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Codes of the Gorean Warrior

The Codes

  1. Your word is your bond and must be upheld at all costs.

  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.

  3. Honor your opponent in victory or defeat.

  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.

  6. He who cannot think is not a man, and neither is he who can only think.

  7. The only death fit for a warrior is in battle. Warriors do not kill themselves or aid others in doing so.

  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 immediately.

  10. Warriors do not break their sworn word.

  11. If you lift a weapon against a warrior, he is permitted by his codes to kill you.

  12. Poisoned steel is against the codes.

  13. Do not enter a battle in sadness or self pity, even if you are in an unwinnable battle. 

  14. One who has shed your blood, or whose blood you have shed, becomes your sword brother, unless you formally repudiate the blood on your weapons.

  15. Warriors have a common Homestone.  Its name is battle.

  16. 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.

  17. Without the Codes, Men are no better then Beasts.

The Five Maxims

 

-First Maxim-
When honor is due, let honor be done. 

-Second Maxim- 
Honor the Home Stone which is yours to honor. 

-Third Maxim- 
Know those who are free, and honor their freedom. 

-Fourth Maxim- 
Deeds, not words, shall you be measured by. 

-Fifth Maxim- 
No man is alone who is the friend of steel.

Cornerstones of a Gorean Warrior

~First Cornerstone~ 

Courage: 
The mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear or difficulty.

~Second Cornerstone~ 

Temperance:
Habitual moderation in the indulgence of the appetites or passions.

~Third Cornerstone~

Wisdom:
Accumulated philosophic learning, a wise attitude or course of action of the teachings of the ancient wise men.

~Fourth Cornerstone~

Virtue:
Conformity to a standard of right, a particular moral excellence....
Manly strength or courage which is a commendable quality or trait.

 

Aphorisms and Proverbs of a Gorean Warrior

Gorean Proverb
A man who is returning to his city is not to be detained. 

Gorean Proverb

Within the circle of each man's steel, therein is each man an Ubar . 


Gorean Proverb:

One who has shed your blood, or whose blood you have shed, becomes your blood brother unless you formally repudiate the blood on your weapons.


Gorean Proverb:
If a free woman should kneel before you in submission, let you claim her life. This done, let you keep her as slave, or slay her that she not live in shame evermore. 

Gorean Proverb:
The Warrior defends his Home Stone unto Death. 

-97th Aphorism of the Codes- 

Q: What is invisible yet more beautiful than diamonds? 
A: That which is silent yet deafens thunder, that which depresses no scale yet is weightier than gold... Honor. 

 

 

A special thanks to Trenton DeShea and Rakov the Outlaw for the information on this page. 

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