| Free Companionship
General “There is no freer nor higher nor more beautiful woman,” I said, “than the Gorean Free Companion. Compare her with your average wife of Earth.” Nomads of Gor - Page 290 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There is no marriage, as we know it, on Gor, but there is the institution of the Free Companionship, which is its nearest correspondent. Surprisingly enough, a woman who is bought from her parents, for tarns or gold, is regarded as a Free Companion, even though she may not have been consulted in the transaction. More commendably, a free woman may herself, of her own free will, agree to be such a companion. And it is not unusual for a master to free one of his slave girls in order that she may share the full privileges of Free Companionship. One may have, at a given time, an indefinite number of slaves, but only one Free Companion. Such relationships are not entered into lightly, and they are normally sundered only by death. Outlaw of Gor - Page 54 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Gorean free woman does not change her name in the ceremony of the Free Companionship. She remains who she was. In such a ceremony two free individuals have elected to become companions. The Earth woman, as a consequence of certain mating ceremonials, may change her last name. The first and other names, however, tend to remain constant. From the Gorean point of view the wife of Earth occupies a status which is higher than that of the slave but lower than that of the Free Companion. Explorers of Gor - Page 365 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When I had questioned her, Lara had said to me that only when true love is learned is the Free Companionship possible, and that some women can learn love only in chains. Outlaw of Gor - Page 250 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The talender is a flower which, in the Gorean mind, is associated with beauty and passion. Free Companions, on the Feast of their Free Companionship, commonly wear a garland of talenders. Raiders of Gor - Page 216 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A crown of talender was often worn by the girl at the feast celebrating her Free Companionship. Outlaw of Gor - Page 131 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- . . . intertwine our arms and drink the wine of the companionship. Guardsman of Gor - Page 85 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In certain cities, in connection with the free companionship, the betrothed or pledged beauty may wear eight veils, several of which are ritualistically removed during various phases of the ceremony of companionship; the final veils, and robes, of course, are removed in private by the male who, following their removal, arms interlocked with the girl, drinks with her the wine of the companionship, after which he completes the ceremony. Slave Girl of Gor - Page 107 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If she has not pleased her master of late, she may be, of course, as a disciplinary measure, simply chained nude to the slave ring in the bottom of the couch, sans both blanket and mat. The stones of the floor are hard and the Gorean nights are cold and it is a rare girl who, when unchained in the morning, does not seek more dutifully to serve her master. This harsh treatment, incidentally, when she is thought to deserve it, may even be inflicted on a Free Companion, in spite of the fact that she is free and usually much loved. According to the Gorean way of looking at things a taste of the slave ring is thought to be occasionally beneficial to all women, even the exalted Free Companions. Priest-Kings of Gor - Page 67 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It is not unusual for a Master to free one of his slave girls in order that she may share the full privileges of Free companionship. Outlaw of Gor - Page 54 |