Codes
of the Warrior
The
conduct of the Red Caste is governed primarily by
the Warrior Code. The Warrior Code is a
rudimentary form of chivalry, emphasizing loyalty
to the Pride Chiefs and the Home Stone. It is
harsh but with a certain gallantry and sense of
honor. All Warriors are supposed to obey this
code. The code is never fully laid out in the
novels but many important details were given. More
information about the Warrior Caste Codes was
given in the novels than for any other Caste.
Certain quotes help to delineate the importance of
the Codes to Warriors.
The
Code of the Warrior is, in general, characterized
by a rudimentary chivalry, emphasizing loyalty to
Pride Chiefs and the Home Stone. It was harsh, but
with a certain gallantry, a sense of honor that I
could respect. A man could do worse then live by
such a code. - Tarnsman of GOR p.41.
1.
Your word is your bond and should be upheld at all
cost.
I
would betray Priest-Kings before I would betray
you... The most they can take is my life, and if I
were to lose my honor, even that would be
worthless. - Players of Gor p.71
A
last observation having to do with the tendency of
some Goreans to accept illusions and such as
reality is that the Gorean tends to take such
things as honor and truth very seriously. Given
his culture and background, his values, he is
often easier to impose upon than would be many
others. For example, he is likely, at least upon
occasion, to be an easier mark for the fraud and
charlatan than a more suspicious, cynical fellow.
On the other hand, I do not encourage lying to
Goreans. They do not like it. - Magicians of
Gor p. 255
2.
If a non-outlaw asks to be collared, you must
collar or kill that person. If a warrior accepts a
woman as a slave, it is prescribed that, at least
for a time at his discretion, she be spared. But
if she is in the least bit displeasing, she may be
immediately killed.
Then,
to my astonishment, the daughter of the Ubar
Marlenus, daughter of the Ubar of Ar, knelt before
me, a simple warrior of Ko-ro-ba, and lowered her
head, lifting and extending her arms, wrists
crossed. It was the submission of the captive
female. Without raising her eyes from the ground,
the daughter of the Ubar said in a clear, distinct
voice: `I submit myself.' I was speechless for a
moment, but then, remembering that harsh Gorean
custom required me either to accept the submission
or slay the captive, I took her wrists in my hands
and said, `I accept your submission.' - Tarnsman
of GOR p.93-94
`I
can force you to take me,' she said.
`How?' I asked.
`Like this,' she responded, kneeling before me,
lowering her head and lifting her arms, the wrists
crossed. She laughed. `Now you must take me with
you or slay me.'
I cursed her, for she took unfair advantage of the
Warrior Codes of Gor. - Tarnsman of GOR p.109
3.
Honor your opponent in victory or defeat.
`You
risked so much for a mere point of honor?' she
asked.
`There are no mere points of honor,' I told her. -
Vagabonds of GOR p.63
4.
Pledge loyalty with due consideration, for you
must honor your commitments.
5.
If you want another's slave, you must challenge
for her and meet your opponent with the weapon of
his choice. This is also known as the claim of
sword-right.
'Yield
her', he snapped.
'You know the codes,' I said evenly. 'If you want
her you must challenge for her and meet me with
the weapon of my choice.' - Tarnsman of GOR p.117
6.
He who cannot think is not a man and neither is he
who can only think.
"Men
would rather die than think," I said.
"Not all men," she said. - Explorers of
GOR p.334
It
was lonely here. Yet such times are good in the
life of a Warrior, times to be alone, to think. He
who cannot think is not a man, so saith the codes.
Yet neither, too, they continue, is he who can
only think. - Vagabonds of GOR p.65
7.
The only death fit for a warrior is in battle.
Warriors do not kill themselves or aid others in
doing so.
Never
such things, never them! The warrior does not kill
himself or aid others in the doing of it. It is
not in the codes. - Vagabonds of GOR p.446
8.
Sword loyalty is the bond of fidelity to an Ubar,
a military sovereign. It is not sworn lightly.
When an Ubar is thought unfit, the sword loyalty
is dishonored and the Ubar may be deposed by his
own warriors.
9.
The only honorable reply to a challenge is to
accept it promptly.
10.
If you lift a weapon against a warrior, he is
permitted by his codes to kill you.
11.
Poisoned steel is against the codes.
'I
would not have thought Sarus of Tyros would have
used poisoned steel,' I said. Such a device, like
the poisoned arrow, was not only against the codes
of the warriors, but, generally, was regarded as
unworthy of men. Poison was regarded as a woman's
weapon. - Marauders of GOR p.18
12.
Do not enter battle with sadness or self-pity,
even if you are in an unwinnable battle.
I
had been so much a fool as to be sad. That is not
the mood in which to enter battle, even the battle
which one knows one cannot win, even the ultimate
battle in which knows one is doomed to defeat. Do
not be sad. Better to take the field with
laughter, with a joke, with a light heart, with a
buoyant heart, or to go forward with sternness, or
in fury, or with hatred, or defiance, or
calculation, but never with self pity, never with
sadness. -Vagabonds of Gor p.446
13.
One who has shed your blood, or whose blood you
have shed, becomes your sword brother, unless you
formally repudiate the blood upon your weapons. -
Tarnsman of Gor p.118
14.
Warriors, it is said in the codes, have a common
Home Stone. Its name is battle. - Renegades Of GOR
p.343
15.
Even warriors long sometimes for the sight of
their own flags, atop friendly walls, for the
courtyards of their keeps, for the hearths of
their halls. Thus admit the Codes. -Blood Brothers
of GOR p.306
16.
Without the Codes, Men are no better then Beasts.
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