-M, N, O-

MAMBA (animal): large, predatory river tharlarion which inhabits the rivers of the rainforests inland of Schendi; they have long, log-like bodies, with short, powerful legs & a long snout & tail;similar to Earth crocodiles. "The word 'MAMBA' in most of the river dialects does not refer to a venomous reptile as might be expected, given its meaning in English, but, interestingly, is applied rather generally to most types of predatory river tharlarion." Pg. 393, Explorers of Gor.


MANUMISSION, PAPERS OF (information): Papers which prove a former slave has been released from her owner and made free. "A girl with pierced ears is, of course, either a slave or a former slave. If she is a former slave, her PAPERS OF MANUMISSION had best be in perfect order." Pg.97, Slave Girl of Gor.

MARCH OF THE FIRST FIVE BORN: (rite): a time during the Gur Ceremony, at the end, when the 5 first born Priest-Kings would enter and give Gur to the mother. "As it turned out later I was correct in this surmise and the moment of the ceremony is known as the MARCH OF THE FIRST FIVE BORN, in which these five march abreast to the Mother and giver her Gur in inverse order of thier priority." Pg. 216, Priest-Kings of Gor.

MARGIN OF DESOLATION (place): a dry barren place near the Vosk River, not far from Ar. Far below, I could see that the burned, dead MARGIN OF DESOLATION was dotted here and there with patches of green, where some handfuls of seed had blindly asserted themselves, reclaiming something of that devastated country for life and growth." Pg. 140, Tarnsman of Gor.

MARKING STICK (noun): a writing implement rather like a pen. "He turned to the slave girl, Luma. 'Copy down,' said he, 'on your paper the order of the beads, in widely spaced rows. Give me then your MARKING STICK and your paper.'" Pg. 386, Slave Girl of Gor.

MARLENUS (person): Ubar of Ar, father of Talena and Telima, Ubar of Ubars. "There, I suppose to this day, in that inhospitable vastness, he reigns; in the scarlet mountains of the Voltai, MARLENUS still rules, a larl among men, an outlaw king, to his followers always the Ubar of Ubars." Pg. 216, Tarnsman of Gor.

MARSH BARGE (ship): a long, narrow ship which is used in the marshes because they do not sink deep into the waters, rather float more atop to maneuver through the thick weedy marshes without problems. "The high-prowed MARSH BARGE is anchored at both stem and stern." Pg. 61, Raiders of Gor.

MARSH SHARK (animal): a very large shark, long bodied with 9 gills, which inhabits the marshes. "Not only must they fear the MARSH SHARKs and the carnivorous eeels which frequent the lower delta, not to mention the various species of aggressive water tharlarion and the winged, monstrous, hissing, predatory UI, but they must fear, perhaps mostof all, men, and of these, msot of all, the men of Port Kar." Pg. 8, Raiders of Gor.

MARSH SPEAR (weapon): a spear which is used for many different things, from defense to spearing food from the marshes. "The fellow handed hi MARSH SPEAR to a companion and turned to the bow." Pg. 19, Raider of Gor.

MARSH TURTLE (animal): a very large turtle similar to earths, which lives in the marshes of Gor. "...turning as it made its swift strike, probably a Vosk carp or MARSH TURTLE." Pg. 1, Raiders of Gor.

MARSH VINE (plant): linia which grows in the marsh. very pliable and can be used like rope. "It was formed of pliant, tubular, lengthy Vosk rushes, bound with MARSH VINE." Pg. 1, Raiders of Gor.

MATOK (person): a Priest-King term, it refers to an inhabitant of the Nest which is in the Nest butnot of the Nest. "What is a MATOK?" I asked. "A creature that is in the Nest but is not of the Nest," said Misk. "Like the arthropod?" I asked. "Precisely," said Misk." Pg. 92, Priest-Kings of Gor.

MAXIMUS HEGESIUS QUINTILIUS (person): First sword of Ar's military forces, killed by the poisonous bite of a slave girl for speaking out against Cernus. "The first sword of the military forces of Ar, MAXIMUS HEGESIUS QUINTILIUS, second in authority only to Minus Tentius Hinrabius himself, was relieved of his post." Pg. 233, Assassin of Gor.

MEDICE (person): a dark haired slave, who when Tarl had been posted before the slave sale on the Rence Islands, had carried a net and taunted Tarl. Upon capturing the Marsh Barges after the raid, Tarl made her a slave and gave her to Clitus. "What is your name?" I asked. "MIDICE," said she, "if it pleases Master." Pg. 93, Raiders of Gor.

MELIPOLUS (person): a very well known and winning rider in the tarn races. "Its rider, one of the great ones in the tradition of the greens, had been MELIPOLUS of Cos." Pg. 170, Assassin of Gor.

MENICIUS (person): one of the greatest Tarn racers of all time in Gor. "The Yellows carried the first day of the races, led by MENICIUS of Port Kar, claiming more than six thousand wins, perhaps the most famed rider since the days of Melipolus of Cos..." Pg. 213, Assassin of Gor.

MERCENARIES (group): People hired to kill or capture others for pay. ""You were foolish to hire MERCENARIES to guard you," said Targo." Pg. 75, Captive of Gor.

MERCHANTS, CASTE OF (group): the caste of those who deal in merchandise and trading; their castecolors are white and gold. "....the real reason, apparently seldom proclaimed by anyone, was that the true power in Turia lay actually with the CASTE OF MERCHANTS, chief of whom was Saphrar, as it does in many cities." Pg. 83, Nomads of Gor.

MERCHANT FOOT (measurement): see GOREAN FOOT. In Port Kar, this was kept with the "Stone" weight in the arsenal. "so, too, at the Sardar is a metal rod, which determines the MERCHANT FOOT, or Gorean Foot, as I have called it." Pg. 128, Raiders of Gor.

MERCHANT FORTRESS (place): a stone walled fortress where many merchants stop to trade and sell items or slaves. It is governed under Merchant Law. The walls are doubled, the interior wall higher, with tarn wire over the compound. "Five days out of Ko-ro-ba, we had stopped at one of these MERCHANT FORTRESSES." Pg. 220, Captive of Gor.

MERCHANT LAW (law): "The stockades are governed under MERCHANT LAW, legislated and revised, and upheld, at the Sardar Fairs." Pg. 219, Captive of Gor.

MESSAGE FLAG (noun):a flag used on a ship to signal to other ships important messages. "MESSAGE FLAGS, doubtless repeating the message of the trumpets, were being run from the decks on their halyards to the heights of the stern castles." Pg. 197, Raiders of Gor.

METAL WORKERS, CASTE OF (group): the caste of those who work with metal, a lower caste. "Send for one of the CASTE OF METAL WORKERS!" cried Saphrar." Pg. 101, Nomads of Gor.

MILES (person): a Kaissa player from Cos who first made up a well known move in the Game. "Surely you recognize," asked Scormus, curiously, looking up at him, "the Two Spearman variation of the Ubar's Scribe's Defense, developed by MILES of Cos..." Pg. 329, Assassin of Gor.

MINDAR (bird): a short-winged, yellow & red bird of the rainforests inland of Schendi; with its sharp bill, it digs in the bark of flower trees for larvae & bugs. "In the second level, that of the canopies, is found an incredible variety of birds, warblers, finches, MINDARS, the crested lit and the common lit, the fruit tindel, the yellow gim, tanagers, some varieties of parrot, and gliding urts, leaf urts, squirrels, climbing, long-tailed porcupines, lizards, sloths, and the usual varieties of insects, ants, centipedes, scorpions, beetles and flies, and so on." Pg. 311, Explorers of Gor.

MINTAR (person): of the Merchant Caste. Tarnsman of Gor. "I recalled her from the fields near the swamp forest south of Ar, in the caravan of MINTAR..." Pg. 10, Hunters of Gor.

MINUS {place} A village under the rule of Ar. "..and pretending to be of MINUS, a village under the hegemony of Ar, made petition, and successfully so, to participate in the retinue of the great Ubar." Pg. 298, Captive of Gor.

MINUS TENTIUS HINRABIUS(person): Ar's Administrator who took over after Kazrak left, had the major holdings of the vast walled Hinrabian kilns, producers of Ar's brick. "...second in authority only to MINUS TENTIUS HINRABIUS himself, was relieved of his post." Assassin of Gor.

MIRA {person}: one of the panther girls who was under Huras group. "MIRA, the lieutenant of Hura, stirred again, turning from her left to her right side." Pg. 228, Hunters of Gor.

MISK (person): the Priest-King whom Tarl meets and befriends, helping Him in regaining the nest egg after it is stolen. "'Sometimes,' once had said MISK to me in the Nest, 'I suspect only men can understand Kurii.' Then he had added, 'They are so similar.'" Pg. 31, Tribesmen of Gor.

MOUNTEBANK (person): a charletan. "A MOUNTEBANK, with pointed hat, with a tuft on it, in silly robes, with his painted clown's face, leading a strange animal, arrived at the compound." Pg. 102, Captive of Gor.

MUL (person): a Priest-King term for a human slave. "In the Nest," said Misk, "the expression 'MUL' is used to designate a human slave." Pg. 94, Priest-Kings of Gor.

MUL FUNGUS(food): a mushroom eaten by the Muls and used to make other things, such as porridge of sorts. the main staple of a Mul's meal in the Sardar Mountains. "The MUL-FUNGUS, as far as I can tell, is not much different from the fungus, raised under ideal conditions from specially selected spores, which graces the feed troughs of the Priest-Kings themselves, a tiny sample of which was once given me by Misk." Pg. 109, Priest-Kings of Gor.

MUL PELLETS(drug): a supplemental pill given the slaves as part of their meal. "for the third meal it is minced with MUL-PELLETS and served as a sort of cold hash; the MUL-PELLETS are undoubtedly some type of dietary supplement;..." Pg. 109, Priest-Kings of Gor.

MURMILLIUS (person): a highly touted swordsman of Gor. "The one time I did attend the games I suppose I was fortunate in seeing MURMILLIUS fight. He was an extremely large man and a truly unusual and superb swordsman. MURMILLIUS always fought alone, never in teams, and in more than one hundred and fifteen fights, sometimes fighting three and four times in one afternoon, he had never lost a contest." Pg. 190, Assassin of Gor.

NADU (command): at this command, a slavegirl will kneel back on her heels, with her knees spread wide, back straight, hands on thighs with palms up, head up, eyes lowered; ie: toassume the position of a Pleasure Slave. "Tossing my head I knelt, the chain dangling from my collar before my body, to the grass. I knelt back on my heels, my back very straight, my hands on my thighs, my head high, looking straight ahead. I thrust my shoulders back, my breasts forward. I did not neglect the placement of my knees; I opened them as widely as I could, as I knew the men wanted. I knelt before them again in that most elegant and helpless position in which men may place a woman, that position I was later to learn was that of the Gorean Pleasure Slave." Pg. 20, Slavegirl of Gor.

NAR (person): one of the Swamp Spiders who befriended Tarl Cabot. "I heard the mechanically reproduced sound again. It said, "My name is NAR, and I am of the Spider People." Pg. 82, Tarnsman of Gor.

NEEDLE TREE (tree): a tree of the Thentis region, whose oil is used in perfumes. "...and the NEEDLE TREES, the evergreens, for masts and spars, and cabin and deck plankings." Pg. 141, Raiders of Gor

NEST (noun): the colony and home of the Priest-Kings in the Sardar; the ruler of the Nest is the Mother, from whose eggs the Priest-Kings are hatched. "My eyes still did not leave the dominion which lay below me. Its diameter might have been ten pasangs in width. 'This is the NEST?' I asked." Pg. 84, Priest-Kings of Gor.

NEST FEAST CYCLE (holiday): the "great holidays" "The NEST FEAST CYCLE," said Misk, "Tola, Tolam and Tolama." "What are these feasts?" I asked. "They are the Anniversary of the Nuptial Flight," said Misk, "The Feast of the Deposition of the First Egg and the Celebration of the Hatching of the First Egg." Pg. 87, Priest-Kings of Gor.

NEST TRUST (noun): the Priest-King equivalent of 'friendship'. "Let there be NEST TRUST between us," he said. "Yes," I said, "let there be NEST TRUST between us." Pg. 116, Priest-Kings of Gor.

NEST WAR (event): during the time Tarl went to the Sardar Mountains, a war started within the Mountains, which almost destroyed the rule of the Priest-Kings. "Had Sarm this device at his disposal," said Serus to me, "the NEST WAR would have turned out differently." Pg. 72, Assassin of Gor.

NET (noun/weapon): roped material knotted together with little openings, used usually to capture fish in the seas, or as a weapon along with the trident. "Another popular set of weapons, as in the ancient ludi of Rome, is NET and trident." Pg. 189, Assassin of Gor.

NIGEL (person): An Ubar of Port Kar who sat on the Council of Captains. "The Wharves of Chung, Eteocles, NIGEL and Sullius Maximus, I conjectured, from the blazings along the waterfront on the west and south, would not fare as well." Pg. 147, Raiders of Gor.

NORTHERN SEA SLEEN (animal): similar to the other sleen, but with white fur. "She wore over her shoulder, a cape of white fur of the NORTHERN SEA SLEEN." Pg. 25, Marauders of Gor.

NOSE RING (noun): A ring pierced into the nose of a woman, at times used for leading, or just to make the woman more beautiful, commonly used by the Wagon People. "Even free women in the south," she insisted, "the free women of the Wagon Peoples, wear NOSE RINGS." Pg. 166, Captive of Gor.

NOTCHED STICK (instrument): an instrument made from a stick, with holes, which another stick is moved over the holes to make music. "...among them was a NOTCHED STICK, played by sliding a polished tem-wood stick across its surface;..." Pg. 153, Nomads of Gor.

NU (noun): a letter of the Gorean alphabet. "The next most frequently occurring letters in Gorean," said Bosk, "are Tau, Al-Ka, Omnion and NU." Pg. 383, Slave Girl of Gor.

ODDS MERCHANTS (group): during the races, those who take the bets for the races. "Further, at this time, the ODDS MERCHANTS of the Stadium of Tarns, made it known that the Administrator was heavily in debt, and they, not to be left out, demanded their dues." Pg. 234, Assassin of Gor.

OM (person): murdered, on tolerable terms with the Administrator of the City. "'With most,' he said, 'it is as you think, and they are simple, believing members of my caste, and there are others who suspect the truth and are tormented, or who suspect the truth and will pretend--but I, OM, High Initiate of Ar, and certain of the High Initiates are like none of these.'" Pg. 300, Priest-Kings of Gor.

OMEN TAKING(rite): the Wagon Peoples go to the Omen Valley to watch the haruspexes try to determine if the time is right for an election of a Ubar San. "I resolved that the best time to steal the egg would be during the days of the OMEN TAKING. At that time, Kutaituchik and other high men among the Tuchuks, doubtless including Kamchak, would be afield, on the rolling hills, surrounding the Omen Valley..." Pg. 146, Nomads of Gor.

OMEN VALLEY(place): the place where the Wagon Peoples would go to see the haruspexes, where many altars are set up for the sayers to "take the omens". "...on the rolling hills surrounding the OMEN VALLEY, in which on the hundreds of smoking altars, the haruspexes of the four peoples would be practicing their obscure craft, taking the omens, trying to determine whether or not they were favorable for the election of a Ubar San, a One Ubar, who would be Ubar of all the Wagons." Pg. 146, Nomads of Gor.

OMEN YEAR(date): a Wagon Peoples season. "In the thinking of the Wagon Peoples it is called the OMEN YEAR, though the OMEN YEAR is actually a season rather than a year, which occupies a part of two of their regular years...." Pg. 11, Nomads of Gor.

OMNION (noun): a letter of the Gorean alphabet. "The next most frequently occurring letters in Gorean," said Bosk, "are Tau, Al-Ka, OMNION and Nu." Pg. 383, Slave Girl of Gor.

ONAGER (weapon): The frame of the onager is thick rectangular pieces of wood laid flat on the ground. Through each side of the frame are two holes through which run the chainlinks. In the middle of the chains is a single arm that ends in a sling fitted for a stone. When released, the arm snaps forward upright which stops the arm and drives the shot towards its intended target. "She also carried, on leather-cushioned, swivel mounts, two light catapults, two clain-sling ONAGERS...." Pg. 193. Raiders of Gor.

ONE-STRAP (noun): one of the ways which straps are used to give orders to a trained tarn on what he is to do. The one-strap use is for making the tarn climb steeply high into the air. "And then, suddenly, I gave a cry and jerked on the ONE-STRAP and the bird, by training and instinct, flung itself into the sleeting wind and began to climb the dark, running sky." Pg. 275, Raiders of Gor.

OR (people): among the Wagon People, a group of ten. "Each warrior of the Wagon Peoples, and that means each able-bodied man, is a member of an OR, or a Ten..." Pg. 175, Nomads of Gor.

ORLU (people): "...each ten is a member of an ORLU, or hundred." Pg. 175, Nomads of Gor.

ORALU (people): among the Wagon People, a group of a thousand. "...each Orlu is a member of an ORALU, a Thousand." Pg. 175, Nomads of Gor.

OST (animal): tiny snake, about 12" long, bright orange in color; its venom causes extremely painful death within seconds; the ost of the rainforests inland of Schendi are red with black stripes. "One to be feared even more perhaps was the tiny OST, a venomous, brilliantly colored reptilelittle more than a foot in length, whose bite spelled an excruciating deathwithin seconds." Pg. 26, Outlaw of Gor.

OST (person): a man who accused Tarl of stealing his bag of coins while in the City of Tharna, after freely giving them to him earlier, resulting in Tarls arrest and enslavement within the city of Tharna. "He's the thief," said the lemon-faced man, pointing to me. His hand darted to the table where the bag of coins lay, half spilled out in the dried puddles of Kal-da. "These are my coins," said the conspirator. "My name is stitched into the leather of the sack." He shoved the sack under the nose of the guardsman. "OST," read the guardsman." Pg. 80, Outlaw of Gor.

OTHERS, The (people): What the ones trying to overtake Gor were referred to as. Some of those taken prisoners from disabled probe ships, live on Gor. "The OTHERS--those of power, not the Priest-Kings, must, to some extend, understand or sense the politics, the needs and policies of the remote denizens of the Sardar--they were probably not altogether unaware of the business of Priest-Kings, particularly not now, following the recent War of Priest-Kings, after which many humans had escaped the Place of Priest-Kings and now wandered free..." Pg. 200, Nomads of Gor. OUTLAW(people): those on Gor who live by no rules, but their own. "Do you remember an OUTLAW," I asked her, "Arn, by name?" Pg. 68, Hunters of Gor.

OYSTERS {food} Found in the Vosk Delta, these are a delicacy. "Other girls had prepared the repast, which, for the war camp, was sumptuous indeed, containing even OYSTERS from the delta of the Vosk, a portion of the plunder of a tarn caravan of Ar, such delicacies having been intended for the very table of Marlenus, the Ubar of that great city itself." Pg. 301, Captive of Gor.