![]() YearsThis is my narrative and relevant references from the Books where Years are mentioned. While this Gorean chronology is substantiated by Book reference, some thought and reasoning must be given to corresponding Earth years. I make no pronouncements on these matters, but report them as I find them. Arrive at your own conclusions. I wish you well, Fogaban Year 10,175 Contasta Ar In Ko-ro-ba, it is Year 67 of the Administration of Matthew Cabot In Tharna, it is Year 57 of Sa'ng-fori and Freedom In Torvaldsland, it is Rune Year 1,059 In Port Kar, it is Year 56 of the Sovereignty of the Council of Captains The Kurii Civilization began 100,047 years ago How can I say this? Well, before I answer that question, I will first explain a little about years in general. Traditionally the Chinese calendar does not use continuously numbered years. Outside of China, years are often numbered from the reign of the Yellow Emperor, Huangdi. But even then, at least three different years numbered 1 are now used by various scholars. In Japan, the imperial year is based on the mythical founding of Japan by Emperor Jimmu. And then there is Anno Domini. You'll probably recognize this when it's abbreviated AD, as in the current year of 2025 AD, the system most commonly used to count years in Western civilization. But even in this system, there is no zero year. So the year 1 AD immediately follows the year 1 BC. As we see, even here on Earth, counting years takes on many forms. The same is true on Gor. Just about every city and group of people count years from a different point in time. The most widely accepted form of referring to the current year is based on Contasta Ar, commonly abbreviated as CA. Contasta Ar can be translated as "from the founding of Ar". As the myth goes, Ar was founded by the first man on Gor, a hero whom the Priest-Kings are said to have formed from the mud of the earth and the blood of tarns. To begin this process it is necessary to establish a cross-reference date. Since John Norman never says, for instance, "10,117 C.A. is 1967", we can still take what we do know and work a little math. We can take what is said from Books 1 & 2 and extrapolate that 10,110 is the same as 1960. How so? We know Book 2 was first published in 1967. We will take the liberty that the following passage was to be read in 'real time', in the year of 1967. We put on our coats and went out into the February evening, into the light snow. Book 1 encompasses 7 months beginning in February. When I emerged from the mountains, I found I had been gone seven months. And 6 years after that Tarl writes at the end of Book 1: Strangely, though it has now been six years since I left the Counter-Earth, I can discover no signs of aging or physical alteration in my appearance. After the same almost seven years, Harrison Smith meets Tarl again. It was almost seven years after I had known Tarl Cabot at the college when I saw him on the streets of Manhattan. Some months pass after their first meeting. In the ensuing months, my studies permitting, we saw one another fairly often. And then, again in February, seven years to the month: "I'll see you tomorrow," I said. So, going backwards in time: ~ Tarl begins his adventures of Book 2 in February, 1967 ~ Some months had passed before that during which Harrison Smith and Tarl met fairly often. ~ Six years before that, Harrison Smith met Tarl again. ~ Tarl returns to Earth after seven months on Gor or September, 1960 ~ Tarl begins his adventures of Book 1 in February, 1960 We can therefore surmise that the events of Book 1 transpired in the Earth year of 1960. And we can also establish that Ar was founded now, 10,175 Earth years ago. So, using the correlation of 1960 AD = 10,110 CA, we can then look further into the Books and see when other events happened in relation to both the founding of Ar and Earth years. I have listed below a few of the referenced points in time from the Books and compared them to the current Earth year of 2025. Chronology of Ar 10,110 CA - 1960 - The Siege of Pa Kur's Horde 10,119 CA - 1969 - The Restoration of Marlenus 10,137 CA - 1987 - Cosian Invasion 10,175 CA - 2025 - Current Year I had known Maximus Hegesius Quintilius only briefly several years ago, when he had been a captain, in 10,110 from the Founding of Ar, in the time of Pa-Kur and his horde. Chronology of Ko-Ro-Ba 10,110 - 1960 - Year 02 of the Administration of Matthew Cabot - Tarl Arrives in Ko-Ro-Ba 10,119 - 1969 - Year 11 of the Administration of Matthew Cabot - Ko-Ro-Ba Restoration Begins 10,175 - 2025 - Year 67 of the Administration of Matthew Cabot - Current Year In the calendar of Ko-ro-ba, which, like most Gorean cities, marks years by its Administrator Lists, it would be the eleventh year of the administration of my father, Matthew Cabot. In the calendar of Ar, for those it might interest, it was the first year of the restoration of Marlenus, Ubar of Ubars, but, more usefully for the purposes of consolidating the normal chaos of Gorean chronology, it was the year 10,119 Contasta Ar, that is, from the founding of Ar. Chronology of Tharna 10,117 CA - 1967 - Year 4 of the Reign of Lara 10,118 CA - 1968 - Year 1 of Sa'ng-fori and Freedom 10,175 CA - 2025 - Year 57 of Sa'ng-fori and Freedom - Current Year Inscribed in the City of Tharna, the Twenty-Third Day of En'Kara in the Fourth Year of the Reign of Lara, Tatrix, of Tharna, the Year 10,117 from the Founding of Ar. Outlaw of Gor Book 2 Page 245 Chronology of Events Concerning the Priest-Kings 10,118 CA - 1968 - Nest War In the Sardar Mountains 10,119 CA - 1969 - Last Egg of the Priest-Kings Returned Chronology of the Wagon Peoples 10,118 CA - 1968 - The Year in Which Tarl Cabot Came to the Wagon Peoples 10,119 CA - 1969 - The Year in which Tarl Cabot Commanded a Thousand Since the length of years vary, there is no way to calculate a current year comparison. "Your coming and going with the Wagon Peoples," said Kamchak, "has spanned parts of two of our years." Chronology of Torvaldsland 10,122 CA - 1972 - 1,006 Rune-Priest Year - Year of the War Arrow 10,175 CA - 2025 - 1,059 Rune-Priest Year - Current Year I went to Torvaldsland in the Rune-Year 1,006. Years, in the chronology of Torvaldsland, are counted from the time of Thor's gift of the stream of Torvald to Torvald, the legendary founder and hero of the northern fatherlands. The calendars are kept by Rune-Priests. That would have been 10,122 C.A., or Year 3 of the Sovereignty of the Council of Captains in Port Kar. Chronology of Port Kar 10,120 CA - 1970 - Year 1 of the Sovereignty of the Council of Captains - Victory over Cos and Tyros 10,175 CA - 2025 - Year 56 of the Sovereignty of the Council of Captains - Current Year This house has withstood a siege of thousands, within the last two years, in the time of the warrings of the Ubars and the Council of Captains, and the great engagement between the fleet of Port Kar and that of Tyros and Cos, on the twenty-fifth of Se'Kara, 10,120 Contasta Ar, from the Founding of Ar. Chronology of the Kurii 10,125 CA - 1978 - 100,000 - Kurii Civilization Begins 10,122 CA - 1972 - 99,994 - Plot To Destroy Gor Fails 10,175 CA - 2025 - 100,047 - Kurii Civilization Began - Current Year "Surely, in ancient times, Kurii came together," I said. Chronology of the Tahari The oasis of Two Scimitars is an out-of-the-way oasis, under the hegemony of the Bakahs, which, for more than two hundred years, following their defeat in the Silk War of 8,110 C.A., has been a vassal tribe of the Kavars. The Silk War was a war for the control of certain caravan routes, for the rights to levy raider tribute on journeying merchants. It was called the Silk War because, at that time, Turian silk first began to be imported in bulk to the Tahari communities, and northward to Tor and Kasra, thence to Ar, and points north and west. | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |