Locating the Sardar Mountains: Alternatives

By Hersius

Introduction

Last month, these articles gave the interpretation that places the Sardar Mountains toward the center of the northern plains, slightly above the Vosk close to Ar’s Station. This month, two alternative views will be presented. The first places the Sardar south of the Vosk near Brundisium. The second places the Sardar somewhere in the extreme northeast of known Gor.

South of the Vosk near Brundisium

The argument for this locale comes from Book 20, Players of Gor, and all quotes in this section come from that Book unless otherwise noted.

In Players of Gor, Tarl is drugged into unconsciousness in Port Kar. After five days of being unconscious and two days of pulling a wagon as a shanghied impressed laborer, he can see the Sardar

Tarl arrives at the Sardar and then, when he leaves, he heads back westward. Two roads reach the Sardar from the west. The “new west road,” known as the road of Cyprianus, is a southwest road. The “old west road,” known as the road of Clearchus, is a northwest road. Pages 99-100. Tarl leaves using the road of Clearchus, so he travels northwest. page 174. The trip, on foot, takes several weeks, and part of the slowness is due to the fact that he travels with an acting troupe that makes performance stops along the way. He continues travelling northwest with the group, toward the Thassa coastline. Page 230.

Tarl is then captured. He captors travel by tharlarion, and the implication is that he is marched for the five days that it takes him to reach the coastal city of Brundisium from his point of capture. Pages 258-263.

Brundisium is one of Gor’s largest ports. Book 22 Page 147. It is “substantially west by southwest” of Ar’s Station. Book 23 Page 37. The Genesian Road connects Brundisium and other coastal cities to Torcadino and the southern markets, and the Pilgrim’s Road connects Torcadino with the Sardar. Book 21 Page 101. Samnium is only some 200 pasangs east and south of Brundisium. Book 21 Page 9; Book 22 Page 280. Brundisum is the first major city south of the Vosk Delta.

According to Players, then, the Sardar has to be somewhere southeast of Brundisium. Online maps adopting this view often place the Thassa Cartius to the west and the Issus to the right of the Sardar, but this is only an online convention.

North of the Vosk in the Extreme Northeast

This view is cultured from Book 3, Priest-Kings of Gor, Pages 60-61: “Treve was alleged to lie above Ar some seven hundred pasangs and toward the Sardar. I had never seen the city located on a map but I had seen the territory she claimed so marked. ... tarnsmen from Treve were said to emerge from the Voltai like locusts ....”

This view is later supported by a statement that places Tharna itself in the extreme northeast of known Gor, as it is said to lie to the far northeast of Venna. Book 22 page 385. Venna is located along the Viktel Aria some 200 pasangs north of Ar. Book 14 Page 172; Book 20 Page 48; Book 21 Page 338; Book 22 Page 319; Book 25 Page 290.

Online maps adopting this view place the Sardar somewhere west of and close to the Thentis Mountains.

I am simply happy that on Gor, the compass always points to the Sardar Mountains. That way, wherever they are, Norman’s characters can always find them.