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Gorean Book Quote Requests
Requests 1-173 were asked and answered back when there were only 25 books.
Also, some of the early questions were unintentionally truncated and cannot be restored. However, the answers are shown in their totality.
[ Quote Request ]
[ Q& A List ]
| Q # | Question |
| 121 | "a girl humbly begs if You might be able to locate the quote(s) referring to the diameter of a sparring ring/circle. she has been told that it is stated as a wooden ring approxiately 21 foott across. is this true Master?"
Answer
Hello,
There is no instance of a "sparring" circle described within the series.
Even the word "spar" does not appear in the context of a fight.
Two times though, I recalled where an area on the ground was laid out in
which to fight. One was the circles between the stakes on the plains of a
Thousand Stakes used during the Love War between the Wagon Peoples and those
of Turia. The second being the square used by those of Torvaldsland to
settle disputes.
Fogaban
In the space between the two lines of stakes, for each pair of facing
stakes, there was a circle of roughly eight yards in diameter. This circle,
the grass having been removed, was sanded and raked.
Nomads of Gor Book 4 Page 112
"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. These duels, particularly of the formal variety,
are sometimes used disreputably for gain by unscrupulous swordsmen. A man,
incredibly enough, may be challenged risks his life among the hazel wands;
he may be slain; then, too, of course, the stake, the farm, the companion,
the daughter, is surrendered by law to the challenger. The motivation of
this custom, I gather, is to enable strong, powerful men to obtain land and
attractive women; and to encourage those who possess such to keep themselves
in fighting condition. All in all I did not much approve of the custom.
Commonly, of course, the formal duel is used for more reputable purposes,
such as settling grievances over boundaries, or permitting an opportunity
where, in a case of insult, satisfaction might be obtained.
Marauders of Gor Book 9 Pages 145 - 146
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