Beasts of Gor

Birds of Gor

Gant~~three varieties - marsh gant, long-legged duck-like bird with a piping cry similar to a curlew; most often in marshes on the Delta of the Vosk; and also the jungle gant which inhabits the rainforests inland of Schendi; and the arctic gant, migratory bird, nest in the mountains of the Hrimgar and in steep, rocky outcroppings, called bird cliffs, the egg of the arctic gant when frozen are eaten like apples~~

QUOTE: " I heard a bird some forty or fifty yards to my right; it sounded like a marsh gant, a small, horned, web-footed aquatic fowl, broad-billed and broad-winged. Marsh girls, the daughters of rence growers, sometimes hunt them with throwing sticks." Raiders of Gor page 4

Beasts of Gor page 196

Gim~~small, insectivorous owl-like bird; c. 4 oz. in weight; inhabits the forests of northern Gor and the rainforests inland of Schendi; three types - purplish horned, lang, and yellow; horned gim is most common~~

QUOTE: "I heard the throaty warbling, so loud for such a small bird, of the tiny horned gim." Hunters of Gor page 106.

"The migration of the forest hurlit and the horned gim do not take place until late in the spring." Nomads of Gor page 138

"...the call of a tiny horned gim, the tiny purplish owllike bird." Captive of Gor page 97

Hurlit~~Gorean eagle, has wingspan of 6-8 feet; is carnivorous, and has yellow feathers tipped with black; also called 'Sun-Striker' or 'out-of-the-sun-it-strikes', from its habit of striking with the sun above and behind it; inhabits the Barrens~~

QUOTE:"The migration of the forest hurlit and the horned gim do not take place until late in the spring." Nomads of Gor page 138

Jard~~small, yellow-winged scavenger bird of the rainforest inland of Schendi; similar to a vulture

QUOTE: ". . . fluttering jards, covering many of the carcasses like gigantic flies, stirred, swarming upward as Inmak passed the, and then returned to their feeding." Beasts of Gor page 170.

"'Yes,' I agreed. 'Deft' The jard is a small scanvenging bird. It commonly moves in flocks." Magicians of Gor page 400

Kite

QUOTE: " 'The first southern migrations of meadow kites,' he said, 'have already taken place.'" Nomads of Gor page 138

QUOTE: "Behind and about him had swirled a gigantic cloud of yellow and red feathers, from the crested lit and the fruit tindel, brightly plumaged birds of the rain forest." Explorers of Gor page 236.

Mindar~~brightly plumaged, short winged yellow/red sharp billed bird~~

QUOTE: "We looked up and saw a brightly plumaged, short winged, sharp-billed bird. It was yellow and red." Explorers of Gor page 282

Tarns~~enormous relatives of the earth Golden eagle. some with a 50' wing span. they are bred in 2 types... racing - slender, lighter birds bred for speed and endurance; used by messengers to go from one city-state to another; or war tarns - heavier but agile, trained to aid in battle~~

QUOTE: The Goreans believe, incredibly enough, that the capacity to master a tarn is innate and that some men possess this characteristic and that some do not. One does not learn to master a tarn. It is a matter of blood and spirit, of beast and man, of a relation between two beings, which must be immediate, intuitive, and spontaneous. It is said that a tarn knows who is a tarnsman and who is not, and that those who are not die in this first meeting.

My first impression was that of a rush of wind and a great snapping sound, as if a giant might be snapping an enormous towel or scarf; then I was cowering, awestricken, in a great winged shadow, and an immense tarn, his talons extended like gigantic steel hooks, his wings spluttering fiercely in the air, hung above me, motionless except for the beating of his wings.

'Stand clear of the wings,' shouted the Older Tarl. I needed no urging. I darted from under the bird. One stroke of those wings would hurl me yards from the top of the cylinder. The tarn dropped to the roof of the cylinder and regarded us with bright black eyes.

Though the tarn, like most birds, is surprisingly light for its size, this primarily having to do with the comparative hollowness of the bones, it is an extremely powerful bird, powerful even beyond what one would expect from such a monster. Whereas large Earth birds, such as the eagle, must, when taking flight from the ground, begin with a running start, the tarn, with its incredible musculature, aided undoubtedly by the somewhat lighter gravity of Gor, can with a spring and a sudden flurry of its giant wings lift both himself and his rider into the air. In Gorean, these birds are somewhat spoken of as Brothers of the Wind.

The plumage of tarns is various, and they are bred for their colors as well as their strength and intelligence. Black tarns are used for night raids, white tarns in winter campaigns, and multicolored, resplendent tarns are bred for warriors who wish to ride proudly, regardless of the lack of camouflage. The most common tarn, however, is greenish brown. Disregarding the disproportion in size, the Earth bird which the tarn most closely resembles is the hawk, with the exception that it has a crest somewhat of the nature of a jay's.

Tarns who are vicious things, are seldom more than half tamed; like their diminutive earthly counterparts, like hawks, are carnivorous. It is not unknown for a tarn to attack and devour his own rider. They fear nothing but the tarn-goad. They are trained by men of the Caste of Tarn Keepers to respond to it while still young, when they can be fastened by the wires to the training perches. Whenever a young bird soars away or refuses obedience in some fashion, he is dragged back to the perch and beaten with the tarn-goad. Rings, comparable to those, which are fastened on the legs of young birds, are worn by the adult birds to reinforce the memory of the hobbling wire and the tarn-goad. Later, of course, the adult birds are not fastened, but the conditioning given them in their youth usually holds, except when they become abnormally disturbed or have not been able to obtain food. The tarn is one of the two most common mounts of a Gorean warrior; the other is the high thalarion, a species of saddle lizard, used mostly by clans who have never mastered tarns. No one in the City of Cylinders, as far a I knew, maintained thalarions, though they were supposedly quite common on Gor, particularly in the lower areas - in swampland and on the deserts.

The Older Tarl had mounted his tarn, climbing up the five-rung leather-mounting ladder, which hangs on the left side of the saddle and is pulled up in flight. He fastened himself in the saddle with a broad purple strap. He tossed me a small object, which nearly fell from my fumbling hands. It was a tarn whistle, with its own note, which would summon one tarn, and one tarn only, the mount that was intended for me. Never since the panic of disoriented compass back in the mountains of New Hampshire had I been so frightened, but this time I refused to allow my fear the fatal inch it required. If I was to die, it would be; if I was not to die, I would not.

I smiled to myself in spite of my fear, amused at the remark I had addressed to myself. It sounded like something out of the code of the Warrior, something which, if taken literally, would seem to encourage its believer to take not he slightest or most sane precaution for his safety. I blew a note on the whistle, and it was shrill and different, of a new pitch from that of the Old Tarl.

Almost immediately from somewhere, perhaps from a ledge out of sight; rose a fantastic object, another giant tarn, even larger than the first, a glossy sable tarn which circled the cylinder once and then wheeled toward me, landing a few feet away, his talons striking on thereof with a sound like hurled gauntlets. His talons were shod with steel-a-war tarn. He raised his curved back to the sky and screamed, lifting and shaking his wings enormous head turned toward me, and his round, wicked eyes blazed in my direction. The next thing I knew his beak was open; I caught a brief sight of his thin, sharp tongue, a song as a man's arm; darting out and back, and then, snapping at me, he lunged forward, striking at me with that monstrous beak, and I heard the Older Tarl cry out in horror, 'The goad! The goad!" Tarnsman of Gor pages 51-3.

"The platform drew closer, and the the wonder of the crowd I went to meet it. My heart was beating wildly. I scrutinized the tarn. Its lineaments were not unfamiliar. I examined the glistening, sable plumage; the monstrous yellow beak now cruelly belted together. I saw the great wings snap, smitting the air, the hurricane from their blow spilling slaves into the sand, tangling chains, as the great beast, lifting its head and smelling the open air, struck it with his wings. It would not attempt to fly while hooded; indeed, I doubted that the bird wouldattempt to fly while it dragged its bar of silver. If it was the bird I thought it to be it would not futilely contest the weight of the degrading hobble, would not provide a spectacle of its helplessness for its captors. I know this sounds strange, but I believe some animals have pride, and if any did, I knew that this monster was one of them." Outlaw of Gor page 118

"The tarn is guided by virtue of a throat strap, to which are attached, normally, six leather streamers, or reins, which are fixed in a metal ring on the forward portion of the saddle. The reins are of different colors, but one learns them by ring position and not color. Each of the reins attaches to a small ring on the throat strap, and the rings are spaced evenly. Accordingly, the mechanics are simple. One draws on the streamer, or rein, which is attached to the ring most nearly approximating the direction in which one wishes to go. For example, to land or lose altitude, one uses the four-strap which exerts pressure on the four-ring, which is located beneath the throat of the tarn. To rise into flight, or gain altitude, one draws on the one-strap, which exerts pressure on the one-ring, which is located on the back of the tarn's neck. The throat-strap rings, corresponding to the position of the reins on the main saddle ring, are numbered in a clockwise fashion." Tarnsman of Gor page 55

"During the day I freed my tarn to allow him to feed as he would. They are diurnal hunters and eat only what they catch themselves, usually one of the fleet Gorean antelopes or a wild bull, taken on the run and lifted in the monstrous talons to a high place, where it is torn to pieces and devoured." Tarnsman of Gor page 73

"The tarns were, of course, racing tarns, a bird in many ways quite different from the common tarns of Gor, or the war tarns. The differences among these tarns are not simply in the training, which does differ, but in size, strength, build and tendencies of the bird. Some tarns are bred primarily for strength and are used in transporting wares by carrying basket. Usually these birds fly more slowly and are less vicious than the war tarns or racing tarns. The war tarns, of course, are bred for both strength and speed, but also for agility, swiftness of reflex, and combative instincts. War tarns, whose talons are shod with steel, tend to be extremely dangerous birds, even more so than other tarns, none of whom could be regarded as fully domesticated. The racing tarn, interestingly, is and extremely light bird; two men can lift one; even its beak is narrower and lighter than the common tarn or war tarn; its wings are commonly broader and shorter than those of other tarns, permitting a swifter take off..." Assassin of Gor pages 143-4

QUOTE: "Behind and about him had swirled a gigantic cloak of yellow and red feathers, from the crested lit and the fruit tindel, brightly plumaged birds of the rain forest." Explorers of Gor page 236.

Tumit~~large, flightless, carnivorous bird of the plains about the size of an ostrich; 18'-long hooked beak; hunted and eaten by the Nomadic people of Gor; traditionally hunted with bolos the sport lies in whether you or the bird gets to eat that night~~

QUOTE: ". . . beyond them I saw one of the tumits, a large, flightless bird whose hooked beak, as long as my forearm, attested only too clearly to its gustatory habits; I lifted my shield and grasped the long spear, but it did not turn in my direction; it passed, unaware." Nomads of Gor page 2.

"I gathered that the best season for hunting tumits, the large, flightless carnivorous birds of the southern plains was at hand..." Nomads of Gor page 331

Ul~~predatory winged lizard with wing-spans of several feet; similar to a pterodactyl~~

QUOTE: "Also, at night, crossing the bright disks of Gor's three moon, might occasionally be seen the silent, predatory shadow of the ul, a giant pterodactyl ranging far from its native swamps in the delta of the Vosk." Outlaw of Gor page 26.

"Only one creature in the marshes dares to outline itself against the sky, the predatory Ul, the winged thalarion." Raiders of Gor page 1

Ushindi Fisher

QUOTE: "His head was surmounted by an elaborate headdress, formed largely from the long, white, curling feathers of the Ushindi fisher, a long legged, wading bird." Explorers of Gor page 236.

Vulo~~tawny-colored poultry bird, similar to a pigeon, which also exists in the wild; used for meat and eggs~~

QUOTE: "She was a peasant, barefoot, her garment little more than coarse sacking. She had been carrying a wicker basket containing vulos, domesticated pigeons for eggs and meat." Nomads of Gor page 1.

"...the shattered, slatted coops for vulos, the broken walls of keeps for the small, long-haired domestic verr, less belligerent and sizable than the wild verr of the Voltai ranges." Nomads of Gor page 10

Zadit~~small, tawny-feathered, sharp- billed bird of the Tahari; insectivorous, feeding on sand flies and other similar insects; they often land a kaiila and spend long periods hunting the sand flies that infest the host animal~~

QUOTE: "The zadit's a small, tawny-feathered, sharp-billed bird. It feeds on insects. When sand flies and other insects, emergent after rains, infest kaiila, they frequently light on the animals, and remain for some hours, hunting insects. This relieves the kaiila of the insects but leaves it with numerous small wounds, which are unpleasant and irritating, where the bird had dug insects out of its hide." Tribesmen of Gor page 152.

Insects of Gor

Arthropod~~large, perhaps eight feet long and a yard high, multi-legged, and segmented, body plates rustle like plastic armor, timid creatures~~

QUOTE: "At that moment in my horror a large, perhaps eight feet long and a yard high, multilegged, segmented arthropod scuttled near, its eyes waving on stalks." Priest Kings of Gor page 82

Golden Beetle~~insect, roughly the size of a rhinoceros; lives in the caverns below the Nest of the Priest-Kings in the Sardar Mountains; its prey is the Priest-Kings themselves luring by a type of anesthetic gas emission; named a "matok" meaning not of the nest but allowed to remain in it~~

QUOTE: "It was about the size of a rhinoceros and the first thing I noticed after the glowing eyes were two multiply hooked, tubular, hollow, pincer-like extension that met at the tips perhaps a yard beyond its body. They seemed clearly some aberrant mutation of its jaws. Its antennae, unlike those of the Priest-Kings, were very short. They curved and were tipped with a fluff of golden hair. Most strangely perhaps were several long, golden strands, almost an antennae, which extended from the creatures head over its domed golden back and fell almost to the floor behind it. The back itself seemed divided into two thick casings which might once, ages before, have been horny wings, but now the tissues had, at the points of touching together, fused in such a way as to form what was for all practical purpose a thick, immobile golden shell." Priest-Kings of Gor page 180.

" 'What does the Golden Beetle kill?' I asked. 'Priest-Kings,' said the second slave." Priest Kings of Gor page 105

"The exudate which forms on the mane hairs of the Golden Beetle, which had overcome me in the close confines of the tunnel, apparently has a most intense and, to a human mind, almost incomprehensibly compelling effect on the unusually sensitive antennae of the Priest-Kings, luring them helplessly, almost as if hypnotized, to the jaws of the Beetle, who then penetrates their body with its hollow, pincer-like jaws and drains its body of fluid." Priest-Kings of Gor page 257.

Rennels~~poisonous, crab-like desert insects~~

"...that once an army of a thousand wagons turned aside because a swarm of rennels, poisonous, crablike desert insects, did not defend its broken nest..." Nomads of Gor page 27

Rock Spider~~found in rainforests inland of Schendi; tuck legs beneath them resembling rocks; brown and black; globular; 8 ft thick; eat everything; Explorers of Gor page 313~~

Sand Flies

QUOTE: "Following such rains, great clouds of sand flies appear, wakened from dormancy. These feast on kaiila and men. Normally, flying insects are found only in the vicinity of the oases." Tribesmen of Gor page 152.

Slime Worm~~long, slow, blind worm which inhabits the caverns below the Nest in the Sardar; scavenges the remains of the Golden Beetles kills~~

QUOTE: "We had not walked far when we passed a long, worm-like animal, eyeless, with a small red mouth, that inched its way along the corridor, hugging the angle between the wall and the floor . . . it is a Slime Worm . . . It scavenges on the kills of the Golden Beetle." Priest-Kings of Gor pages 105-6.

Swamp Spiders~~rational beings who inhabit the swamps of Ar; use a translator to communicate with humans~~

QUOTE: "Approaching me, stepping daintily for all its bulk, prancing over the strands, came one of the Swamp Spiders of Gor. I caught sight of the mandibles, the curved knives. I saw then for the first time that strapped to his abdomen, was a translation device. They hunt us and leave only enough of us alive to spin the Cur-lon Fiber used in the mills of Ar." Tarnsman of Gor pages 81-3.

Zarlit~~very large dragonfly; about two feet long with four large, translucent wings with a span of about a yard; large, pad-like feet on which, when it alights, it can rest on the water, or pick its way delicately across the surface; most of them are purple; appearance is rather formidable and can give one a nasty turn in the delta; harmless to humans~~

QUOTE: "The zarlit fly is very large, about two feet long, with four large, translucent wings, with a span of about a yard. It has large, pad like feet on which, when it alights, it can rest on the water, or pick its way delicately across the surface. Most of them are purple. Their appearance is rather formidable and can give one a nasty turn in the delta, but happily, one soon learns they are harmless, at least to humans." Vagabonds of Gor, pg 160
"I did see a large, harmless zarlit fly, purple, about two feet long with four translucent wings, spanning about a yard, humming over the surface of the water, then alighting and, on its padlike feet, daintily picking its way across the surface." Raiders of Gor page 5

Insects common also to Urth
Ants~ pg 313, Explorers of Gor

Beetles~ pg 313, Explorers of Gor

Centipedes~ pg 313, Explorers of Gor

Flies~ pg 313, Explorers of Gor

Rock spider~ pg 313, Explorers of Gor

Scorpions~ pg 313, Explorers of Gor

Termites~ pg 313, Explorers of Gor

This page was last modified on the 31st of January 2002