Free_Companionship

Free Companionship

"There is no marriage, as we know it, on Gor, but there is the institution of the Free Companionship, which is its nearest correspondent."
Outlaw of Gor, Page 54

"In every woman," she said, "there is something of the Free Companion and something of the Slave Girl."
Priest-Kings of Gor, Page 204

It should first be noted that, as with most facets of Gorean culture, there are few, if any, hard fast rules which are not shown as having an exception somewhere else. It is dangerous therefore to make blanket statements as saying something is "Gorean" or "All Goreans act this way" or "To be Gorean you must do this". However, due to the preponderance of evidence, one may draw conclusions as to generally accepted behavior or generally acknowledged lifestyles.

This research applies to the Gorean concept of Free Companionship as viewed among the general population. For instance, the city of Port Kar does not recognize the free companionship. The free women of that city are known simply as the women of their men. [1]

In many western religions, there are only two things that break the marriage bonds, death or infidelity. On Gor, there are two things that break the free companionship contract, death or slavery. [2g][4b] The next biggest difference is that while marriage is entered into for life, the free companionship must be renewed annually. [4a] Another difference being that the Gorean woman does not change her name as do many women in a marriage. [5a]

In is interesting to note that while the free companionship must be renewed annually, it is still taken very seriously. [2f] Such relationships, ever referred to as privileges, [3] are not entered into lightly. While the man, or the woman for that matter, may have many slaves, there is only one free companion. [2e] The female free companion is usually regarded highly. She holds a status higher than that of an wife. [5b] It is said that "There is no freer nor higher nor more beautiful woman than the Gorean Free Companion." [6] In fact, the only female a man may allow to utter his name is his free companion. [7]

Entering into a free companionship can take the form of a proposal and acceptance. The proposal then may come from either the man or the woman. The free companionship may also be arranged by others.

There are only two proposals actually spoken in the books. Both were in front of others, during a feast [8][9] and offered by a man.

The first was Tarl's proposal to Talena when he ask her "If you will have me as my Free Companion." Talena's answer was "I accept you, Tarl of Ko-ro-ba. "I accept you as my Free Companion." [10]

Proposals are also referenced as being ask by the woman. [11]

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. [2d][12][13] In fact, the other spoken proposal is when Thurnus, of Tabuk’s Ford, says to his recently freed slave, Sandal Thong, "I ask this free woman, for whom I muchly care, to accept me in free companionship." Her answer, quite different than Talena's, was "Then, noble Thurnus, I do refuse. I will not be your companion." [14]

Before delving deeper into the intricacies of Sandal Thong's refusal, it should be noted that there are also arranged companionships. A woman, bought from her parents for tarns or gold, is still regarded as a free companion, even though she may not have been consulted in the transaction. [2b] Women are shown as being pledged, [15] promised, [16] or intended [17] to be free companions. Even if for political reasons, [18] these unions would be, by law, just as binding as a companionship based first on love. More commendably though, the free woman would, of her own free will, agree to be such a companion. [2c]

There is never a mention of 'wedding' rings being exchanged. It seems evident that, instead of being proclaimed 'husband and wife' by someone of religion, the point at which the companionship becomes valid [19] is an interlocking of arms and drinking the 'wine of free companionship'. [20][21][22]

At one point a single reference is made to the "rude bridal customs of Gor". It seems the new 'bride' playfully struggles and pretends to resist her new companion. [23]

What clothing the woman wears to the ceremony is mentioned once where it is said that she may wear as many as eight veils. These veils are then ritualistically removed from her during various phases of the ceremony. In some cities the woman has all of her veils removed in order that those in attendance may then express their pleasure and joy in her beauty. There is also a reference to the "swirling love silks of the free companion". [24][25] A garland or crown woven of talenders is often worn by the woman. [26][27]

The free companionship is shown mostly in two different lights. The first being a true, deep and binding love. For instance, Tarl sought Talena for years after the destruction of Ko-Ro-Ba and his return to Gor. Another being, as mentioned above, the love of Sandal Thong and Thurnus.

Sandal Thong knew that the love she had for Thurnus was a deep, rich and hopeless slave's love for her master. [28] She obviously knew what a free companionship could become. [29] She knew the confinements of the free companion. Even when there is love between the two, the life of a female free companion is not easy. Imagine a 'wife' unable to speak to anyone but her mate, [30] or not being allowed to leave the house with permission. [31]

While the female is usually allowed the privilege of sleeping with her companion, [32] she knows that at the foot of the bed there is a slave ring. [33] She knows that should she deserve it, she might spend a night there, stripped and chained with no blanket or mat. [34]

The female must learn the preparation and serving of exotic dishes, the arts of walking, and standing and being beautiful, the care of a man’s equipment, the love dances of their city, and so on. [35] She certainly would never have her ears pierced. [36] In fact, some Goreans think of the free companionship as being a form of contract slavery. [37]

Later on in the books, the institution of free companionship is shown in a decidedly more negative light. Female free companions are shown to be frigid and cold, [38] prideful of her lofty status, [39] foolish, [40] one whose own mate has lost interest her, [41] to the point where she turns his life into a torture. [42]

Following is an example which seems typical of most free companionships:

There was a wagon to the left of the bridge. Its canvas cover was drawn down. The rain poured from it. Under the wagon there was a small, huddled figure, a tarpaulin clutched about its head and shoulders. Within the wagon, then, I supposed, there might be a fellow and his free companion. Doubtless, unless it had been displeasing in some way, the location of the small figure beneath the wagon, huddling there in misery and cold, was a consequence of the presence of the free companion within it. I did not doubt but what the small figure was far more beautiful and attractive than the free companion. That was suggested by what must be its status. Free women hate such individuals and lose few opportunities to make them suffer. I wondered if the fellow in the wagon had acquired the individual under it merely for his interest and pleasure, or perhaps, too, as a way of encouraging his companion to take her own relationship with him more seriously. Perhaps, if his plan worked, in such a case, he might then be kind enough to discard the individual beneath the wagon, ridding himself of it, its work accomplished, in some market or other.

The canvas covering of the wagon had been drawn back, probably to air the contents from the dampness of the storm. No one seemed to be within the wagon, or about it, other than the pair at the side of it. I had little doubt, accordingly, that the blond woman kneeling before the fellow with the whip was his free companion, or former free companion. The girl who had been beneath the wagon last night, and whom Ephialtes had, hopefully, purchased for me this morning, had been formerly purchased, and primarily purchased, I had suspected, in an attempt, and perhaps a somewhat foolish, and somewhat misdirected attempt, I thought, by the fellow to encourage his companion to take her relationship with him more seriously. She had apparently done so, at least to the extent of treating the slave with great cruelty. But now the slave was gone, and there was a chain on her neck. He had apparently now gone to the heart of the matter. If she were still his free companion, it seemed she would now be kept in the modality of bondage, but perhaps she was now only his former free companion, and had been reduced to actual bondage, now being subject to purchase by anyone. I recalled how she had bent in terror to kiss his feet. There was no doubt that she would now take her relationship to him seriously.

It is difficult not to do so when one is owned, and subject to the whip. The woman would now discover that her companion, or former companion, a fellow perhaps hitherto taken somewhat too lightly, one perhaps hitherto accorded insufficient attention and respect, one perhaps hitherto neglected and ignored, even despised and scorned, was indeed a man, and one who now would see to it that she served him well, one who would now own and command her, one who would summon forth the woman in her, and claim from her, and receive from her, the total entitlements of the master.
Renegades of Gor, Pages 26, 143 – 144

Perhaps then it really is that the female free companion seeks a strong hand. That there is, in every woman both the free companion and the slave girl. [43]

The Goreans claim that in each woman there is a free companion, proud and beautiful, worthy and noble, and in each, too, a slave girl. The companion seeks for her companion; the slave girl for her master. - Hunters of Gor, Page 102

Footnote References
[1]
Port Kar does not recognize the Free Companionship, but there are free women in the city, who are known simply as the women of their men.
Raiders of Gor, Page 295

[2a]
There is no marriage, as we know it, on Gor, but there is the institution of the Free Companionship, which is its nearest correspondent.
[2b]
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.
[2c]
More commendably, a free woman may herself, of her own free will, agree to be such a companion.
[2d]
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.
[2e]
One may have, at a given time, an indefinite number of slaves, but only one Free Companion.
[2f]
Such relationships are not entered into lightly,
[2g ]
and they are normally sundered only by death.
Outlaw of Gor, Page 54

[3]
. . . the privileges of a Free Companionship are never bestowed lightly.
Priest-Kings of Gor, Pages 161–162

[4a]
The Companionship, not renewed annually, is at an end. And you were once enslaved."
It was true that the Companionship, not renewed, had been dissolved in the eyes of Gorean law.
[4b]
It was further true that, had it not been so, the Companionship would have been terminated abruptly when one or the other of the pledged companions fell slave.
Hunters of Gor, Page 9

[5a]
A free woman’s name, of course, tends to remain constant. 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.
[5b]
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

[6]
There is no freer nor higher nor more beautiful woman," I said, "than the Gorean Free Companion.
Nomads of Gor, Page 290

[7]
The privilege of using his name, of having it on her lips, is, according to the most approved custom, reserved for that of a free woman, in particular a Free Companion.
Priest-Kings of Gor, Page 206

[8]
When I returned to Ko-ro-ba with Talena, a great feast was held and we celebrated our Free Companionship.
Tarnsman of Gor, Page 216

[9]
. . . to the Feast of our Free Companionship at Ko-ro-ba.
Outlaw of Gor, Page 120

[10]
"If you will have me," I said, "as my Free Companion."
"I accept you, Tarl of Ko-ro-ba," said Talena with love in her eyes. "I accept you as my Free Companion."
Tarnsman of Gor, Page 213

[11]
But within that six months she is expected to find a man of Tharna to whom she will propose herself as a Free Companion.
Outlaw of Gor, Page 250

[12]
It seems she thereafter, because of her embarrassment, would never see the warrior and he, at last, impatient and desiring her, carried her off as a slave girl, and returned to the city months later with her as his Free Companion.
Priest-Kings of Gor, Page 46

[13]
I noted that the girls who had been once their slaves, captured enemies, now wore no longer their collars of gold, but instead stood at their sides as Free Companions.
Assassin of Gor, Page 61

[14]
Thurnus stood up again. "I ask this free woman," said he, indicating Sandal Thong, "for whom I muchly care, to accept me in free companionship."
There was a great cry of pleasure from the villagers.
"But Thurnus," said she, "as I am now free do I not have the right to refuse?"
"True," said Thurnus puzzled.
"Then, noble Thurnus," said she, evenly, calmly, "I do refuse. I will not be your companion."
Slave Girl of Gor, Page 239

[15]
"As you know," she said, "I am pledged to be the Free Companion of Lurius, Ubar of Cos. Accordingly, my ransom will be high."
Raiders of Gor, Page 209

[16]
She had once been promised to him in Companion Contract, as a Free Companion; now he had purchased her as a slave.
Slave Girl of Gor, Page 419

[17]
She, now a love slave, had once been the ward of Chenbar, Ubar of Tyros, and once had been intended to be the free companion of gross Lurius of Jad, the Ubar of Cos, thence to be proclaimed Ubara of Cos, which union would have even further strengthened the ties between those two great island Ubarates.
Players of Gor, Page 9

[18]
It seemed unlikely that Pa-Kur would be so politically naive as to use the girl before she had publicly accepted him as her Free Companion, according to the rites of Ar. Treated as a pleasure slave, she would have negligible political value.
Tarnsman of Gor, Page 176

[19]
"When," I asked. "High Lady, will you drink the wine of the Free Companionship with Lurius, noble Ubar of Cos?"
Raiders of Gor, Page 180

[20]
"Drink with me the cup of the Free Companionship," said Relius, rather sternly.
"Yes, Master," said Virginia, "yes!"
"Relius," said he.
"I love you!" she cried. "I love you, Relius!"
"Bring the wine of Free Companionship!" decreed Marlenus.
The wine was brought and Relius and Virginia, lost in one another’s eyes, arms interlocked, drank together.
Assassin of Gor, Page 402

[21]
. . . that we might here together drink, one with the other, the wine of the Free Companionship.
Assassin of Gor, Page 73

[22]
. . . with interlocking arms, we had drunk the wines of the Free Companionship.
Hunters of Gor, Page 10

[23]
Then, in accord with the rude bridal customs of Gor, as she furiously but playfully struggled, as she squirmed and protested and pretended to resist, I bound her bodily across the saddle of the tarn. Her wrists and ankles were secured, and she lay before me, arched over the saddle, helpless, a captive, but of love and her own free will. The warriors laughed, Marlenus the loudest. "It seems I belong to you, bold Tarnsman," she said, "What are you going to do with me?" In answer, I hauled on the one-strap, and the great bird rose into the air, higher and higher even into the clouds, and she cried to me, "Let it be now, Tarl," and even before we had passed the outermost ramparts of Ar, I had untied her ankles and flung her single garment to the streets below, to show her people what had been the fate of the daughter of their Ubar.
Tarnsman of Gor, Page 213

[24]
I supposed it was perhaps the first time that the lips of a man had touched hers. Doubtless she had expected to receive that kiss standing in the swirling love silks of the Free Companion, beneath golden love lamps
Raiders of Gor, Page 235

[25]
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. This sort of thing, however, varies considerably from city to city. In some cities the girl is unveiled, though not disrobed, of course, during the public ceremony. The friends of the male may then express their pleasure and joy in her beauty, and their celebration of the good fortune of their friend.
Slave Girl of Gor, Page 107

[26]
In the distance, perhaps some forty pasangs away, I saw a set of ridges, lofty and steep, rearing out of a broad, yellow meadow of talenders, a delicate, yellow-petaled flower, often woven into garlands by Gorean maidens. In their own quarters, unveiled Gorean women, with their family or lovers, might fix talenders in their hair. A crown of talenders was often worn by the girl at the feast celebrating her Free Companionship.
Outlaw of Gor, Page 131

[27]
Free Companions, on the Feast of their Free Companionship, commonly wear a garland of talenders.
Raiders of Gor, Page 216

[28]
Sandal Thong gently lowered herself to the ground, and lay on her belly before Thurnus. She took his right ankle in her hands and, holding it, pressed her lips softly down upon his foot, kissing it. She lifted her head, tears in her eyes. "Let me be instead your slave," she said.
"I offer you companionship," he said.
"I beg slavery," she said.
"Why?" he asked.
"I have been in your arms, Thurnus," she said. "In your arms I can be only a slave."
"I do not understand," he said.
"I would dishonor you," she said. "In your arms I can behave only as a slave."
"I see," said he, caste leader of Tabuk’s Ford.
"The love I bear you, Thurnus," she said, "is not the love of a free companion, but a hopeless slave girl’s love, a love so deep and rich that she who bears it can be only her man’s slave."
Slave Girl of Gor, Page 239

[29]
"I love him," she said. "I love Miles of Vonda!"
"With the love of a free companion?" I asked.
"No," she said, "with the helpless and total love of an owned slave girl for her master."
Rouge of Gor, Page 240

[30]
I rejoiced that in at least one city on Gor the free women were not expected to wear the Robes of Concealment, confine their activities largely to their own quarters, and speak only to their blood relatives and, eventually, the Free Companion.
Outlaw of Gor, Page 49

[31]
Indeed, in Ko-ro-ba, a woman might even leave her quarters without first obtaining the permission of a male relative or the Free Companion, a freedom which was unusual on Gor.
Outlaw of Gor, Page 49

[32]
"I have heard," she said, smiling up at me, "that it is only a Free Companion who is accorded the dignities of the couch.
Assassin of Gor, Page 56

[33]
a world in which even the exalted Free Companion sleeps upon a couch with a slave ring set at its foot.
Assassin of Gor, Page 245

[34]
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.
Thus when she has been irritable or otherwise troublesome even a Free Companion may find herself at the foot of the couch looking forward to a pleasant night on the stones, stripped, with neither mat nor blanket, chained to a slave ring precisely as though she were a lowly slave girl.
It is the Gorean way of reminding her, should she need to be reminded, that she, too, is a woman, and thus to be dominated, to be subject to men. Should she be tempted to forget this basic fact of Gorean life the slave ring set in the bottom of each Gorean couch is there to refresh her memory. Gor is a man’s world.
. . .
Of custom, a slave girl may not even ascend the couch to serve her master’s pleasure. The point of this restriction, I suppose, is to draw a clearer distinction between her status and that of a Free Companion. At any rate the dignities of the couch are, by custom, reserved for the Free Companion.
Priest-Kings of Gor, Pages 67–68

[35]
. . . even girls who will be free companions, and never slaves, learn the preparation and serving of exotic dishes, the arts of walking, and standing and being beautiful, the care of a man’s equipment, the love dances of their city, and so on.
Nomads of Gor, Page 63

[36]
"But only slave girls," she wept, "have their ears pierced." She wept. "How can I ever hope to become a Free Companion," she wept. "What man would want a woman with the pierced ears of a slave girl?
Captive of Gor, Page 166

[37]
Some Goreans think of the Free Companionship as being a form of contract slavery; this is not, of course, precisely correct; on the other hand, if more women took that definition seriously, I have little doubt but what free companionships would be far more rewarding than they now are, for many couples. They might then, under that interpretation, and held contractually enforceable on the woman, be that next best thing to her actual slavery.
Blood Brothers of Gor, Page 246

[38]
"Our customers do not come here," said the hostess, "for attentions which they could receive at home from their free companions. They come here for the kisses of slaves, and the pleasures of slaves."
Mercenaries of Gor, Page 330

[39]
They want to know them with a depth, detail and intimacy that it would be quite inappropriate to expect of, or desire from, a prideful free companion, whose autonomy and privacy is protected by her lofty status.
Mercenaries of Gor, Page 349

[40]
"Men are only human. They do not, nor should they have, endless patience, particularly with the sort of animal which you will then be. It is not like having a foolish free companion, one who knows no better, who will patiently work with you for years, trying to help you become a woman."
Mercenaries of Gor, Page 176

[41]
That a male of Earth may not even know what clothing his wife owns, or what she buys, would be unthinkable to most Goreans, even those who stand in free companionship.
Slave Girl of Gor, Page 76

[42]
"She is a slave," I said, "not a free companion, who may not be touched, to whom nothing may be done, even if she turns your life into a torture, even if she drives you mad, even if she intends to destroy you, hort by hort."
Magicians of Gor, Page 467

[43]
"In every woman," said Ute, "there is a Free Companion and a slave girl. The Free Companion seeks for her companion, and the slave girl seeks her master."
Captive of Gor, Page 83