I am known as Jarl, once of Torvaldsland, now a keeper in the Silk & Steel Tavern in Ar. This is the first of a series of regular columns, in which questions will be answered and issues discussed. Any questions may be asked; they do not need to be connected to the issue discussed in the previous month's column.

The purpose of these columns is two fold. First, to give you, the readers, the opportunity to ask any questions you wish about the Gorean lifestyle, all of which I will try to answer. And second, in addition to a question and answer forum, this column will provide a series of contentious texts on many different aspects of the Gorean lifestyle. These topics may be influenced by questions asked, or may merely be subjects of interest chosen or requested.

As this is the first column, I have no questions from previous months, and so to make up for this have written what would be a longer than usual essay. To save unnecessary clarification, I will define some terms at this point. First, "Gorean Lifestyle". By this I mean following to the best of your ability the philosophies, ideals and practices of the Gorean culture, as laid out in the books by John Norman, as is possible within the boundaries and laws of our society. "Men" or "man" will refer only to Gorean men who follow this lifestyle, be they men following the lifestyle on Earth or fictional men on Gor, and "Master" is synonymous with "Gorean man". "Males" are the members of a gender, some of which are men, and some of which are not. Now, without more ado, I turn to the first issue to be discussed in this column: Honour.

The subject of honour is a long and complex topic; much has been said on this already and so in some of the areas more frequently discussed I will refrain from going into great detail. I aim to give an overview of many of the issues that are commonly considered when the question of honour arises, and then proceed to follow that with an appraisal of what honour means, and the part it plays in the Gorean lifestyle.

Since I first embraced Gorean philosophies and decided that I intended to live my life by Gorean codes, I have considered often the concept of honour. Many people have asked me what makes a man Gorean, and I have told them a sense of honour is a crucial aspect. Some people have even asked me what honour is, which is a harder question to answer.

A friend of mine is fond of this quote:

"I hate your honour!" she cried. "Some things," I said, "are more compelling than the beauty of a woman."

This begins to illustrate the importance of honour to a Gorean man. Honour is after all far more than a sense of right or wrong. It has stronger ties to the soul of a man than, say, the relatively insignificant concept of fairness. It lies separate to the conscience, but is not completely dissociated from it; it does not control a man's actions but it influences them; to some it is more important than friendship, to others it comes before family. To say that honour constitutes "high respect; glory; reputation; good name" [definition provided by the Oxford English Dictionary] falls a long way short of the Gorean way of thinking. It is, of course, far more complicated.

After much consideration I have decided on the following contentious definition of honour: the urge to behave in accordance with a code of conduct. For a man, honour is more than an extension of his conscience. It is a foundation of his society and a way of life. His honour is invaluable, delicate, and irretrievable if lost. That said, none but oneself can be responsible for the loss of ones honour; another man can not tarnish your honour, another man can not take your honour from you. Honour is a thing you own and control, and for which only you are responsible. Because honour is owned by each of us, slaves are said to have no honour, as they can own nothing. This is a belief I often hear from Goreans, though I forget if I ever read it in the books. What, though, is the difference between having honour, and acting with honour, (something which a slave is capable of doing)? Does acting with honour not result in the gain of honour?

I have just said that none but oneself can be responsible for ones honour. I will use a well-known example to illustrate this. In the marshes, Tarl Cabot opts for slavery in preference to death. Perhaps a wise choice, but a dishonourable choice. Had he been forced into slavery, he would have lost no honour. It was his free choice to accept slavery that cost him his honour. I am often asked the question that why, if honour is so important, did Tarl Cabot sacrifice his honour for his life? In order to answer this I need to explain how a man is considered to be honourable.

If we return to my earlier definition of honour, we see that honour requires a code of conduct. On Gor, the society is based fundamentally on the concept of the Caste, each Caste applying different codes, or rules. A Warrior lives by different codes than a Baker. Both are proud men, both may be courageous men, and both, if they live by their codes, are honourable men. Keeping a man's codes is cardinal to keeping his honour intact. By doing so, then, he gains honour, and by not doing so, he loses honour. This is one of the ways by which a Gorean man can live with honour, and as a man lives daily by his codes, is perhaps the main way.

Hence for Tarl to chose slavery, he broke his codes, thereby destroying his honour:

"There, merely to save his miserable life, he had chosen ignominious slavery to the freedom of honourable death. He had sullied the sword, the honour, which he had pledged to Ko-ro-ba's Home Stone. By that act he had cut himself away from his codes, his vows. For such an act there was no atonement..."

This shows that for a Warrior, a part of his honour comes through his sword, pledged to his Home Stone. This is a part of his codes. A man's honour lies entwined with his codes, his vows, and his pledges. In other words, the strength of a Warrior is only so great as the value he gives to his honour, for a Warrior without honour has turned away also from his codes and vows, and a Warrior without his codes is nothing. And further, this shows that a Warrior's word is valuable, because if he breaks his word or his pledges and vows, he sullies his honour, and this he would never do.

So Tarl kneels miserably in the marshes, a rencer's collar around his neck ("Raiders of Gor", book 6). Let us skip on a few books and sword fights, and come to the end of "Marauders of Gor", book nine. A long way for Tarl to travel before he has learnt enough to become the

".. different Tarl Cabot then [he] had ever been. Once there had been a boy by this name, one with simple dreams, naïve, vain one shattered by a betrayal of his codes, the discovery of a weakness where he had thought there was only strength."

At his point, he once more stands tall with honour, and, furthermore, considers himself most Gorean. And yet he had betrayed his codes, and disavowed his pledge to his Home Stone. Perhaps, therefore, there exists more to a man's achieving of honour than following his codes? Maybe the amount of honour a man has is only what he considers it to be? Perhaps it has no basis on his actions and words, but only his thoughts with regards to his own self's conscience?

Let us examine now how the question of honour pertains to life here on Earth. A man on Earth leading his life by the codes and philosophies of the Gorean lifestyle has a hard time of it. Some codes must be adjusted to fit in with the laws here on Earth. It is banal to point out that a man does not go around killing and enslaving within Western society, and yet if a Warrior is insulted, it is in his codes to kill or enslave. Yet few would argue that such a man, on not killing or enslaving when insulted, damages his honour or breaks his codes. For as I stated at the beginning of this essay, we must all live within the boundaries and laws of this society. My definition of honour refers to a "code of conduct". If that code of conduct includes not only Gorean codes as best possible, but also the laws and codes of the society of which we are all a responsible part, then a man does himself honour when he lives by either of these codes. But what of the man who lives on Earth, living solely by Gorean codes and ignoring the codes of society? Surely such a man has much honour, to stand against one society in order to live the codes of a better one. The case a few years ago, for example, of the two Gorean men who killed a displeasing slave. I believe they are still in prison. But surely they are honourable, because they lived for the Gorean way of life even to the act of killing a displeasing slave?

You may ask where I stand on the subject of honour, what honour I have and what I think honour means to men. Or perhaps you would not ask that, because you know that a man's honour is a personal thing, for his consideration and contemplation. But on honour I will say this: of all the men I have known, Gorean and not, the best are the ones who have honour. Whether they regard it as of much importance as Goreans, or whether they act honourably naturally, those men that act with honour and rudimentary chivalry, courage and gallantry, are some of the finest men known to me. Such traits are central to all Goreans. It is a shame that the males of Earth are not taught such qualities.

"Honour is important to Goreans, in a way that those of Earth might find hard to understand; for example, those of Earth find it natural that men should go to war over matters of gold and riches, but not honour. The Gorean, contrariwise, is more willing to submit matters of honour to the adjudication of steel than he is matters of riches and gold. There is a simple explanation for this; honour is more important to him."

In my view, those things which make a man a man are such attributes as honour, courage, chivalry and gallantry. I will go further, and propose the question: is a man who possesses these attributes but does not know of the Gorean philosophies nevertheless as Gorean as one who follows the Gorean codes? After all, what is it that makes us Gorean? Is it a fascination with bondage, domination, and sado-masochism (BDSM)? Aren't we often reminded that Gor is merely hard-core BDSM? Or is that which makes us Gorean a sense of justice, right and wrong, gentlemanly actions. Because though Gor is not fair, this society, the one we all live in, is. And though I would think twice about calling any of my Gorean friends "gentle" men, that is the kind of man that this society produces. I'm not talking about the weaklings and the subservient, or even the mediocre masses. I'm talking about the Officers and the Gentlemen in the armed forces, for example – gallant, just and fair – or perhaps your ex school head master, a leader, a decision-maker, and a man who likes children. Aren't such men as Gorean as you or I, or even more Gorean than you or I, because they have the honour to follow the codes of this society, the society we all live in?

Gor is often said to be hard-core BDSM. It is my opinion that it is nothing of the sort. BDSM is as far from Gor as South America is from the States. They're both in the same world, true, but only a small thread links them and the cultures of each are quite diverse. In fact, Gor is a lifestyle, whereas BDSM is only a part-time sexual hobby. Gor is based on biology and instinct, BDSM on latex, role-playing and pain. The two are so very different, having only one thing in common - an idea of domination. And even that is radically different. The Gorean dominates completely, putting the slave girl at his feet, taking what he wants as it pleases him. The "Dominant" dominates with the submissive's permission, only so long as he does not take her gift of submission for granted. He can do what he wants with her, as long as that is what she wants him to do. Even "24/7 Total Power Exchange (TPE)" does not come close to Gor, because the safe-words and the attitudes of both sub and Dom are far from those shared by kajira and Gorean man. While I'm on this subject, I will point out that in the books, there are no "pain sluts". There are no kajirae who seem to get off on being whipped, or Gorean men who get their jollies from whipping slaves. However this does not imply they do not exist. Merely because the Gorean society as illustrated in the books makes no reference to such sexual acts does not mean that such things do not go on.

A favourite quote from "Outlaws of Gor" used by slave girls on ircGor objecting to being cuffed: "Perhaps it should be noted that the Gorean Master, while often strict, is seldom cruel." This perhaps implies that there are no men who get their jollies from whipping slaves. But the complementing quote to this taken from "Explorers of Gor" illustrates what the word "strict" means:

"Surely one needs a reason for striking a slave," she said.
"No," I said.
"I see," she said, putting her head down. She trembled.
"Come here," I said. "Kneel before me, back on your heels."
She did so, looking up at me. "Master?" she asked.
Suddenly I struck her, a fierce blow which flung her, mouth bloodied, to her side in the dirt. I stood up. "Do you see?" I asked.

That said, the existence of pain sluts on Gor is by no means certain either way. Nevertheless, Gorean sexuality is, in my opinion, far from that practised by the BDSM community. It is not bondage, domination and sado-masochism; it is merely the complete and total submission of a woman to a man. A natural and beautiful thing.

I leave you for now with one last quote. Any questions on this or any other topic can be mailed to the Gorean Voice ( Gorean_Voice@hotmail.com ), and if the subject heading includes the word "Jarl", they'll be more than happy to pass it on to me. Any questions not answered in next month's column I will answer personally, by e-mail, should it be so desired. So for now, I wish you all well, and leave you with Tarl Cabot's thoughts on honour, taken from Marauders of Gor:

"I sat in the darkness and wondered on honour and courage. If they were shams, I thought them most precious shams. How else could we tell ourselves from urts and sleen? What distinguishes us from such beasts? The ability to multiply and subtract, to tell lies, to make knives? No, I think particularly it is the sense of honour, and the will to hold one's ground."