GOREAN COLLAR

"Collar!" I said. Eta frowned. "Ko-lar," she repeated, again indicating the neck band of steel fashioned on her throat. "ko-lar," I said carefully following her pronunciation"

~Slave Girl of Gor, page 81~

“What is the common purpose of a collar?”

“The collar has four common purposes, Master,” she said. “First, it visibly designates me as a slave, as a brand might not, it if should be covered by clothing. Second, it impresses my slavery upon me. Thirdly, it identifies my master. Fourthly__fourthly__”

“Fourthly?” he asked.

“Fourthly,” she said, it makes it easier to leash me.”

He kicked her in the side. She winced. Her response had been slow…

……..Explorers of Gor, page 80

The gorean collar is easy to define. It means a slave is owned, a slave may be branded but still be unowned. The brand marks her as a slave while the collar itself marks her as owned. Many of the collars will be marked with who is the owner of the slave and maybe her name. The collar in no way gives the slave the right to disrespect or refuse to serve others. It gives her no rights. By wearing a gorean collar, a slave acknowledges that she has no rights. She makes no decisions for herself. She can not hold back any of her thoughts and feels. She has no limits, no rights do anything but obey the Free or be punished. She may hope that she is treated well and fairly, but she may only hope. All things concerning her are up to her Master to decide. Even if he decides to kill her, he is within his rights for no other reason then it was his wish.

A owned slave may beg not to be forced to serve in ways her Master wouldn’t approve of but in the end she must obey all Free people, she is nothing but a slave. If another Free choose to go along with a slaves restrictions it is due to their respect of the wishes of the Owner of the slave, and not due to any respect to the slave.

Once that collar is locked around a slaves neck they give up the respect of the Free, the right to expect her desires and wishes and needs to be fulfilled. A collared slave is at the mercy of her owners.

A slaves actions and behavior is a reflection back on her Owner/owners. Even though the law of gor allows any Free to punish a slave for disrespect or being unpleasing, a owned slave knows that she will also have to face the punishment and anger of her Owner once he has learned of her offense. It is also stated that a slave that willingly goes to her Owner and confess her behavior before it is learned of in another way, will find even though they are severely punished, it would be less then if her Owner has to learn about her behavior from another.

A gorean collar can be as light or as heavy as the slave themselves wish to make it. Many slaves come alive in their collars and accept their slavery. While others choose to fight it. Making their lot a very hard one and often end in death.

The collar is also the symbol of bondage. Most girl learn to wear their collar with pleasure and pride and without feel lost. The collar is extremely attractive, setting off and enhancing her beauty. The collar can be seductive, it excites men and drives the wild. To have a slave at their feet to please them. A slave knows the collar marks them, it is not removable by them. The collar also has a releasing effect on the sexuality of the female. Wearing the collar a girl knows she is a slave, In wearing a collar a girl knows she is a slave, accordingly the fullness of her sexuality in all its helplessness, delicacy and profundity is not subject ot eh imperious beck and call of men,. She knows she may be called to perform sexually and fully at any second at the whim of Masters

A owned slave knows that she may not be permitted the least restraint or inhibition on her sexuality. She is a slave. A collar serves to release the female’s sexuality but it also deepens it and intensities them. The collar around her neck symbolizes that she is owned, no rights, she is forced to submit to the whims of the FREE. She must obey all things, those things alone can drive a slave to almost excruciatingly ecstatic orgasmic heights, experiencing sensations and raptures. A slave has a freedom that even Free women can not even dream of.

We will now look at the reason why some prefer a tavern collar…

While a personal collared slave may be on the furs of her Master when he is around, serving him only a Tavern slave is in the Tavern of her owner serving his customers. Attending to their needs. Most Master will assume that he will be allowed Free use of a tavern slave if she is unrestricted, after she brings him his drink.

There are several reasons why a slave girl would chose a tavern collar. Some slave that are new to Gor will ally themselves with a tavern in order to have the benefit of some small protection as well as the training. It gives them a chance to get their feet week. To have a relatively safe place to learn what gor is all about, observe and serve. It is not uncommon for a slave to eventually take the personal collar of a Master she has served often and formed a bond with. Others may take a tavern collar after being released from a personal collar to have the chance to heal and gain by their confidence. Some slaves do not wish to commit themselves to serve one Master in the way she would be required to do if she took a personal collar.

There are many different types of collars….

The common Gorean slave collar

This collar was worn by most slave girls on Gor. The common collar on Gor was a hinged circular band which was flat and locked snugly on the girls throat. There is some debate about the nature of the lock. In Raiders of Gor Tarl says that:

"The common female slave collar on Gor has a seven-pin lock.

There are, incidentally, seven letters in the most common Gorean

expression for female slave, Kajira."

p 294 Raiders if Gor

This would be fine apart from the slight problem that Kajira has six letters not seven. Kajirae, the plural has seven so it could be argued that this is what was meant by the statement. It could also be that in the Gorean spelling the expression did have seven letters. More than likely though it is a misprint. The important thing is anyway that the collars did lock and could not be removed by the girl without the key.

The common Gorean slave collar could be made of other materials such as gold or they could be bedecked with jewels. Collars such as these would be used to indicate high slaves.

Plate Collars

These collars were usually given to low slaves or slaves who had not yet been trained sufficiently to be given a lock collar. They were straight bars of iron which were curved about the girl's necks.

"When the smith arrived, he took, from a rack in the wall,

two narrow, straight bars of iron, not really plates but narrow cubes

, about a half inch in width and fifteen inches in length.

The girls were then motioned to the anvil. First Virginia, and

then Phyllis laid their heads and throats on the anvil, heads turned

to the side, their hands holding the anvil, and the smith, expertly, with

his heavy hammer and a ringing of iron, curved the collar about their throats; a

space of about a quarter of an inch was left between the two ends of the

collar; the ends matched perfectly; both Virginia and Phyllis stepped away from

the anvil feeling the metal on their throats, both now collared slave girls.

p 153-4 Assasins of Gor

These collars would be as secure as lock collars in that the iron was such that it had to be bent around the slave's neck with a heavy hammer. Because they were used to signify low status though, a slave would strive hard to please to be allowed a locking collar rather than a plate collar.

Turian Collars

The Turian collar worn by girls held as slaves in Turia differed from the standard locking collar in that it was more of a circular ring was was hinged and fitted more loosely than a standard slave collar.

"The Turian collar, on the other hand, fits more loosely,

and resembles a hinged ring, looped about the throat. A man can

get his fingers inside a Turian collar and use it to drag the girl to him.

It does not fit loosely enough to permit its being slipped, of course.

p251-2 Slave Girl of Gor

The Turian collar then can be seen as a regional variation on the normal slave collar of Gor. It offered the same kind of security as the normal collar, but was probably adapted to be looser due to regional taste.

Rope Collars

Rope collars were used by those of the Peasant caste to denote slaves. They were collars made simply with rope.

"If I collar you," he said, "you are again a slave."

"Collar me, Master," she said.

Thurnus wrapped the rope twice around her throat, and knotted it.

p 240 Slave Girl of Gor

The security offered by a rope collar was not perfect. The girl would physically be able to remove the collar by untying it. However, in a peasant village where all knew she was slave this would, presumably be soon reported to her Master.

The Bondage Strings of the Innuit.

The Innuit tied strings around the throats of their women to indicate bondage. Imnak does this to Poalu in Beasts of Gor. Once he has done this she is a slave. Slaves were also identified by loops of binding fiber sewn into their clothes. If they were white-skinned these tokens of bondage were not really necessary as this alone would identify them as slaves. The security in this, again is not perfect, but the girls would again be known as slaves in a small community and as such would have little success in escaping.

Beaded Collars of the Red Savages

The Red Savages of the Barrens of Gor used beaded collars for their slave girls.

"The red savages do not use steel collars. They usually

use high, beaded collars, tied in the front by a rawhide string

Subtle differences in the styles of collars, and in the knots with

which they are fastenedon the girls' necks, differentiate the tribes.

p102 Savages of Gor

The slave girl living in the Barrens would be very much kept in bondage by her environment. She could not expect to survive alone in the desert and would thus need the protection of her Master. He could quite easily check that her collar had not been tampered with by checking the accuracy of the knots.

Kai has tried to describe the various collars of Gor books in these pages. Kai thinks it is important for slave girls to be collared so that they more readily know their place. Kai thinks that it is best to get a collar that locks ultimately, but if this is not possible then a leather or rope collar can suffice in the meantime.

Capture collar

a loop of chain controlled by two wooden handles so that it is easy to block off the slave's air supply as a measure of control

Savages of Gor pg 180

Coffle collar

various types of steel collars with rings front and/or back to hook 3 to 4 ft lengths of chain between them; some hinged in the back

Savages of Gor pgs 135-136

Cord collar

collar made of cord fashioned from the rence plant it is worn by rencer slaves and carries a small disk to identify the owner

Vagabonds of Gor pg 341

Dance collar

a collar to which light- weight (but effective) chain has been attached in order to set off the dancer; a common type consists of a large oval of chain to which wrist cuffs and/or ankle cuffs are attached; once the two sides of the oval have been attached to a ring on the collar; there are variations depending on

Kajira of Gor pg 143

Gorean collar

a light steel like band, a badge of servitude. Flat, snug

Tarnsman of Gor pg. 26 ∓ 46; Nomads of Gor pg. 29

Kur collar

A high, locking, leather collar which is used to identify Kur slaves

Marauders of Gor pgs 322-323

Leather leash collar

a leather slave collar with attached which may be used when the slave is to be led, usually for reasons of security

Magician of Gor pg 33

Lock collar

a hinged collar easily removed by the use of a key; usually of flat stock c. 1-1/2 inches to 2 inches high; usually worn by trained slaves; the lock has one pin for each of the letters in the word 'kajira'

Assassin of Gor pg 51

Message collar

worn by slaves who convey messages, it is a thick, high, leather collar, fashioned by Turians, literally sewn around her throat. Sewn inside, within the leather itself is a message, written on a small piece of rolled rence paper. The slave girl often does not know that her collar carries a message and of course would never know it's contents

Nomads of Gor pg 40

Northern collar

a utilitarian sounding collar made of black iron with an iron ring to be used if a chain is attached. It is rivited around the neck of the bond-maid

Marauders of Gor pgs 105-106

Plank collar

A plank collar is used on slave benches. It is a heavy wooden plank with five semicircular openings, when the plank is lifted it provides holding collars for five slaves. The plank is then chained down. The primary holding arrangement for women on the benches, however, is not chains. Each place on the bench is fitted with ankle and wrist stocks, and for each bench there is a plank collar, a plank which opens horizontally, each half of which contains five matching, semicircular openings, which, when it is set on pinions, closed, and chained in place, provides five sturdy, wooden enclosures for the throats of women. The plank is thick and thus the girls's chins are held high. The plank is further reinforced between each girl with a narrowly curved iron band, the open ends of which are pierced; this is slid tight in its slots, in its metal retainers, about the boards, and secured in place with a four-inch metal pin, which may or may not be locked in place.

Savages of Gor pg 60

Retaining collar

Usually placed in addition to another collar, close fitting, heavy and thick, with a thick linked chain attached, about 4’ long, it fastens to a stout ring

Magicians of Gor pg 309

Shipping collar

a temporary collar showing that the slave girl is part of a cargo

Explorers of Gor pg 79

Sleeve, collar

A sleeve made out of cloth of some type which goes around the collar and normally would match the outfit the slave is wearing. Used only in some cities.

Kajira of Gor pg 46

String collar

four looped strings, each differently knotted by the Master to identify the slave's owner, worn by the slaves of the Red Hunters.

Beasts of Gor pg 153

Torvaldsland collar

a collar of black iron, riveted upon the slave, with a welded ring

Marauders of Gor pg 85

Temporary slave collar

flat and close fitting, identifies the slave as a slave provisionally in the custody of Magistrates

Magicians of Gor pg 309

Transport collar

a collar with a metal tag attached listing destination or other vital information, to be used during transport of a slave.

Dancer of Gor, page 73

The Following is based on a collaring performed by

Tarl Cabot in the 10th Book of the Gor series :

Tribesmen of Gor

"Asusume the posture of Female Submission," He orders. (Ko-lar or Collaring Position, also called "the Position of Female Submission" : The slave kneels at her Master's feet and leans her body back, sitting upon her heels, with her hands extended upward, crossed at the wrists, and her head beneath them, lowered in supplication.)

She kneels, leaning back, her arms extended, wrists crossed, her head between them, down.

"Repeat after me," He tells her. "I, once (her name) of (her home city or town, or of Earth)..."

She repeats this.

"...herewith submit myself, completely and totally, in all things..."

She repeats this.

"...to Him who is known as (His name) of (His city)..."

She repeats this.

"...His girl, His slave, an article of His property, His to do with as He pleases."

She repeats this.

He then produces the collar. If it is engraved with His name or an inscription, he reads it to her, making sure that she understands what it says and means. He places it about her neck and snaps it shut with a click.

"I am yours, Master, " He says.

"I am yours, Master," She repeats.

At this point, any free persons in attendance will typically congratulate the Master on his new slave. When this is done, the Master will usually ask the slave the following three questions:

"Who are you?" He asks.

She tells Him her former name.

"What are you?" He asks.

"I am your slave, Master." She says.

"What is your name?" He asks her.

“Whatever Master wishes," She answers