-M-

mamba: large, predatory variety of 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, give its meaning in English, but, interestingly, is applied rather generally to most types of predatory river tharlarion. Explorers of Gor, page 393 

Mamba People: also called 'Tharlarion People', a cannibal tribe:

The Mamba people were, so to speak, the Tharlarion People. The Mamba people ate human flesh. So, too, does the tharlarion. It is thus, doubtless, that the people obtained their name. Explorers of Gor, page 393 

March: a military unit of the Kurii

Twelve of these Bands constitutes a March. A March thus consists of 2,160 animals, or, counting the commanders of each Band, 2,172 animals. A March is commanded by a Blood, whose rank is indicated by one ring on the left arm. The rings of rank are quite plain, being of some reddish alloy, and are distinguished from decorative rings, of which many Kurii are fond. Kurii, generally, like men, seem vain beasts, there appears to be an inverse correlation between height of rank and intricacy and variety of ornamentation. The higher the rank the simpler is likely to be the ornamentation. The commander, or Blood, of a March wears only a single, simple reddish ring. Whether or not this simplicity is honored off duty, so to speak, or in their privacy, I do not know. I further do not know the full significance of the rings. I do not understand how they are earned, or what is involved in moving from the "second ring" to the "first ring." I do know that rings are welded on the wrists of the beasts. The iron files of the Goreans, incidentally, will not cut the alloy. They may be obtained, of course, by the severing of the arm. Why the conjunction of bands is spoken of as a "March" is also unclear. This may refer to a military march, of course, but, I suspect, the term being apparently ancient, that it may also refer to migrations in the remote history of the Kurii, on their own world, putatively no longer existent or viable. There is some indirect evidence that this may be the case, because twelve "Marches" are referred to not as a Division or Army, or some such unit, but rather as a "People".  Marauders of Gor, page 241

.The leader of a Band wears two welded, reddish rings, the leader of the March, which contains twelve Bands, only one. Marauders of Gor, page 256

marcher ant:  are aggressive carnivorous insects. Their name is derived from their, apparently seasonal, marches through the jungle in a single column, yards wide and pasangs in length. Their bite is extremely painful, but not poisonous. Their victims die from being weakened from relentless attack, being overcome until they are still. 

The column of marchers was something like a yard wide. I did not know how long it might be. It extended ahead through the jungle and behind through the jungle farther than I could see in either direction. Such columns can be pasangs in length. It is difficult to conjecture the numbers that constitute such a march. Conservatively some dozens of millions might be involved. The column widens only when food is found; then it may spread as widely as five hundred feet in width. Explorers of Gor, page 399

march chain: a way of positions slaves in a line

Usually the tallest girls lead the slave chain, the height decreasing gradually toward the end of the chain, where the shortest girl is placed. This was a “common chain,” sometimes called a “march chain” or “trekking chain”; Tribesmen  of Gor, page 14

Margin of Desolation: a wild barren strip of soil which the Empire of Ar surrounds itself with: Tarnsman of Gor, page 129

marine saurian: Fish-like but reptilian, more than 20 ft in length:

I had seen, yesterday, the long neck of a marine saurian lift from the waters of gleaming Thassa. It had a small head, and rows of small teeth. Its appendages ere like broad paddles. Then it had lowered its head and disappeared. Such beasts, in spite of their frightening appearance, are apparently harmless to men. They can take only bits of garbage and small fish. Certain related species thrive on crustaceans found among aquatic flora. Further, such beasts are rare. Some sailors, reportedly, have never seen one. Far more common, and dangerous, are certain fishlike marine saurians, with long, toothed snouts; they are silent and aggressive, and sailors fear them as they do the long-bodied sharks. Slave Girl of Gor, page 360 

Market of Semris: a another small community of Gor

a small town south and somewhat east of Samnium, it is famed for its markets for tarsks, four-legged and two-legged. The town square is described as neat and well maintained, set with flat stones intricately fitted together. There are shops, fountains, a closed temple and public buildings. Dancer of Gor, pages 106 and 281

marking stick: a writing implement rather like a pen: Slave Girl of Gor, page 386

marsh moccasin: narrow, dark snake about five feet long with a small triangular head:

We saw a narrow, dark shape, about five feet long, like a slowly undulating whip, glide past. A small triangular head was almost level with the water surface. I did not think there had been much danger, but there was some possibility that the movements of her legs in the water might have attracted its attention. 
"That is a marsh moccasin," I said. 
"Are they poisonous," she asked. 
"Yes," I said. "I never saw one before," she said.
"They are not common," I said. "even in the delta."  Vagabonds of Gor p 267 -

"turning as it made a swift strike, probably a Vosk carp or marsh turtle." Raiders of Gor, page 1

Master and slave relationship:

"the rare event had here taken place of a girl meeting her true master, and a man his true slave girl. the girl one among thousands less fortunate, had encountered a male, surely, too, one among thousands, who could be, and was, to her and for her, her absolute and natural master, the ideal and perfect male for her, dominant and uncompromising, who, could, and would, demand and get her full, yielding sexuality, which a woman can give only to a man who owns her totally, before whom, and to whom, she can be only an adoring slave.
This happens almost, never on Earth, where the normal male/female relationship in the result of a weak, pleasant male's releasing of the female's natural instinct, rather than her usually frustrated instinct to submit herself fully to a truly dominant male, as a held and owned, penetrated, submissive female; it does occur, however, with some frequency on Gor, where girls, slaves, are more frequently traded and exchanged. One tries different girls, until one finds her, or those who are the most exquisite, the most pleasing; one tends then, to keep them this tends, too, to work out the the advantage of the women, the female slaves, but few, except themselves, are concerned with them, or their feelings; men, it is clear, have a need to dominate; few deny this; none deny it who are informed; in the Gorean culture, as it is not on Earth, institutions exist for the satisfaction of this need, rather than its systematic suppression and frustration; the major Gorean institutions satisfying this need, is the widespread enslavement of human females; the massive/slave relationship is the deepest, clearest recognition of, and obsession to, this masculine need, felt by all truly vital, sexual males; but in the Gorean theory, this masculine need to dominate, which, thwarted, leads to misery, sickness and petty, vicious, meaningless aggressions, is not a aberration, nor has an unconditional biological singularity in males, but has its full complementary, correspondent need in the human female, which is the need, seldom satisfied, to be overwhelmed and mastered, in primitive mate  competitions, in which intelligence and cunning, and physical and psychological power, were of biological importance, rather than wealth and status, the best women, statistically, would fall to the strongest, most intelligent men; it is possible, and likely, that women, or the best women, were once fought for, literally, as well as symbolically, as possessions; if this were the case then it is likely that something in the female, genetically, would respond to dominance and strength; most women do not, truly, want weak men; they wish their children to be born not to an want equal but a superior; how could they respect a man who in stature and power was not more than themselves, the equal of a woman, a price; given the choice to bear the child of an equal, or a master, most woman would choose to bear the child of a master; woken long to bear the children of men superior to themselves; it is a defeated woman whose body grows fat with the child only of an equal; just a evolution, at one time selected for strong, intelligent men, capable of combat, because they re successful in mate competitions, so, too, correspondingly, in the transmission genetic structures, it would be selecting for women who responded to, and yielded to, such men, women who were the biologically specified and rightful property of such men, our ancestors, ..the dominate male is thus sleeted for in mate competition; the statistically male tends, statistically, to lose out his stronger, more intelligent foe; correspondingly, evolution selected for the female who responds the the dominant male; she who fled such men wither mater with weaker men, her children then being less well adapted for survival, or perhaps, fled away, and her genes were lost, for better or for worse, to the struggling human groups; the female who was excited by such men, and longed to belong to them, to masters, and keep by them and serve them, had the best chance of survival; she was the best protected; her children would be the best protected; further, her children would be more intelligent and stronger, being the offspring of more intelligent and stronger men; her lusts, and her love of being owned by such men, and her pride in their possession of her, who contribute substantially to not only her survival both that of her children; to, the woman would, over generations, become more beautiful and desirable, and sexually exciting, as vital males exercising their masculine prerogatives, selected among they daughters of the daughters of such women; men chose for mating women who pleased them, and women who pleased then were not the ugly, the gross, the belligerent and the stupid, but the intelligent, loving, desirable and beautiful; the twin dynamics of evolution, natural and sexual selection, thus formed over thousands of years the biological nature of the human female; originally there might have been only reason tendencies  to respond to masculine domination, but those who had them had the best chance;.... of survival; such tendencies were the transmitted, becoming pervasive genetic characteristics of women; owned women lived; the most beautiful and best of those were selected the strongest, most intelligent and powerful men; it is from such intricate workings of nature that has come the intelligent, beautiful, sensitive women, the feminine woman, with complement of normal feminine hormones, who longs in her heart to lie lovingly, obediently, excitedly in the arms of a strong man, his woman; beyond this, one might note that dominance and submission are genetically pervasive in the genetically pervasive in the animal kingdom; among mammals in general, and primates universally, it is the male who dominates and the female who submits; this is not an aberration; the aberration is its conditioned frustration, possible, interestingly enough, only in an animal complicated enough to be subject to extensive conditioning regimes, where words may be used to induce counter instinctual responses, to the detriment and misery the individual organism, thought perhaps subservient to a given conception of economic and social relationships. 
We are bred hunters; we are made farmers..." Tribesmen of Gor, page 163

"But what if he is weak?" she begged.
"Continue to serve him, in the fullness of your slavery, begging him for the least of his kisses, the most casual of his caresses...Even such small attentions, you will discover, now that you have become sensitized to your slavery, will be precious to you." 
"But what if he is stupid?" she asked.
"Beg him to sell you, or give you away," I said, "that you may, if only in being sold off on the block, come into the collar of another, one capable of satisfying what you are, a slave."
"But what if he will not sell me, or give me away?" she said.
"Then," said I angrily, "that is how it will be, for it is you who wear the collar. He is the master, you are the slave." Magicians of Gor, page 233

matok: a Priest-King term, it refers to an inhabitant of the Nest which is in the Nest but not of the Nest: Priest-Kings of Gor, page 92

mazasa: translation: copper: Savages of Gor, page 321

mead: a drink favoured in the north, is assumed to be the same as ale (see Ale for more information)

"In the north generally, mead, a drink made with fermented honey and water, and often spices and such, tends to be favored over paga." Vagabonds of Gor, page 16

"Bera went to the next man, to fill his cup with the mead, from the heavy hot tankard, gripped with cloth, which she carried." Marauders of Gor, page 78

I handed the horn to Thyri, who, in her cooler, naked, between two of the benches, knelt at my feet. "Yes, Jarl," said she, and ran to fill it, from the great vat. How marvellously beautiful is a naked, collared woman. "Your hall," said I to the Forkbeard, "is scarcely what I had expected."... "Here, Jarl," said Thyri, again handing me the horn. It was filled with the mead of Torvaldsland, brewed from fermented honey, thick and sweet. Marauders of Gor, page 89-90

melons: mentioned but no description

"Buy melons!" called a fellow next to her, lifting one of the yellowish, red-striped spheres toward me." Tribesmen of Gor, page 45

Merchant Brand: a tiny brand in the form of spreading bosk horns for any wishing to do business with the Wagon Peoples that allows their passage over the plains; the stigma connected with this brand is that any approaching the wagons, does so as slaves: Nomads of Gor, page 34

Merchants, Caste of: Those who are of this caste are concerned with the sell and trade of merchandise for a profit. There are almost as many sub-castes of the Merchant caste as there are products to be sold; a few notable ones include such castes as the caste of Slavers. The caste colors of the Merchants are White and Gold.

"Down the stairway slowly, in trailing white silk, bordered with gold, the colors of the Merchants. .Aphris of Turia, then, was of the caste of merchants." Nomads of Gor, page 91

"I wore a white robe, woven of the wool of the Hurt, imported from distant Ar, trimmed with golden cloth, from Tor, the colors of the Merchant." Hunters of Gor, page 7

Merchant Kaissa: refers to the standardized version of kaissa played at fairs and tournaments: Players of Gor, page 8

mercy: something that a Gorean Master never gives a slave

"My eyes met his. His eyes were fierce, amused, mine were frightened. My eyes pleaded for mercy. I would receive none" Captive of Gor, page 283

metaglana: Gorean term reserved for FreePersons referring to the state succeeding virginity

" The buyers were also informed that I was 'glana' or virgin. The correlated term is 'metaglana' used to designate the state to which the glana state looks forward, or that which it is regarded as anticipating. Though the word was not used of me I was also 'profalarina' which term designates the state preceding, and anticipating that of 'falarina' or the state Goreans seem to think of as that of being a full woman, or, at least, as those of Earth might think of it, one who certainly is no longer a virgin. In both terms, 'glana' and 'profalarina' incidentally, it seems that the states they designate are regarded as immature or transitory, state to be succeeded by more fully developed, superior states, those of 'metaglana' or 'falarina.' Among slaves, not free women, these things are sometimes spoken of along the lines as to whether or not the girl has been 'opened' for the uses of men. Other common terms, used generally of slaves, are 'white silk' and 'red silk' for girls who have not yet been opened, or have been opened, for the uses of men, respectively."  Dancer of Gor, page 128

Metal Workers, Caste of: similar to the blacksmith of old Earth: Explorers of Gor, page 72

"My opponent was not Andreas, but a squat, powerful man with short-clipped yellow hair, Kron of Tharna, of the Caste of Metal Workers." Outlaw of Gor, page 113

milk: Use in blackwine (powdered) or drank by itself. Can be made from bosk, verr or kaiila. It is served in a metal cup.

"The smell of fruit and vegetables, and Verr milk was very strong." Savages of Gor, page 60

"I heard the lowing of the milk bosk from among the wagons." Nomads of Gor, page 27

"Too I had brought up a small bowl of powdered bosk milk. We had finished the creams last night." Guardsman of Gor, page 295

"...; kaiila milk, which is used, like verr milk, by the peoples of the Tahari, is reddish, and has a strong, salty taste; it contains much ferrous sulfate...." Tribesmen of Gor, page 71

mindar: 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:

"Kisu pointed overhead. 'See the mindar,' he said. 
We looked up and saw a brightly plumaged, short-winged, sharp-billed bird. It was yellow and red.
'That is a forest bird,' said Kisu. The mindar is adapted for short, rapid flights, almost spurts, its wings beating in sudden flurries, hurrying it from branch to branch for camouflage in flower trees, and for drilling the bark of such trees for larvae and grubs. Explorers of Gor, page 383

moons, Gorean: there are three moons circling Gor, only one was named in the books

"I looked up and saw the three moons of Gor, the large moon and the two small ones, one of the latter called the Prison Moon, for no reason I understood."  Assassin of Gor, page 170

mul: a Priest-King term for a human slave: Priest-Kings of Gor, page 94

mul cases: transparent plastic tube for muls to sleep: Priest-Kings of Gor, page 110

mul fungus: bland, whitest fibrous vegetable-like material which is the main food of muls: Priest-Kings of Gor, page 109

"It is not hard to get used to the mul-fungus, for it has almost no taste, being and extremely bland, pale, whitish, vegetable like matter." Priest Kings of Gor, page 109

mul-pellets: surmised by Tarl Cabot to be a vitamin supplementary for muls: Priest-Kings of Gor, page 109

mul torch: rod used to light passages in the Priest-Kings Nest: Priest-Kings of Gor, page 115

Musicians, Caste of: Mentioned in the books.

In most cities it is regarded, incidentally, as a criminal offense to enslave one of the caste of players. A similar decree, in most cities, stands against the enslavement of one who is of the caste of musicians.  Beasts of Gor, page 44

music and musical instruments :  thou widely played and sung there is no bowed instruments or written music on Gor.