Tarnsman -Chpt 2

Tarl was unconscious for the entire time that he stepped on the ship, until he awakes in a room sparsely populated. He finds that gravity is quite different, and tries to explore his surroundings. He conjectures the planet is smaller than earth and perhaps closer to the sun, because he is able to leap in a manner that suggests it. I think this chapter serves to show the setting in several different ways. He finds that he has been changed to a more roman like dress with a tunic of red. He reflects that he is like a child, knowing nothing and needing to learn everything.

At least he meets his father, Matthew Cabot, face to face. Tarl tells his father that his mother is dead, and his father remarks, "She, of all of them, I loved most." This statement I believe has been used in support on the debate of whether or not Tarl's mother was a slave. I am not sure this statement alone proves that, given that man can have several Free Companions in his life, just one at a time. Tarl is moved emotionally by his father's reaction to his mother's death and they meet and embrace. There is a strong connection between father and son here. Matthew Cabot tells Tarl that "She will be last. I had no right to let her love me," which again does not prove to me either way the status of Tarl's mother.

At this point, Tarl is thanked for bringing a handful of earth, and then Matthew insists Tarl eat something. He claps his hands and we get our first view of a slave, not to be mentioned again for yet another 20 pages. Tarl does not even recognize her as slave, though she is casually offered to Tarl for the night if he wished. He said no, unknowing the implications of the offer.

Here several facts follow:

Gor is the name of the world; it means Home Stone. Each village is built around a flat stone, which is a symbol of sovereignty. It is said even a peasant is a sovereign in his own home. The emotionality behind a Home Stone is that of a flag, and Goreans are very serious about their personal and City Home Stones. It is said that men stand when they speak of Home Stone. Where a man sets his Home Stone he claims that land for himself. Good land is protected by the swords of thestrongest owners in the vicinity. Soldiers who would cut each other down for an acre of land would stand together to protect the Home Stone of their village. He tells Tarl of his own Home Stone which encases now two handfuls of earth, which he says Tarl can have one day ...if he should live to earn a Home Stone.

Priest Kings: Matthew conjectures that they might be gods. They maintain a place in the Sardar Mountains, and it is certain death to go there. Matthew tells him that sometimes when a men are old they got to The Sacred Place never to be seen or heard from again, and Matthew suspects the Priest Kings are men. He believes that the Priest Kings have vast technical knowledge, and keep things under control on Gor by the Flame Death. Weapons, communications, and transportation is not allowed to develop, but areas such as medicine, lighting and agriculture is far beyond that of earth. They are regarded as divinities of the world, esp. by lower castes. The ship that brought Tarl is controlled remotely by them, Mathew conjectures, and these ships are called Voyages of Acquisition. They then discuss the fact that Gor itself was moved like a ship by the Priest Kings, though Tarl suggests that perhaps Gor has been hidden behind the sun since it is on the same trajectory path as earth, though the velocity would have to be adjust to keep the sun between earth and Gor. (Theory of the Sun Shield)

The chapter ends with Tarl wondering why he has been allowed to tell this tale, but guesses the Priest Kings must have some purpose in it. Though it makes little difference if you believe it or not, once earth got the technology together to go check, the Priest Kings may have already moved the planet a thousand miles away.