense," said Cabot, "you are right. One cannot rape a slave, any more than one can rape a verr or tarsk."

"What if the slave were unwilling?"

"The same," said he. "No more than a verr or tarsk."

"What if she were seized by one not her master?"

"The same," said he. "No more than a verr or tarsk. But in such a case the master might object, and take action, perhaps charging a coin for the girl's use, or perhaps killing the thief."

"The thief?"

"Surely, has he not availed himself of another's property without authorization, has he not stolen a use?"
Kur of Gor     Book 28     Page 322


"The matter became public knowledge shortly after the rising of the people, the return of Marlenus," he said. "Two magistrates furnished the details, Tolnar, of the second Octavii, and Venlisius, by adoption, a scion of the Toratti. The former Ubara had been embonded in accord with the couching law of Marlenus of Ar, any free woman who couches with, or prepares to couch with, a male slave, becomes herself a slave, and the property of the male slave's master. She was preparing to couch with Milo, a slave, and actor, when apprehended, and, it seems, you were at that time, by some stratagem or subterfuge, the master of the slave, Milo, and so became the master of the former free woman, Talena of Ar. The whole thing was very cleverly done, it seems. Considering the nature of the case, papers were carefully prepared, and measurements and prints taken, that there be no mistake about the legality of the proceeding, nor any possible problem later in the exact identification of the slave.
Swordsmen of Gor     Book 29     Pages 450 - 451


Possession, particularly after a lengthy interval, is often regarded as decisive, by praetors, archons, magistrates, scribes of the law, and such. What is of most importance to the law is not so much that a particular individual owns a slave as that she is owned by someone, that she is absolutely and perfectly owned.
Swordsmen of Gor     Book 29     Page 452


Who could long resist her? And should she fail in this there was the Kur pet, in her way a primitive human animal, as innocent and sexual as a cat in heat. In one way or another, then, my honor was to have been lost, as, sooner or later, given the imperatives of nature and the provocations to which I was exposed, I must be unable to resist, as I must feast upon one or both of these delicacies, putting one or both of them, again and again, to my pleasure. Neither, you see, was a slave, at least legally. Both were free, at least legally. And therein lay the difficulty. I have little doubt but what, sooner or later, I would have taken the proud, vain, selfish English girl in my arms, and she would learn what it would be to be used by a Gorean warrior, and as might be a mere slave.
Swordsmen of Gor     Book 29     Pages 552 - 553


She had begged my collar. I consented to the piteous pleas of the slave, and would honor her with my collar, which I then locked on her neck. That night, chained in an alcove, at my mercy, she was taught, finally and well, what it is to be a slave. A natural slave, she had become a legal slave; then, a legal slave, she had become a true slave.
Swordsmen of Gor     Book 29     Page 554


Surely that was not such a kiss as might be given to a free woman! Might it not have been more appropriately imposed upon a paga girl or a brothel slut, fastened down for a man's pleasure? But I was strangely, inexplicably, stirred. Unaccountable sensations coursed through me. What might it be, I wondered, to be vulnerably, helplessly, legally, subject to such abuse?
Mariners of Gor     Book 30     Page 73


"I was helpless and miserable, and in pain, and overcome with the enormity of what had been done with me, and was scarcely able to comprehend the radical transformation which had taken place in my fortunes, from a noble, lofty, exalted, free woman, a legal person, and one of wealth and station, to that of a purchasable object, a vendible beast, an animal, a branded, collared slave, but mostly I was terrified that my identity was suspected, and that I would be returned to Ar, for tortures culminating in the humiliation and agonies of the impaling spear.
Mariners of Gor     Book 30     Page 74


In a legal sense, a slave cannot be raped, no more than any other domestic animal. On the other hand, there might well be social, legal, and economic consequences if, say, A was to use the slave of B without B's authorization. To be sure, unless honor is thought to be involved, which may lead to blood and death, such matters are usually resolved amicably, perhaps by an apology and the payment of a use coin, A's putting one of his slaves, B's choice, at the disposal of B, or such.
Mariners of Gor     Book 30     Page 124


It makes clear that the slave, legally, and otherwise, is an animal, her master's animal.
Mariners of Gor     Book 30     Page 554


"I did not want you thusly," I said, "a girl for a coin, to be relinquished after some Ehn or an Ahn, or so, to be ceded in her turn to another, to be surrendered at the closing of a tavern's portal. I wanted you whole, and mine, indisputably, legally, in every way. I did not want to rent you for the price of a drink. I wanted more. I wanted all. I wanted everything. I wanted to own you, completely, every strand of hair, every bit of you."
Mariners of Gor     Book 30     Page 574


As the city or state is managed by men, and is armed, it is feared. Goreans prefer to be governed as little as possible. The city or state, on the other hand, which has properties, farms, and such, as well as it support from taxes, often supports public festivals, concerts, performances, and contests, competitions, for example, of strength, speed of foot, archery, javelin casting, riding, singing, drama poetry, dancing, and such.
Conspirators of Gor     Book 31    Page 100


Thus, here, the law, in all its power and rigor, in all its weight and majesty, would be used not for me but against me, for example, to hunt me down and return me to a master.
Conspirators of Gor     Book 31    Page 125


Men were still the masters, but now not subtly, almost invisibly, as on Earth, but now openly, visibly, in the full force of law.
Conspirators of Gor    Book 31    Page 153


The kajira, of course, knows that it is all of her that is owned. That is clear in law.
Conspirators of Gor    Book 31     Page 319


"What are you going to do with me?" she wept.
"Return you to your master, of course," said Astrinax.
"No, no!" she begged.
She tried to spring up but stumbled, shackled, and was then again on her knees before Astrinax.
"It is the law," said Astrinax.
Conspirators of Gor    Book 31     Page 439


"Who owns you?" he asked.
"I no longer know," I said.
"Legally," he said, "you must belong to the Lady Bina."
Conspirators of Gor     Book 31    Page 482


I did know that testimony from a slave, at least in a court of law, is commonly taken under torture.
Conspirators of Gor     Book 31     Page 512


I had been duly and legally embonded. All was in order. I was legally, and indisputably, a slave. But, I knew, however I might want to think about such things, for better or for worse, I was a slave, in all legality.
Smugglers of Gor     Book 32     Page 242


Soon a hardy blaze was illuminating the clearing, brightly. It was bright enough for a man's paga feast, the sort at which stripped free women must dance as slaves and, to their shame, though they are still legally free, will be put to use as sluts before their collaring and branding.
Smugglers of Gor     Book 32     Pages 303 - 304


"I am a slave!" said Darla.
"I am a slave!" said Tuza.
"I am a slave, Master!" said Emerald.
"I am a slave, Master!" said Hiza.
The women were now legally, slaves. Such words cannot be unsaid.
Smugglers of Gor     Book 32     Page 394


According to Merchant law an unclaimed slave, one legally subject to claimancy, may be claimed, and then is the property of the claimant.
Smugglers of Gor     Book 32     Page 424


"What did they call you in the training house?" he asked.
"'Phyllis'," I said. It is not unusual for a girl's former name, in a sense, particularly in the case of barbarians, to be kept on her. To be sure, technically, it is not the same name, as the legal name vanishes with the girl's freedom. 'Phyllis' was now a slave name, bestowed at the discretion of a master or mistress, as any animal might be named by its master or mistress.
Plunder of Gor     Book 34     Page 84


Whereas caste change is not prohibited, and legal provisions exist for its effectuation, it is seldom sought.
Plunder of Gor     Book 34     Page 103


Ubars are usually generals or war leaders, originally acclaimed by, and empowered by, popular support, most often in periods of crisis. In a sense, I suppose they, too, are tyrants, as there is no legal limit placed on their tenure in office nor are there any obvious provisions for removing them from office, short of, I suppose, assassinations or uprisings. To be sure, they commonly have the support of the people. They select their own successors, often by legally adopting a favored individual. Almost invariably a Ubar is a member of the caste of warriors. Their power remains in place then, in a sense, not only because of popular support and contentment, but, as well, by means of the backing of the military. I have spoken of Lysander as a tyrant, though he referred to himself genially, as an Administrator, a humble servant of the people. He was, in effect, a strong man, of considerable economic power, who, by means of a coalition of personal supporters, mercenaries, and the military, controlled the city. I speak of a "tyrant" in the sense that there was no legal limit of a tenure in office involved nor any familiar, established, legal mechanism for removing from office. In a sense the tyrant is, for most practical purposes, a Ubar.
Plunder of Gor     Book 34     Page 150


And then I was brought to Gor, and found myself a slave, then in all legality no more than an object, an animal, a property.
Quarry of Gor     Book 35     Page 7


How pleased I was to address men as "Master." It seemed so right. I was so slight, and soft, compared to them. I was so much at their mercy! Too, of course, as a slave, I must address them as "Master," and to me, in all legality, as well as in the order of nature, they were "Master."
Quarry of Gor     Book 35     Page 18


"I shall try you out," he said, "as a meaningless sex object, no more, the meaningless sex object you were before and now are, appropriately, in full legality, a worthless, branded, collared slave."
Quarry of Gor     Book 35     Page 155


Did it amuse him, I wondered, that I, a former free woman of Earth, indeed, one of his own acquaintance, the former Miss Margaret Henderson, whom he had held in such contempt on Earth, now collared, branded, kneeling and bound, should so unhesitantly, and promptly, identify herself as what she now was, in all rightfulness and legality, a property?
Quarry of Gor     Book 35     Page 221