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 OutlawsI have included Outlaws, not because they are a Caste, but because they have no Caste. And, since they are mentioned in the Books, they are still relevant to this topic. However, to be an Outlaw is not glamorous. It is not "cool". To be "without caste" or "out of caste," one risks hanging, hamstringing or impalement. In fact, Outlaws are thought to have relinquished caste, and are mentioned along with slaves who are "below caste," or, perhaps better, "aside from caste" or "apart from caste." Caste is important to Goreans. The caste structure lends an individual identity and pride and allies him with thousands of caste brothers. Following now are the relevant references from the Books where Outlaws are mentioned. I make no pronouncements on these matters, but report them as I find them. Arrive at your own conclusions. I wish you well, Fogaban The caste system was socially efficient, given its openness with respect to merit, but I regarded it as somehow ethically objectionable. It was still too rigid, in my opinion, particularly with respect to the selection of rulers from the High Castes and with respect to the Double Knowledge. But far more deplorable than the caste system was the institution of slavery. There were only three statuses conceivable to the Gorean mind outside of the caste system; slave, outlaw, and Priest-King. A man who refused to practice his livelihood or strove to alter status without the consent of the Council of High Castes was, by definition, an outlaw and subject to impalement. Tarnsman of Gor Book 1 Pages 45 - 46 The thought crossed my mind of giving up the project, turning outlaw, if you will, deserter, if you like, but of saving my own skin, trying to get out of this mad scheme if only with my life, and that only for a time. Tarnsman of Gor Book 1 Page 74 I was puzzled that the garb, like the helmet and shield, bore no insignia. This was contrary to the ways Gor, for normally only the habiliments of outlaws and exiles, men without a city, lack the identifying devices of which the Gorean is so proud. Outlaw of Gor Book 2 Page 24 The weight the man was carrying was prodigious, and would have staggered men of most castes, even that of the Warriors. The bundle reared itself at least a man's height above his bent back, and extended perhaps some four feet in width. I knew the support of that weight depended partly on the skillful use of the cords and back, but sheer strength was only too obviously necessary, and this man, and his caste brothers, over the generations, had been shaped to their task. Lesser men had turned outlaw or died. In rare cases, one might have been permitted by the Council of High Castes to raise caste. None of course would accept a lower caste, and there were lower castes, the Caste of Peasants, for example, the most basic caste of all Gor. Outlaw of Gor Book 2 Page 27 "What do you want?" asked the carrier of wood, who must now have noticed that my shield and accouterments bore no insignia, and would have concluded that I was an outlaw. Outlaw of Gor Book 2 Page 28 The peasant on Gor does not fear the outlaw, for he seldom has anything worth stealing, unless it be a daughter. Indeed, the peasant and outlaw on Gor live in an almost unspoken agreement, the peasant tending to protect the outlaw and the outlaw sharing in return some of his plunder and booty with the peasant. The peasant does not regard this as dishonest on his part, or as grasping. It is simply a way of life to which he is accustomed. It is a different matter, of course, if it is explicitly known that the outlaw is from a city other than one's own. In that case he is usually regarded as an enemy, to be reported to the patrols as soon as possible. He is, after all, not of one's city. Outlaw of Gor Book 2 Pages 48 - 49 I wondered if I might be able to secure a tarn in the intriguing city of Tharna. It would shorten the trip to the Sardar Mountains by weeks. I had no money with which to purchase a tarn but I reasoned my hiring price as a swordsman might be sufficient to purchase a mount. For that matter, though I did not seriously consider the possibility, being without a city, in effect an outlaw, I was entitled in the Gorean way of thinking to take the bird or its purchase price in any way I saw fit. Outlaw of Gor Book 2 Page 50 "I am not an outlaw," I said, "though I wear no insignia on my tunic, or shield." "Of course not," he said quickly. "There is no place in Tharna for an outlaw. We are a hard-working and honest folk." Outlaw of Gor Book 2 Page 71 "I am Linna of Tharna," she said. "What is your name?" "Tarl," I said. "Of what city?" "Of no city." "Ah!" said the girl, smiling, and inquired no further. She would have concluded that she shared her cell with an outlaw. Outlaw of Gor Book 2 Page 103 The expeditions sent out from the cities are of course extremely well guarded, but pirates and outlaws too can band together in large numbers . . . Priest-Kings of Gor Book 3 Page 13 I would not be the first, of course, to enter the Sardar. Many men and sometimes women had entered these mountains but it is not known what they found. Sometimes these individuals are young idealists, rebels and champions of lost causes, who wish to protest to Priest-Kings; sometimes they are individuals who are old or diseased and are tired of life and wish to die; sometimes they are piteous or cunning or frightened wretches who think to find the secret of immortality in those barren crags; and sometimes they are outlaws fleeing from Gor's harsh justice, hoping to find at least brief sanctuary in the cruel, mysterious domain of Priest-Kings, a country into which they may be assured no mortal magistrate or vengeful band of human warriors will penetrate. I supposed the Initiate might account me one of the latter, for my habiliments bore no insignia. Priest-Kings of Gor Book 3 Page 16 The northern forests, the haunts of bandits and unusual beasts, far to the north and east of Ko-ro-ba, my city, are magnificent, deep forests, covering hundreds of thousands of square pasangs. Slave girls who escape masters or some free women, who will not accept the matches arranged by their parents, or reject the culture of Gor, occasionally flee to these forests and live together in bands, building shelters, hunting their food, and hating men; there are occasional clashes between these bands of women, who are often skilled archers, and bands of male outlaws inhabiting the same forests . . . Assassin of Gor Book 5 Pages 293 - 294 I was in the delta of the Vosk, and making my way to the city of Port Kar, which alone of Gorean cities commonly welcomes strangers, though few but exiles, murderers, outlaws, thieves and cutthroats would care to find their way to her canaled darknesses. Raiders of Gor Book 6 Page 6 I wore no insignia on my garments, nor on my helmet or shield. The red of the warrior which I wore was now faded from the sun and stained with the salt of the marsh. "You are an outlaw," she pronounced. Raiders of Gor Book 6 Page 11 "Those are the great forests. No one knows how far they extend to the east, and they go north as far as Torvaldsland. In them there are the forest people, but also many bands of outlaws, some of women and some of men." "Women?" I asked. "Some call them the forest girls," said Ute. "Others call them the panther girls, for they dress themselves in the teeth and skins of forest panthers, which they slay with their spears and bows." Captive of Gor Book 7 Pages 81 - 82 I did not ask him his city, for he was outlaw. Outlaws do not care to reveal their city. Hunters of Gor Book 8 Page 15 High on the beach, I saw two pairs of sloping beams. They were high, large and heavy structures. The feet of the beams were planted widely, deeply, in the sand; at the top, where they sloped together, they had been joined and pegged. They were rather like the English letter "A," though lacking the crossbar. Within each "A," her wrists bound by wrapped and taut leather to heavy rings set in the sloping sides, there hung a girl, her full weight on her wrists. Each wore the brief skins of forest panthers. They were panther girls, captured. Their heads were down, their blond hair falling forward. Their ankles had been tied rather widely apart, each fastened by leather to iron rings further down the beams. It was an exchange point. It is thus that outlaws, to passing ships, display their wares. Hunters of Gor Book 8 Page 18 "I refuse to sell for less than eight gold pieces each," said Arn. "Perhaps you could take them to Lydius, and sell them there," suggested Rim. I smiled. "Or perhaps to Laura?" Rim was shrewd. There would be much danger in taking such women to these places. Arn, outlaw, well knew this. We might easily sell such women in Laura, or, more likely, in Lydius, but it would not be an easy matter for an outlaw to do so. Hunters of Gor Book 8 Page 25 Male and female outlaws do not much bother one another at the exchange points. They keep their own markets. I cannot recall a case of females being enslaved at an exchange point, as they bargained with their wares, nor of males being enslaved at their exchange points, when displaying and merchandising their captures. If the exchange points became unsafe for either male or female outlaws, because of the others, the system of exchange points would be largely valueless. The permanency of the point, and its security, seems essential to the trade. Hunters of Gor Book 8 Page 27 "A panther girl," he said, "as you may have guessed. She was brought in but last night, in the darkness." I smiled. This meant that probably she had fallen to an outlaw. Such often bring their captures to a market late, after dark. They are then less likely to be recognized. Hunters of Gor Book 8 Page 70 Outlaws seldom command, from professional slavers, the prices which others might. Hunters of Gor Book 8 Page 72 Outlaws move well in the forests, moving, like panther girls, with swiftness and stealth, and leaving little trace of their passage. Hunters of Gor Book 8 Page 118 "But though you are an outlaw," said Marlenus, looking down upon Verna, "you are also a woman." She looked up at him. "It is for that reason," said Marlenus, "that I do not have you now hung upon a tree." Hunters of Gor Book 8 Page 141 Hanging is a not uncommon penalty in the northern forests for outlawry. Another such penalty, not infrequently inflicted, is hamstringing. Hunters of Gor Book 8 Page 160 "Well," said Ivar Forkbeard to me, "I am an outlaw." "I did not know that," I said. "That is one reason," said he, "that my hall is not of wood." Marauders of Gor Book 9 Page 91 "I am an outlaw," said Ivar. "In a duel I killed Fin Broadbelt." "It was in a duel," I said. "Finn Broadbelt was the cousin of Jarl Svein Blue Tooth." "Ah," I said. Svein Blue Tooth was the high jarl of Torvaldsland, in the sense that he was generally regarded as the most powerful. In his hall, it was said he fed a thousand men. Beyond this his heralds could carry the war arrow, it was said, to ten thousand farms. Ten ships he had at his own wharves, and, it was said, he could summon a hundred more "He is your Jarl?" I asked. "He was my Jarl," said Ivar Forkbeard. "The wergild must be high," I speculated. The Forkbeard looked at me, and grinned. "It was set so high," said he, "out of the reach of custom and law, against the protests of the rune-priests and his own men, that none, in his belief, could pay it." "And thus," said I, "that your outlawry would remain in effect until you were apprehended or slain?" "He hoped to drive me from Torvaldsland," said Ivar. Marauders of Gor Book 9 Pages 93 - 94 In almost every city, for example, one knows that there will be caste brothers on whom one may depend. Charity, too, for example, is almost always associated with caste rights on Gor. One of the reasons there are so few outlaws on Gor is doubtless that the outlaw, in adopting his way of life, surrenders caste rights. Fighting Slave of Gor Book 14 Page 210 There is a Gorean saying that only Priest-Kings, outlaws and slaves lack Home Stones. Dancer of Gor Book 22 Page 388 Outlaws are thought to have relinquished caste, and, in a sense, thus, to be "out of caste," and slaves, of course, as animals, are "below caste," or, perhaps better, "aside from caste" or "apart from caste." Witness of Gor Book 26 Page 226 "What are tarnsmen?" asked Ellen. "Those of the Warriors, or sometimes mercenaries, or outlaws, or raiders, or bandits, whoever mounts, masters and rides tarns." Prize of Gor Book 27 Page 153 Better put, they were lost men, scattered men, hunted men, men with few resources, outlaws, vagabonds, wanderers, many without a Home Stone, perhaps even having dishonored or betrayed it, rude men, rough men, dangerous men, mercenaries, of a sort, recruited by mysterious leaders, in an obscure cause, which few understood. Mariners of Gor Book 30 Page 34 Occasionally a warrior on foot and a tarnsman collaborate on a kill. The warrior on foot engages the target, and the tarnsman, unseen, glides in, silently, placing a bolt in the adversary's unprotected back. This act is scorned in the codes, of course, but it is not without precedent in the field. It is common amongst outlaws and rogue tarnsmen. Mariners of Gor Book 30 Page 59 "Trachinos and his fellow, Akesinos, are outlaws, and lately in contact with their band, recently come from Venna. The rendezvous was to be held, it seems, in the vicinity of the six hundredth pasang stone." I recalled the flickering light. Master Desmond had been aware of it, too. "An ambush is planned," said Astrinax. "How many in the band?" asked Desmond. "Nine, not counting Trachinos and Akesinos," said Astrinax. Conspirators of Gor Book 31 Page 393 I discovered an outlaw band of nine men, and warned Astrinax. It turned out that he had hired, in Venna, two outlaws, in league with that band. Conspirators of Gor Book 31 Page 476 I supposed it was unlikely that large quantities of gold or silver, for obtaining goods, would be carried in the wagons, as such an indiscretion, difficult to conceal, would be likely to attract the attention not only of outlaw bands but of some of the less savory "free companies," assemblages of mercenaries, usually under a captain, who fought for fee, whose services were usually available to the highest bidder. Sometimes sides were changed in the midst of a single war. Who knew what clandestine gold might now have found its home in a new purse? Might the fellow beside you suddenly turn on you? Conspirators of Gor Book 31 Page 499 Many of the refugees still flooding into Brundisium were ragged, exhausted, and half-starved. Some had sold even their swords. Others had formed larger or smaller outlaw bands and prowled the roads, producing a realm of peril and anarchy for a hundred pasangs about. Smugglers of Gor Book 32 Page 39 "Not everyone has a Home Stone," I said. "Beasts, misfits, vagabonds, exiles, repudiated men, scoundrels, outlaws, and such," she said, and then, lowering her voice, whispered, "and perhaps Priest-Kings." Smugglers of Gor Book 32 Page 159 And meanwhile, the docile verr, so proud and jealous of their weakness, so enamored of their impotence, find themselves not only at the mercy of the tyranny but at the mercy of outlaws, rogues and raiders! |       
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