"salt, incidentally, is obtained by the men of Torvaldsland, most commonly, from sea water or the burning of seaweed. It is also, however, a trade commodity, and is sometimes taken in raids. the red and yellow salts of the south, some of which I saw on the tables, are not domestic to Torvaldsland"
Marauders of Gor, pgs 186 � 187

She watched fearfully as the Forkbeard bit into one. �It needs more salt,� he had said to her. She shuddered.
Marauders of Gor

Salt, in its bowls on the tables, divided men into rankings. Those sitting above the salt were accorded greater prestige than those sitting below it. If one sat between the salt and the high seat, one sat �above� the salt; if one sat between the salt and the en-trance to the hall, one sat �below� the salt. At the high-seat table, that at which the high seat sat, all counted as being �above the salt.� Similarly, at the tables parallel to the high-seat table, smaller tabbies flanking the long fire on both sides, the tables nearest the high seat counted as being above the salt, those farthest away being below the salt. The division, was made approximately at the third of the hall closest to the high seat, but could shift, depending on the numbers of those in attendance worthy to be above the salt. The line, so to speak, imaginary to be sure, but definitely felt as a social reality, dividing those above from those below the salt, was uniformly �drawn� across the width of the hall. Thus, it was not the case that one at a long side table, who was above the salt, would be farther away from the high seat than one at one of the center tables, who was �below� the salt. In Ivar Forkbeard�s hall, incidentally, the salt distinctions were not drawn; in his hall all being comrades in arms, all were �above the salt.� Svein Blue Tooth�s holdings, on the other hand, were quite large and complexly organized. It would not have seemed proper, at least in the eyes of Svein Blue Tooth and others, for a high officer to sit at the same table with a fellow whose main occupation was supervising thralls in the tending of verr. Salt, incidentally, is obtained by the men of Torvaldsland, most commonly, from sea water or from the burning of seaweed. It is also, however, a trade commodity, and is sometimes taken in raids. The red and yellow salts of the south, some of which I saw on the tables, are not domestic to Torvaldsland.
Marauders of Gor