"Torvaldsland Studies." Week 3 Torvaldsland at War
2/23/26
BilliAnn Bravin
⚬────────────────────✧────────────────────⚬
It is a pleasure to assist you, Lady Kati Evans. Here is a summary of the Torvaldsland Studies class regarding the warfare and military traditions of the Gorean North.
Torvaldsland Warfare: Tools and Tactics
The lesson, taught by Lady BilliAnn, focuses on the "Back to Books" (BtB) descriptions of how the men of Torvaldsland engage in combat, primarily drawing from the novel Marauders of Gor.
Armor and Weaponry
Torvaldslanders prioritize mobility and power over heavy protection. Their gear reflects their Viking-inspired culture:
Helmets: Conical in shape with movable nose-guards and chainmail neck protection. Notably, horned helmets are a myth; they are historically and canonically inaccurate, as horns would be a liability in ship rigging.
Shields: Round, wooden, and often reinforced with iron bands, leather, or bronze plates.
Primary Weapons: * The Great Ax: The most iconic weapon, replacing the "Tarnsman" on the Northern Kaissa board.
Spears: Large, heavy bronze heads (approx. 18 inches).
Swords: Longer and heavier than southern varieties, designed for thrusting over ship bulwarks.
Short Bows: Preferred for ship-to-ship combat; while they lack the range of the southern "peasant bow," they are more manageable in tight quarters.
The Serpent Ships
The primary vessel of the North is the Serpent Ship, a clinker-built (overlapping planks) galley designed for speed and flexibility.
Structure: They are open-decked and capable of "bending" with the waves, hence the name "serpent."
Identification: Unlike Viking ships with dragon heads, these feature tarnheads on the prow.
Tactics: They are used for swift, "in and out" raids rather than sustained naval blockades.
The Tradition of the Duel
Duels are used to settle legal and personal disputes at the "Thing-Fair."
Free Duel: A savage, unrestricted fight, often held on isolated rocky islands (skerries) until only one survives.
Formal Duel: Highly regulated, fought on a 10-foot square cloak pinned to the turf. Participants use shield bearers and are limited to three shields each.
Mobilization and The Frenzy
The War Arrow
The "War Arrow" is the traditional signal for mobilization. When a Jarl sends the arrow through the land, all free men are duty-bound to respond. The original arrow of the legendary Torvald is described as a yard-long, iron-barbed shaft with gull-feather fletching.
The Frenzy of Odin
In dire battles, Northern warriors may be overtaken by the Frenzy of Odin (a Gorean version of the "Berserker" rage).
Physical Effects: Bulging veins, foaming at the mouth, and an inability to feel pain (some even self-mutilate in their madness).
Psychological Impact: It is described as a "red world of rage" that can jump from man to man, turning a disciplined host into a terrifying force of nature.
⚬────────────────────✧────────────────────⚬
[15:01:47] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): All right, I don't see anyone else rushing to get here on the minimap (though I do see someone sitting a ways away . . .). So let's go ahead and get underway, shall we? And we'll hope anyone else who comes in late won't get too much lost. :)
[15:02:22] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): Welcome to today's Gorean Campus Torvaldsland Studies class on the "Warfare of Torvaldsland"--I.e., How Torvaldsland makes war. Let's get some preliminaries out of the way first and then we can get started.
[15:02:50] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): If you wish to make a statement or comment during a lesson or ask or answer a question, we ask that you simply type @ in your local chat box and I will get to you in the order that I see your posts. If for some reason I miss you, please feel free to post again.
[15:03:48] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): I do prefer, if at all possible, that you hold questions to the end to make sure that we can move along in a timely fashion and not get lost or off on a tangent--though the latter can sometimes be fun or enlightening. But if you're really lost or I'm going too fast for you or you feel something vital is missing, do feel free to pop in with a question, and I'll do my best to cover it before we get too far along. Or to slow down if I'm moving too swiftly. :) (Though if I go *too* slowly, we may go overtime some . . . so be warned! :) )
[15:04:58] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): As you almost surely know by now, unless you're new (and that doesn't appear to be the case tonight), I'm Lady BilliAnn. If you should fail to include the "Lady" part in addressing me, it's not a problem, however, as all our classes here at Gorean Campus are OOC (out of character) as opposed to IC (in character). That's something we always need to keep in mind to avoid any confusion when it comes to what and how we cover things in our classes here on Campus. At my home sim of 1888, which sadly closed down two years ago this month, I held the title of "Lady." And in my Gorean RP I portray Lady Anja Steinnsdottir, Skald of Torvaldsland. So I'm covered on that, both OOC and IC. :)
[15:05:54] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): If you've been in any of my classes before, you are likely familiar with my own background as a teacher and a Gorean, so I'm going to dispense again today with the bio info I sometimes give, other than to note that I've been a teacher of Gorean studies--with a focus on Torvaldsland--for almost 10 years now. And just one month shy of having been in SL Gor for 11 years. So not someone who just wandered in by chance and thought, "Oh, I can teach something . . .!" :)
[15:07:14] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): Today's class is the third in a series of loosely related Torvaldsland Studies classes I'll be teaching in the upcoming weeks. This one is on the "Warfare of Torvaldsland," which you're likely aware of or you wouldn't be here. :) (I also call it "How Torvaldsland Makes War," though I tend to interchange the titles at times.) :) It was originally the second half of class 5 of a series of "Introduction to Torvaldsland" classes that I've taught in the past here on Campus. However, the original class, which covered both governance and warfare in Torvaldsland, ran around an hour and a half long. As that was a bit long to ask students to sit there listening, I decided to cut it in two. I discussed governance last week. And this week I turn to how Torvaldslanders conduct warfare.
[15:08:05] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): In any event, talking about warfare in Torvaldsland can be a little tricky when we're sticking strictly to BtB information, as we have but one book that focuses on Torvaldsland, "Marauders of Gor." And yet we do get a good glimpse of many aspects pertinent to war in Torvaldsland as Tarl Cabot makes his way through the North, along with Ivar Forkbeard and his crew. But Norman doles out the information in chunks here and there throughout "Marauders," until the big battle at the end of the book, so this teaching may seem a little disjointed as I jump from one topic to another somewhat. Still, all should be clear enough to give you a good idea of how Torvaldsland goes to war in general. :) At least I hope that's the case . . .
[15:08:43] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): All right, so . . . how do the people--and I'm referring, of course, to the men--of Torvaldsland make war? What are the instruments they use? How do they go about it? We've already seen a bit of their instruments of war in the description of their helmets that I gave in last week's class on governance if you were here. But I'll repeat those parts of the quotes from chapter 5 that relate to weapons and armor:
[15:09:23] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): "The helmets of the north are commonly conical, with a nose-guard, that can slip up and down. At the neck and sides, attached by rings, usually hangs a mantle of linked chain." . . . "Their shields, like those of Torvaldsland, are circular, and of wood. The spear points are large and heavy, of tapered, socketed bronze, some eighteen inches in length. Many, too, carried axes."
("Marauders of Gor," Chapter 5.)
[15:10:05] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): Conical helmets, with a movable nose-guard and linked chains on the side. But what's missing from these helmets that you might think of when you think of the Vikings or someone descended from them? Something we do see on Thorgard of Skagnar, the rival of High Jarl Svein Blue Tooth (as I described last week)?
[15:10:55] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): That's right--horns! In nearly every modern rendition of a Viking wearing a helmet, what do you see? Huge horns curving out from either side of it. From "Hagar the Horrible" to "How to Train Your Dragon," you see all these horned helmets! But guess what? The Vikings never wore horned helmets! That's a modern invention, starting roughly at the end of the 18th century and carried on in romantic works throughout the 19th century and on even through today. But it's historically inaccurate! No Viking helmets have ever been found with horns. There are a few examples of some with some kinds of protrusions, but these seem to be ceremonial--and it's impossible to tell if they're horns, or even wings, such as you see on the Marvel Comics version of the Norse god Thor, or something else entirely.
[15:11:46] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): There's no evidence at all that Vikings wore horned helmets in history or archeology. And think about it practically . . . Say that you're fighting ship to ship and wearing a horned helmet and you run into some rigging. What's likely to happen? Your horns get caught in the rigging. And then, unless you manage to get free, you're a sitting duck. A horned sitting duck . . . So no--Vikings didn't wear horned helmets, and except for one, neither do Torvaldslanders. So why did Thorgard have one? I don't know, really, but I rather suspect perhaps John Norman was poking fun at the modern belief in horned Viking helmets by having the absolutely worst man in the book wear one. I could well be wrong, but it tickles me to think so. :)
[15:13:26] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): Anyway, so much for helmets. I have a teaching in another class about the Vikings where I go a bit more into the helmet thing, but let's carry on. We also see that the shields of Torvaldsland are round and of wood. We'll see this in another lesson I'll be teaching in a couple weeks, when Ivar Forkbeard's ship entered the inlet where Kassau lay. "And on its mast, round and of painted wood, had hung the white shield." ("MoG," Ch. 2) The white shield is said to indicate that the ship came in peace. (Of course, if you remember what happened in Chapter 2, that was a ruse. And a successful one.) ". . . the shields, overlapping, of its men were hung on the sides; this was another indication of peaceful intent. The shields were round, and of wood, variously painted, some reinforced with iron bands, others with leather, some with small bronze plates." ("MoG," Ch 2.)
[15:14:33] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): Helmets and wooden shields, sometimes reinforced with iron, leather, or bronze. Not a lot of protection. But often all that the giants of the North need. As far as offensive weapons, we see spears with huge heads and axes. When Ivar Forkbeard rose from his pretended death, "his right hand [was] clutching a great, curved, single-bladed ax of hardened iron." ("MoG," Ch 2.) Axes are very important weapons in Torvaldsland. When Cabot later talks about the differences between the Torvaldsland and the Southern Kaissa boards, he notes in particular that the Tarnsmen of the latter are replaced on the former by the Axes. The fact that the Axes on the Northern board move similarly to the Tarnsmen on the Southern is a symbolic indication of the importance of the ax in the hands of a warrior from Torvaldsland! (Tarns, by the way, aren't used in warfare anywhere in the pages of "Marauders." So it makes sense that they're replaced on the Northern Kaissa board by the Axes.)
.
[15:15:22] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): You can learn a lot about warfare in Torvaldsland just by reading through the passages on the Northern Kaissa board in Chapters 4 and 5. I don't have time to go into depth on this here, and I do have an entire teaching on the Northern Kaissa board, as I believe I may have mentioned previously. So maybe another day . . . :) All right, so spears and axes. What other weapons are used by the men of Torvaldsland to make war? The bow, for one:
[15:16:25] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): "We brushed through the scrabbling workers and saw before us the wharf, and the serpent, sleek and swift, of Ivar Forkbeard, at its moorings. Ten men had remained at the ship. Eight held bows, with arrows at the string; none had dared to approach the ship; the short bow of the Gorean north, with its short, heavy arrows, heavily headed, lacks the range and power of the peasant bow of the south, that now, too, are the property of the rencers of the delta, but at short range, within a hundred and fifty yards, it can administer a considerable strike.
[15:17:06] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): "It has, too, the advantage that it is more manageable in close quarters than the peasant bow resembling somewhat the Tuchuck bow of layered horn in this respect. It is more useful in close combat on a ship, for example, than would be the peasant bow. Too, it is easier to fire it through a thole port, the oar withdrawn."
("Marauders of Gor," Chapter 3.)
[15:17:45] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): (A "thole," in case you're not familiar with the term is, in essence, a pin in the side of a boat that acts as a fulcrum for the oars. The "thole port," therefore, is the hole in the sides of the ship through which the oars protrude and in which the pin, or thole, rests. A little bit of extra detail for you here. Remember it for when I discuss the serpent ships of the North in a few minutes here.) :)
[15:19:09] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): So the marauders of Torvaldsland use a short bow, one that has sufficient range for ship to ship combat without getting bogged down or exposing the bowmen unduly to enemy fire. What else? Well, as I discuss in my class on the "Slaves of Torvaldsland," coming up, the Northern brand is meant to depict a woman whose belly lies beneath the sword, not beneath the ax. So that must indicate that the Torvaldslanders use swords, too, as an important weapon to cut down their foes. And we've seen that in one of the passages I quoted last week. Chapter 10 describes the weapons of a free man of Torvaldsland and how they are always near at hand, just beyond the reach of a chained bond-maid. "Should she, lying on her back, look back and up she sees, on the wall, the shield, the helmet, the spear and ax, the sword, in its sheath, of her master." ("MoG," Ch. 10.)
[15:19:58] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): When each free man of Torvaldsland attends the Thing-Fair every year, which he is obliged to do unless he alone works his farm, he must present for the inspection of his Jarl's officer "a helmet, shield and either sword or ax or spear, in good condition." ("MoG," Ch 10.) The high men who attend, we've seen, wear their cloaks ". . . in such a way that the right arm, the sword arm, is free." ("MoG," Ch. 10.) When Tarl Cabot steps in as the Champion for the boy Hrolf of Inlet of Green Cliffs in a duel, he describes his opponent's sword in this way:
[15:20:26] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): "Your long sword," I told him, "is doubtless quite useful in thrusting over the bulwarks of ships, fastened together by grappling irons, as mine would not be, but we are not now, my dear Bjarni, engaging in combat over the bulwarks of ships." . . . "Moreover, the arc of your stroke is wider then mine, and your blade heavier."
("Marauders of Gor," Chapter 10.)
[15:21:15] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): The sword of Bjarni of Thorstein Camp, we may presume, is typical of that of most Torvaldslanders, as opposed to the shorter sword wielded by Tarl Cabot and the Warrior caste of the South. Build for thrusting over the bulwarks of vessels in ship to ship combat. It's bigger and heavier, which seems suiting to the giants of the North. Of course in the duel recorded in Chapter 10, Cabot easily bests his opponent, which more shows his own skill as a former warrior than any inadequacy in the sword used by Torvaldsland. That weapon seems perfectly suited for warfare in the North, and we see it used in that way later in the book, when the men of Torvaldsland descend on a Kurii camp, under the influence of the "Frenzy of Odin." I'll talk about that in a moment. First, a bit about duels, as carried out in Torvaldsland.
[15:21:49] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): Duels actually have less to do with warfare in Torvaldsland than as a means of settling disputes. So in a way, the subject may belong in my earlier lesson, on ways in which Torvaldsland is governed. But since it is a contest using weapons, I decided to include it here, in our discussion of Torvaldsland weapons and warfare. While at the Thing-Fair, Ivar Forkbeard makes a suggestion to Tarl Cabot, who goes on to explain to us (the readers) how duels work in Torvaldsland:
[15:22:31] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): "Let us watch duels," said the Forkbeard. The duel is a device by which many disputes, legal and personal, are settled in Torvaldsland. There are two general sorts, the formal duel and the free duel. The free duel permits all weapons; there are no restrictions on tactics or field. At the thing, of course, adjoining squares are lined out for these duels. If the combatants wished, however, they might choose another field. Such duels, commonly, are held on wave-struck skerries in Thassa. Two men are left alone; later, at nightfall, a skiff returns, to pick up the survivor.
[15:23:27] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): "The formal duel is quite complex, and I shall not describe it in detail. Two men meet, but each is permitted a shield bearer; the combatants strike at one another, and the blows, hopefully, are fended by each's shield bearer; three shields are permitted to each combatant; when these are hacked to pieces or otherwise rendered useless, his shield bearer retires, and he must defend himself with his own weapon alone; swords not over a given length, too, are prescribed. The duel takes place, substantially, on a large, square cloak, ten feet on each side, which is pegged down on the turf; outside this cloak there are two squares, each a foot from the cloak, drawn in the turf.
[15:24:13] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): "The outer corners of the second of the two drawn squares are marked with hazel wands; there is a twelve-foot-square fighting area; no ropes are stretched between the hazel wands. When the first blood touches the cloak the match may, at the agreement of the combatants, or in the discretion of one of the two referees, be terminated; a price of three silver tarn disks is then paid to the victor by the loser; the winner commonly then performs a sacrifice; if the winner is rich, and the match of great importance, he may slay a bosk; if he is poor, or the match is not considered a great victory, his sacrifice may be less.
[15:25:03] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): "These duels, particularly of the formal variety, are sometimes used disreputably for gain by unscrupulous swordsmen. A man, incredibly enough, may be challenged and risks his life among the hazel wands; he may be slain; then, too, of course, the stake, the farm, the companion, the daughter, is surrendered by law to the challenger. The motivation of this custom, I gather, is to enable strong, powerful men to obtain land and attractive women; and to encourage those who possess such to keep themselves in fighting condition.
[15:25:26] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): "All in all I did not much approve of the custom. Commonly, of course, the formal duel is used for more reputable purposes, such as settling grievances over boundaries, or permitting an opportunity where, in a case of insult, satisfaction might be obtained."
("Marauders of Gor," Chapter 10.)
[15:26:14] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): So we find that the duel is a means for settling both legal and personal disputes in Torvaldsland. The free duel is the more savage of the two--in general, only one walks away. We see something of an example of this type of duel near the end of "Marauders," where Tarl Cabot confronts the Kur whom he'd come to Torvaldsland to find. The formal duel, we learn, can be used for both reputable or less reputable ends. This is the kind of duel that takes place at the Thing-Fair, and which Tarl Cabot participates in as the boy's champion to prevent the young man's sister from being enslaved. I won't quote the entire passage covering that duel here, as it's a long one and it's far more fun for you to read it yourself. But remember that the duel is important in Torvaldsland as a matter of both law and war.
[15:27:03] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): Oh, and another quick aside. You may have noticed the mention of "silver tarn disks." You're likely more familiar with silver coins on Gor being known as tarsks rather than tarns. But this is how such coins are described in the earlier Gor books, up through at least Book 9, as you see in this passage. All coins were tarns--silver, gold, even copper. But at some point after that, Norman changed his mind about the names of Gorean currency. And from that time forward, only gold coins were known as tarns. The silver and copper ones were now tarsks. You sometimes still see lists of Gorean currency with silver tarns on them. And references such as this one is probably why. But, as I said, consider this just an aside that I thought I'd give you as a bonus, if you weren't already aware. :)
[15:28:03] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): Anyway, I mentioned in last week's lesson the "war arrow," which Cabot says in Chapter 6 can be carried to 10,000 farms by the heralds of Svein Blue Tooth, High Jarl of Torvaldsland. But what exactly is the war arrow? This is actually a holdover from the Viking ancestors of Torvaldsland. In Viking times, "passing the war arrow" was a means of warming people that an enemy was approaching. The original war arrow was a wooden or iron baton, on which were inscribed various runes. It was used in a kind of relay between settlements. We have records dating back to 950 AD of the war arrow in use, which would be about 20 years before Vikings were said to have been brought to Gor in the voyages of acquisition, to become the first peoples of Torvaldsland. Originally war arrows came in several shapes for different purposes, but the one used to ready men for battle was indeed in the shape of an arrow.
[15:28:38] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): The Viking war arrows were burnt at one end and had a rope attached at the other end. This was a reminder to everyone of the severe penalties for failing to pass this baton on--or failing to heed its call. These could include the burning down of one's farm (the burnt end) or even hanging (the rope end). Needless to say, most heeded the call of the war arrow, as we see happening in "Marauders" with the men of Torvaldsland:
[15:29:09] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): "When the war arrow is carried, of course, all free men are to respond; in such a case the farm may suffer, and his companion and children know great hardship; in leaving his family, the farmer, weapons upon his shoulder, speaks simply to them. "The war arrow has been carried to my house," he tells them."
("Marauders of Gor," Chapter 10.)
[15:30:21] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): So it's not a thing to be taken lightly when the war arrow is brought to the farm or village of a Torvaldslander. But what does the war arrow used in Torvaldsland look like? We find one important example in Chapter 16 of "Marauders," which is titled, appropriately enough, "The War Arrow." This takes place after the Kurii--their "request" to march through Tovaldsland having been turned down at the Thing, as I described last week--attack Svein Blue Tooth's Long Hall. Tarl Cabot and Ivar Forkbeard manage to escape the hall as it's being burned down. Chased by the Kurii, they make their way to the Torvaldsberg--the highest mountain in Torvaldsland--where the legendary founder of Torvaldsland, Torvald himself, is said to be buried. In a carved out cave on the mountain, they find an ancient tomb. And within it . . . the war arrow of Torvald!
[15:31:21] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): "From among the weapons at the foot of the couch, from one of the cylindrical quivers, still of the sort carried in Torvaldsland, I drew forth a long, dark arrow. It was more than a yard long. Its shaft was almost an inch thick with iron, barbed. Its feathers were five inches long, set in the shaft on three sides, feathers of the black-tipped coasting gull, a broad-winged bird, with black tips on its wings and tail feathers, similar to the Vosk gull. I lifted the arrow. "What is this?" I asked the Forkbeard. "It is a war arrow," he said. "And what sign is this, carved on its side?' I asked. "The sign of Torvald," he whispered. "Why do you think this arrow is in this place?" I asked. "That men might find it?" he asked."
("Marauders of Gor," Chapter 16.)
[15:32:21] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): Cabot suggests that the war arrow was left there so that those who discover it might actually find themselves, and step up to whatever act of bravery is required of them. And that proves to be the case in "Marauders." Emboldened, Ivar Forkbeard takes the war arrow, and soon it has indeed gone out to all the farms, holds, inlets, landfalls and villages of Torvaldsland. And the men of Torvaldsland respond, and gather above the camp of the Kurii:
[15:33:10] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): "It was very quiet.
The men did not speak.
Below us, in the valley, spread out for more than ten pasangs we saw the encampment of Kurii.
At the feet of Ivar Forkbeard, head to the ground, nude, waiting to be commanded, knelt Hilda the Haughty, daughter of Thorgard of Scagnar. . . .
We stood downwind of the encampment.
Not far from me was Svein Blue Tooth. He stood, not moving. It was cold. I could see the outline of his helmet, the rim of the shield, the spear, dark against darkness.
Near us, behind us, stood Gorm, Ottar and Rollo, and others of Forkbeard's Landfall. . . .
[15:34:02] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): "With us stood Bjarni of Thorstein Camp, and with him he who had in the formal duel carried his shield. At Bjarni's shoulder, too, stood the young man, scarcely more than a boy, whom he had in that duel intended to fight. With the boy, too, was his friend, who would have carried the shield for him. The war arrow had been carried. It had been carried to the Inlet of Green Cliffs, to Thorstein Camp, from Ax Glacier to Einar's Skerry; it had been carried to the high farms, to the lakes, to the coast; it had been carried on foot and by swift ship; a thousand arrows, each touched to the arrow of Torvald, had been carried, and where the arrow had been carried, men had touched it, saying "I will come." They came.
[15:35:02] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): "Captains and rovers, farmers, fishermen, hunters, weavers of nets, smiths, carvers of wood, tradesmen and traders, men with little more than leather and an ax to their name, and jarls in purple cloaks, with golden pommels on their swords. And among them stood, too, thralls. Their heads were not lower than those with whom they stood. Among them was the lad called Tarsk, formerly Wulfstan of Kassau, to whom Thyri had once been given for the night. In the night of the attack he, at the Forkbeard's encampment near the thing field, with an ax, had slain a Kur. I remembered finding the carcass of the animal beneath the fallen, half-burned canvas of the Forkbeard's tent. Thralls are not permitted to touch the war arrow, but they are permitted to kneel to those who have."
("Marauders of Gor," Chapter 17.)
[15:36:26] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): When the war arrow is carried across the land, Torvaldsland marches to war! Even against such a fierce foe as the Kurii! We'll get back to this scene to close today. But first I want to discuss a little about another important tool of war for the men of Torvaldsland. And that is the swift serpent ships, upon which the marauders of the North ride in their raids to the south and even when they make war upon one another, as we see in an earlier chapter, when the Black Sleen of Thorgard of Skagnar pursued Ivar Forkbeard's ship, the Hilda. These fast ships are another holdover from their Viking ancestors and differ a great deal from those vessels most commonly used by Goreans to navigate Thassa. First, though, you might wonder why they're called "serpent ships"? You might think you know the answer if you remember how Viking ships are usually portrayed in popular art and literature . . .
[15:37:22] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): Yes--Viking longships are usually shown with a dragon's head carved into the prowl of the ship! So you might be excused in thinking that, based on their name, the serpent ships of Torvaldsland are similar in appearance in that regard. But they're not! We learn this when the ship of Ivar Forkbeard first appears in the harbor at Kassau:
[15:37:47] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): "Even the tarnhead at the ship's prow had been swung back on the great wooden hinges. Sometimes, in light raiding galleys, it is so attached, to remove its weight from the prow's height, to ensure greater stability in high seas; it is always, however, at the prow in harbor, or when the ship enters an inlet or river to make its strike; in calm seas, of course, there is little or no damage in permitting it to surmount the prow generally. That the tarnhead was hinged back, as the ship entered the inlet, was suitable indication, like the white shield, that it came in peace."
("Marauders of Gor," Chapter 2.)
[15:38:57] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): Ahhhh, so rather than a dragon head on the prowl of a Torvaldsland serpent ship, we find that a tarnhead is what graces the vessel's foremost area. This might seem a little strange, given that tarns aren't generally used in warfare in Torvaldsland. We saw that in how the Ax piece replaces the Tarnsman piece on the Northern Kaissa board. And tarns are conspicuous in their absence in the climactic battle in chapters 17 and 18 of "Marauders." But the Torvaldslanders obviously knew about tarns and how fierce they are and how such a beast would strike terror in the hearts of many in the South, and so this is what they carved onto the prows of their serpent ships. Now, I'm speculating here, as that's never said directly in "Marauders," but it does make sense, at least to me. I hope you might agree. :) So why are they called serpent ships? I'll get to that in a moment. First a bit more describing these vessels:
[15:40:05] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): "The ship was a beautiful ship, sleek and well-lined. It was a twenty-bencher, but this nomenclature may be confusing. There were twenty benches to a side, with two men to each bench. It carried, thus, forty oars, with two men to each oar. . . . The oars were generally some nineteen feet in length, and narrower than the southern oars, that they might cut and sweep with great speed, more rapidly than the wider bladed oar; and with two men to each oar, and the lightness of the ship, this would produce great speed. As in the southern galleys the keel to beam ratio was designed, too, for swiftness, being generally in the neighborhood of one to eight. Forkbeard's ship, or serpent, as they are sometimes called, was approximately eighty Gorean feet in length, with a beam of some ten feet Gorean.
[15:41:23] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): "His ship, like most of the northern ships, did not have a rowing frame, and the rowers sat within the hull proper, facing, of course, aft. The thole ports, I noted, had covers on the inside, on swivels, which permitted them to be closed when the ship was under sail. The sail was quite different from the southern ships, being generally squarish, though somewhat wider at the bottom. The mast, like that of the southern ships, could be lowered. It fitted into two blocks of wood, and was wedged into the top block by means of a heavy diagonal plug, driven tight with hammers. The northern ship carries one sail, not the several sails, all lateens, of the southern ships, which must be removed and replaced. It is an all-purpose sail, hung straight from a spar of needle wood. It can be shortened or let out by reefing ropes. At its edges, corner spars can hold it spread from the ship.
[15:42:30] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): "I doubted that such a ship could sail as close to the wind as a lateen-rigged ship, but the advantages of being able to shorten or let out sail in a matter of moments were not inconsiderable. The sail was striped, red and white. The ship like most of the northern ships, was clinker built, being constructed of overlapping planks, or strakes, the frame then fitted within them. Between the strakes, tarred ropes and tar served as caulking. Outside the planks, too, was a coating of painted tar, to protect then from the sea, and the depredations of ship worms. The tar was painted red and black, in irregular lines. The ship, at night,, mast down with such colorings, moving inland on a river, among the shadows, would be extremely difficult to detect. It was a raider's ship.
[15:43:36] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): "The clinker-built construction, as opposed to the carvel construction of the south, with flush planking, is somewhat more inclined to leak, but is much stronger in the high waters of the north. The clinker construction allows the ship to literally bend and twist, almost elastically, in a vicious sea; the hull planking can be bent more than a foot Gorean without buckling. The decking on the ship is loose, and may be lifted or put to one side, to increase cargo space. The ship. Of course, is open. To protect goods or men from the rain or sun a large rectangle of boskhide, on stakes, tentlike stretched to cleats on the gunwales, is sometime used. This same rectangle of boskhide may be used, dropped between the gunwales, to collect rainwater. "
("Marauders of Gor," Chapter 2.)
[15:44:19] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): Whew! That's a lot on the Torvaldsland serpent ships, and maybe of only passing interest if you're not an architect or shipwright. (I'm not either!) There's more elsewhere on these vessels in "Marauders," but this gives you enough information for now, I'd wager. :) But again--why "serpent" ships? The answer is in the clinker-built construction described in that last paragraph. In a vicious sea, it allows the ship to literally bend and twist through the waters--much like a serpent bends and twists, or sidewinds, along the ground! Hence the name. I thought that was kind of a cool tidbit when I first read the passage and put two and two together. But then I'm kind of a nerd about such things. :)
[15:44:51] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): We do find out later that there are variations on the serpents of Torvaldsland. Forkbeard's ship is said to be a raider, built for speed. We learn in Chapter 5 that Thorgard's ship, the Black Sleen, is more built for war, even though it's considered the fastest ship on Thassa. (Until Forkbeard's Hilda proves that to be a myth.)
[15:45:28] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): Now, just to mention it so you don't read it later and get confused . . . for some reason, in Books 29 and 30, and perhaps elsewhere later in the Gorean saga, we find references to the "dragon ships of Torvaldsland." When I first read that, I did a double take. Dragon ships? There's no indication anywhere in "Marauders" or until then that the names of the serpent ships had changed at some point. Dragon ships just didn't fit. If they'd had tharlarions carved into their prowls, maybe. But "tarnships" would be more accurate.
[15:46:23] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): I have no real answer as to why the name change occurs there unless it's that the books are about mainland Goreans first discovering the Twelve Islands of the Pani. (In fact, Book 33, "Rebels of Gor," features a huge mechanical dragon plaguing the Pani Twelve Islands.) And dragons seem to have a prominent place in Pani mythology, derived from their feudal Japanese ancestors. So maybe someone--Norman, Cabot, a heavy-handed editor--got confused and renamed the Torvaldsland ships to better fit with the background of the Pani. After all, if you were describing a "serpent" ship to a Pani, he might not understand the clinker-bullt nature and think you were referring more directly to a snake. And dragons in Asian mythology are usually depicted as being sinewy and snake like.
[15:47:12] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): It's a bit of a stretch, I know. But it might explain the sudden change in terms. Though another possibility is that Norman changed the name simply to foreshadow that mechanical dragon he would introduce in the later book--if he had, in fact, already planned out the story in advance. That's not entirely unheard of in the realm of publishing. Or . . . maybe Norman just goofed. :) It'd been so many years since he'd written "Marauders of Gor," perhaps he just had a bit of brain freeze at the time and called them "dragon ships" and, by the time it got published, he let it stand. Or maybe an overzealous editor who hadn't read the earlier book thought he'd made an error and changed it to dragon to better fit his own knowledge of Viking history. I don't know really.
[15:47:55] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): Of course, you could look at it as a situation similar to when Norman changed the names of Gorean coins, as I mentioned earlier. And looking at it that way, the later term would be the more valid one. But . . . I can't really see it that way. The number of later references to "dragon ships" are vastly outnumbered by those to "serpent ships" that appear in "Marauders." Standard textural analysis practice would suggest that, if a contradiction in terms arises in any body of literature, the correct term is almost always the one with the preponderance of appearances. And that, regardless of the later name change, would make "serpent ship" the correct designation. At least in my humble opinion. :) If, however, you ever hear anything more concrete on this, do let me know! :)
[15:48:36] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): Before I get to our final topic tonight, I'd like to bring up something that you sometimes hear in SL Gor--that war between the North and the South is likely to break out at any time! But . . . is it? We're not talking about the American Civil War here, but two very different regions of Gor. I mentioned in my lesson last week on the governance of Torvaldsland how unlikely it would be for the men of Torvaldsland to declare all-out war on the South, either in general or on any specific city or region. I won't repeat all that here, other than to point out the main way that Torvaldslanders make warfare when it concerns the South: Fast raids in their serpent ships!
[15:49:29] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): You see an example of such a raid in Chapter 2 when Ivar Forkbeard and his men raided the Temple at Kassau. The Forkbeard and his crew didn't declare all out war on Kassau--they conducted a swift, in and out raid on the town. Similarly, Forkbeard raided Port Kar prior to the events of "Marauders" to free Chenbar of Tyros from a prison there. He didn't declare war on Port Kar. That would have been foolish. He would have been vastly outnumbered. Instead, he conducted a swift raid, in and then out again with his prize. So while the High Jarl can call on his additional hundred ships should war break out, invading the South with only that many vessels is not at all likely what the men of Torvaldsland would do, except under the most dire of circumstances.
[15:50:09] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): Further, as I described in my lesson on the culture of Torvaldsland, many men of the South could be found at the Thing-Fair, as described in Chapter 10, among them merchants, slavers--even a scribe and a physician! If these men feared that war might break out at any moment with the North, would they have so casually attended the Thing-Fair? Not likely. For them it was business as usual. They had no fear of being cast in a Torvaldsland stockade and held for ransom or anything else. Similarly, in other of the Gorean books, you read of Torvaldslanders attending the various festivals in the South. Again, highly improbable if war were likely to break out at any moment.
[15:50:57] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): So when you hear of such talk at any SL Gor sim, you can dismiss it as far as anything BtB goes. Perhaps some sim owner is merely trying to create some RP drama in such a possibility. That happened in one city I was RPing at some years ago. And yet, since I was RPing a woman of Torvaldsland there, I felt duty bound to point out the logistical impossibility of such a "threat from the North" as they put it. The closest reaches of Torvaldsland to that particular city were more than a thousand pasangs distant. Across dense forest and rugged mountainous areas--including the Sardar! The city, furthermore, was at least a couple thousand pasangs inland from Thassa! So a "threat from the North"? Maybe in the realm of RP, but certainly not BtB! :)
[15:51:34] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): All right--one last thing to cover before we close this lesson, and that concerns a phenomenon that seems unique to warfare among the men of Torvaldsland. (Though, as we'll see, it can be a bit infectious even among those not of the North.) And that's what's generally called "The Frenzy of Odin"! (Though on first mention, Cabot calls it "the fury.") It appears to be a form of battle madness that overtakes the Torvaldslanders, making them even fiercer warriors than they already are--much like the berserkers of Old Norse lore, if you know anything about Viking history. Cabot describes it thus (and this is another long passage that I'll break down in sections):
[15:52:24] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): "It seemed strange to me that men, only men, would dare to pit themselves against Kurii. I did not know then, of course, about the fury.
Svein Blue Tooth had his head down.
I sensed it first in the giant, Rollo. It was not a human noise. It was a snarl, a growl, like the sound of a larl, awakening from its sleep. The hair on my neck stood on end. I turned. The giant head was slowly lifting itself, and turning. Its eyes were closed. I could see blood beginning to move through the veins of its forehead. Then the eyes opened, and no longer were they vacant, but deep within them, as though beginning from far away, there seemed the glint of some terrible light. I saw his fists close and open. His shoulders were hunched down. He half crouched, as though waiting, tense, while the thing, the frenzy, the madness, began to burn within him.
[15:53:04] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): "It is beginning," said Ivar Forkbeard to me.
"I do not understand," I said.
"Be quiet," said he. "It is beginning."
I saw then Svein Blue Tooth, the mighty jarl of Torvaldsland, lift his own head, but it did not seem, then, to be him.
It seemed rather a face I had not seen before. The eyes did not seem those of the noble Blue Tooth, but of something else, unaccountable, not understood. I saw him suddenly thrust his left forearm against the broad blade of his spear. To my horror I saw him sucking at his own blood.
I saw a man, fighting the frenzy, tear handfuls of his own hair from his head. But it was coming upon him, and he could not subdue it. . . .
[15:53:35] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): "Those who had not yet been touched stood terrified among their comrades in arms. They stood among monsters.
"Kurii," I heard someone say.
"Kill Kurii," I heard. "Kill Kurii."
"What is it?" I asked Ivar Forkbeard.
I saw a man, with his fingernails, blind himself, and feel no pain. With his one remaining eye he stared into the valley. I could see foam at the side of his mouth. His breathing was deep and terrible.
[15:54:08] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): "Look upon Rollo," said the Forkbeard.
The veins in the neck, and on the forehead, of the giant bulged, swollen with pounding blood. His head was bent to one side. I could not look upon his eyes. He bit at the rim of his shield, tearing the wood, splintering it with his teeth.
"It is the frenzy of Odin," said the Forkbeard. "It is the frenzy of Odin."
("Marauders of Gor," Chapter 17.)
[15:55:06] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): The Frenzy of Odin! Cabot goes on to describe how the frenzy seemed to jump from man to man among the Blue Tooth's host, infecting each one in turn with the horrible battle madness. He attributed it to "the gods of men, and of the men of Torvaldsland, the dread, harsh divinities of the cruel north, the gods of Torvaldsland. And the touch of these gods, like their will, was terrible." ("MoG," Ch 17.) Then the frenzy reaches the Forkbeard, causing him to throw back his head and scream at the sky, making him, in Cabot's eyes not the man he had known, but a beast! And then, irrational as lava, Cabot himself felt the beginnings of "a strange sensation." He tried to fight it, but even the mighty Tarl Cabot was no match for the Frenzy of Odin:
[15:55:32] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): "The valley seemed to me red with rage, the sky red, the faces of those about me. I felt a surge of frenzy building within me. I wanted to tear, to cut, to strike, to destroy.
"It had touched me, and I stood then within its grip, in that red, burning world of rage."
("Marauders of Gor," Chapter 17.)
[15:56:14] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): The thousands of men of Torvaldsland, along with Cabot, were overtaken by the madness, waiting only for the signal from Svein Blue Tooth:
"The signal spear, in the hand of the frenzied Blue Tooth, its scarlet talmit wrapped at the base of its blade, was lifted. The breathing of thousands of men, waiting to be unleashed, to plunge to the valley, for an instant was held. The sun flashed on the shield. The signal spear thrust to the valley.
With one frenzied cry the host, in its fury, from either side of the valley, plunged downward.
"The men of Torvaldsland," they cried, "are upon you!"
("Marauders of Gor," Chapter 17.)
[15:57:05] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): And so the men of Torvaldsland cut through the Kurii host like a sharp-bladed ax through bosk butter! The battle itself is described in detail in Chapter 18, and I won't spoil it for you--you'll want to read it yourself. But the Frenzy of Odin enabled the men of Torvaldsland to fight fiercely, ignoring their wounds, until the Kurii were at last defeated. (I guess telling you that does spoil it to some extent--maybe I should have said Cabot and the others all met a grisly death? :) But you'd know that couldn't be true . . .) One thing that puzzled me about this description is why it was called the Frenzy of Odin, and not, say, that the men had become berserkers or something similarly familiar to our modern ears. So I did a search on the Internet and discovered a number of references associating the Norse god Odin with frenzy. So it seemed John Norman had done his homework yet again. :)
[15:57:54] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): And with that, I conclude tonight's class on the warfare of Torvaldsland. Hopefully, you've learned a little more about life in the North and how war is fought than you knew already. If you have any questions or comments about tonight's lesson, please feel free to ask now.
[15:58:51] BilliAnn Bravin-Ireman (billiann.bravin): All right, if there are no questions, we'll go ahead and conclude for today. And please, if you can, support Gorean Campus as you are able. I hope to see you again next week as well as in the coming weeks as we continue to study the land to the North! I wish you all well!
