Marauders of Gor, the ninth book of the Gorean series, deals with the lands and culture of Torvaldsland, a land in the northern latitudes of Gor. Torvaldsland is based on the Vikings and Norsemen of Earth's history, circa 700 to 1100 A.D. If the calendar of Torvaldsland is accurate, then the Voyages of Acquisition brought Vikings to Gor around 970 A.D.
Torvaldsland is a general area on the Gorean map, almost like a large country. It is not simply a specific city or town. The area is generally considered to begin near the end of the northern forests and continue northwards up to frozen wastes. The skerry of Einar, by the Torvaldsmark, is thought to mark the boundary of the Torvaldsland and the southlands. The Torvaldsmark is a tall rune-stone, like a needle pointing to the sky. Torvaldsland ends near the frozen sea areas, at the lands of the Red Hunters. The men of Torvaldsland though sometimes have different ideas concerning the boundaries of Torvaldsland. They like to claim that their boundary encompasses anywhere that their ships land. Their ships have been known to journey as far south as Schendi and Bazi and as far west as Tyros and Cos.
The largest town south of Torvaldsland is Kassau, located at the northern edge of the northern forests. It is most well known as the seat of the High Initiate of the north who claims spiritual sovereignty over all of the north including Torvaldsland. His temple is the greatest building in Kassau, towering above the wooden huts and merchant homes of the rest of the residents. T he nearest other Initiate temple is hundreds of pasangs south in the city of Lydius. During the events of Marauders of Gor, Ivar Forkbeard and his group of raiders sack and loot the temple, killing many of the Initiates. It is unknown if the temple was rebuilt to its prior glory.
The men of Torvaldsland are typically blond-haired, blue-eyed, tall and muscular men. Their hair is often long and may even be braided. Many are seven to eight feet tall, taller than the average Goreans of the cities and elsewhere. Most are raised on isolated farms close to the sea. Much of their early education is done through harsh games where they learn the essential skills of manhood. They learn to run, jump, swim, hunt, and wield the sword, axe and spear. They are also taught important rune signs, tallying, counting, addition, subtraction, and weighing. They become inured to the cold weather. They eventually become used to the labors of ship rowing and the ways of war. Most men are also very handy with their hands. But, it is not dignified for a warrior to be expert with letters. Such a task is considered to be beneath them. They are proud of their illiteracy or semi-literacy.
Torvaldsland does not have Home Stones or a Caste system. Nearly all the men are warriors, hunters and seamen. They are generalists which is essential to the survival of their people. They live by hunting, fishing, trade and raiding. Though they speak Gorean in Torvaldsland, some of their dialects can be quite difficult to understand. The men commonly wear shaggy jackets, trousers of skin and wool tunics. More important or wealthier men may wear cloaks of scarlet or purple. The free women of Torvaldsland do not veil themselves. They wear wool kirtles but theirs are not split at all. Free women have much power in the north, probably more than the women of the south. A ring of keys or scissors on a belt signify an important mistress of a great house. All free women commonly carry a knife. The men do not leave their house unless they are armed. While at home, their weapons are always close at hand. They are often hung on the wall behind their couch. They will be hung a foot beyond the reach of their slave whose ankle would be chained to the couch. While out, they wear their cloaks so as to keep their sword arm, commonly the right arm, free. The men will wear a master belt. Pouches and other items such as a sword will hang from this belt. Even if unarmed, this belt will hold a knife. Luck signs may be carved into the leather of the belt. Some believe this belt received its name from the fact that it is sometimes used to discipline slave girls. Tarl thinks this is an unlikely origin. A sword belt may also be worn, slung over the left shoulder. An axe belt is also common. It too is worn over the left shoulder and descends to the master belt. The axe is then slung over the left shoulder, so the axe head sits behind your head and to the left.
In Torvaldsland, they enjoy alcoholic beverages such as ale, beer and mead. Mead is made from fermented honey, water and often spices. It is much preferred over paga. Their drinks seem to be of high alcoholic content. A common drinking vessel is the horn. As it has no base, it cannot stand upright. Thus, you must either drain its contents or pass it to someone else. They have ice houses to keep matters cold. Ice is brought down from the mountains on sledges. The ice is then kept covered with wood chips.
The most common term for a slave in Torvladsland is bond-maid. Bondmaids commonly wear their hair long and are garbed in a kirtle of thin, white wool that is split to the belly. They often engage in hard work, chores such as churning butter, weaving on the looms, carrying bundles of wood or buckets of water and gathering verr dung for the sul patches. Thus, bond-maids usually derogatorily refer to southern slaves as silk girls. They feel that such girls are spoiled and coddled. They believe these girls have little better to do than to make themselves look pretty and await their masters.
Most men in Torvaldsland prefer their slaves to have large breasts and large hips. Their hips are sometimes referred to as a "love cradle" and the best are "…well adapted to cushion the shocks of an oarsman's pleasure." (Marauders of Gor, p.125) Bond-maids are sometimes given descriptive names such as Pouting Lips or Pretty Ankles. They can also be given the name they had when they were free as a slave name. The bond-maid circle is simply a circle drawn in the dirt. Though the circle depicted in the books was about twenty feet in diameter, there was nothing to say that the circle could not be smaller or larger. By Torvaldsland law, any woman that enters the circle becomes a bond-maid. The girl can enter voluntarily or involuntarily, such as bound and hurled in, and it is still valid. A bond-maid's collar is often of iron, hinged and fastened by a rivet. Sometimes, a coffle rope may be used on a group of slaves. This is placed around their necks and the rope is ½ inch thick and cored with wire. The wire prevents them from chewing through the rope. The manacles used in the north are less ornate than those in the south. They are basically curved, hinged bands of black iron, ¾ of an inch wide and ¼ inch thick. On one of each of the two curved pieces is a welded ring. These two rings are joined by a single link, about an inch wide, ¼ inch in diameter and three inches long. Like all slave steel, slaves will not escape from these bonds.
Torvaldsland is a general area on the Gorean map, almost like a large country. It is not simply a specific city or town. The area is generally considered to begin near the end of the northern forests and continue northwards up to frozen wastes. The skerry of Einar, by the Torvaldsmark, is thought to mark the boundary of the Torvaldsland and the southlands. The Torvaldsmark is a tall rune-stone, like a needle pointing to the sky. Torvaldsland ends near the frozen sea areas, at the lands of the Red Hunters. The men of Torvaldsland though sometimes have different ideas concerning the boundaries of Torvaldsland. They like to claim that their boundary encompasses anywhere that their ships land. Their ships have been known to journey as far south as Schendi and Bazi and as far west as Tyros and Cos.
The largest town south of Torvaldsland is Kassau, located at the northern edge of the northern forests. It is most well known as the seat of the High Initiate of the north who claims spiritual sovereignty over all of the north including Torvaldsland. His temple is the greatest building in Kassau, towering above the wooden huts and merchant homes of the rest of the residents. T he nearest other Initiate temple is hundreds of pasangs south in the city of Lydius. During the events of Marauders of Gor, Ivar Forkbeard and his group of raiders sack and loot the temple, killing many of the Initiates. It is unknown if the temple was rebuilt to its prior glory.
The men of Torvaldsland are typically blond-haired, blue-eyed, tall and muscular men. Their hair is often long and may even be braided. Many are seven to eight feet tall, taller than the average Goreans of the cities and elsewhere. Most are raised on isolated farms close to the sea. Much of their early education is done through harsh games where they learn the essential skills of manhood. They learn to run, jump, swim, hunt, and wield the sword, axe and spear. They are also taught important rune signs, tallying, counting, addition, subtraction, and weighing. They become inured to the cold weather. They eventually become used to the labors of ship rowing and the ways of war. Most men are also very handy with their hands. But, it is not dignified for a warrior to be expert with letters. Such a task is considered to be beneath them. They are proud of their illiteracy or semi-literacy.
Torvaldsland does not have Home Stones or a Caste system. Nearly all the men are warriors, hunters and seamen. They are generalists which is essential to the survival of their people. They live by hunting, fishing, trade and raiding. Though they speak Gorean in Torvaldsland, some of their dialects can be quite difficult to understand. The men commonly wear shaggy jackets, trousers of skin and wool tunics. More important or wealthier men may wear cloaks of scarlet or purple. The free women of Torvaldsland do not veil themselves. They wear wool kirtles but theirs are not split at all. Free women have much power in the north, probably more than the women of the south. A ring of keys or scissors on a belt signify an important mistress of a great house. All free women commonly carry a knife. The men do not leave their house unless they are armed. While at home, their weapons are always close at hand. They are often hung on the wall behind their couch. They will be hung a foot beyond the reach of their slave whose ankle would be chained to the couch. While out, they wear their cloaks so as to keep their sword arm, commonly the right arm, free. The men will wear a master belt. Pouches and other items such as a sword will hang from this belt. Even if unarmed, this belt will hold a knife. Luck signs may be carved into the leather of the belt. Some believe this belt received its name from the fact that it is sometimes used to discipline slave girls. Tarl thinks this is an unlikely origin. A sword belt may also be worn, slung over the left shoulder. An axe belt is also common. It too is worn over the left shoulder and descends to the master belt. The axe is then slung over the left shoulder, so the axe head sits behind your head and to the left.
In Torvaldsland, they enjoy alcoholic beverages such as ale, beer and mead. Mead is made from fermented honey, water and often spices. It is much preferred over paga. Their drinks seem to be of high alcoholic content. A common drinking vessel is the horn. As it has no base, it cannot stand upright. Thus, you must either drain its contents or pass it to someone else. They have ice houses to keep matters cold. Ice is brought down from the mountains on sledges. The ice is then kept covered with wood chips.
The most common term for a slave in Torvladsland is bond-maid. Bondmaids commonly wear their hair long and are garbed in a kirtle of thin, white wool that is split to the belly. They often engage in hard work, chores such as churning butter, weaving on the looms, carrying bundles of wood or buckets of water and gathering verr dung for the sul patches. Thus, bond-maids usually derogatorily refer to southern slaves as silk girls. They feel that such girls are spoiled and coddled. They believe these girls have little better to do than to make themselves look pretty and await their masters.
Most men in Torvaldsland prefer their slaves to have large breasts and large hips. Their hips are sometimes referred to as a "love cradle" and the best are "…well adapted to cushion the shocks of an oarsman's pleasure." (Marauders of Gor, p.125) Bond-maids are sometimes given descriptive names such as Pouting Lips or Pretty Ankles. They can also be given the name they had when they were free as a slave name. The bond-maid circle is simply a circle drawn in the dirt. Though the circle depicted in the books was about twenty feet in diameter, there was nothing to say that the circle could not be smaller or larger. By Torvaldsland law, any woman that enters the circle becomes a bond-maid. The girl can enter voluntarily or involuntarily, such as bound and hurled in, and it is still valid. A bond-maid's collar is often of iron, hinged and fastened by a rivet. Sometimes, a coffle rope may be used on a group of slaves. This is placed around their necks and the rope is ½ inch thick and cored with wire. The wire prevents them from chewing through the rope. The manacles used in the north are less ornate than those in the south. They are basically curved, hinged bands of black iron, ¾ of an inch wide and ¼ inch thick. On one of each of the two curved pieces is a welded ring. These two rings are joined by a single link, about an inch wide, ¼ inch in diameter and three inches long. Like all slave steel, slaves will not escape from these bonds.