The common brand of the north consists of a half circle, with at its right tip a steep diagonal line. The half circle is 1 � wide and the line is 1 � high. The line at the bottom symbolises the bonds belly while the diagonal line is the sword of the Jarl.
The brand used by Forkbeard is not uncommon in the north, though there is less uniformity in Torvaldsland on these matters than in the south, where the merchant caste, with its recommendations for standardization, is more powerful. All over Gor, of course, the slave girl is a familiar commodity. The brand used by the Forkbeard, found rather frequently in the north, consisted of a half circle, with, at its right tip, adjoining it, a steep, diagonal line. The half circle is about an inch and a quarter in width, and the diagonal line about an inch and a quarter in height. The brand is, like many, symbolic. In the north, the bond-maid is sometimes referred to as a woman whose belly lies beneath the sword.
Marauders of Gor, p 87.
"A man of Torvaldsland never leaves His house unless He is armed; and, within His house, His weapons are always near at hand, usually hung on the wall behind His couch, at least a foot beyond the reach of a bond-maid whose ankle is chained. Should she, lying on her back, look back and up, she sees, on the wall, the shield, the helmet, the spear and the ax, the sword, in its sheath, of her Master. They are visible symbol of the force by which she is kept in bondage, by which she is kept only a girl, whose belly is beneath His sword."
Marauders of Gor, page 141-142
This brand of Torvaldsland symbolizes a woman whose belly lies under the sword. In Torvaldsland a Jarls weapons are kept on the walls above his couch, out of his bonds reach. They are visible reminders that she is to be pleasing in all ways and at all times as her life can be ended with one swing of those very weapons that adorn his walls and which she may lie.
"What is your duty?" asked my master. "Absolute obedience," I replied, in Gorean. He held the whip to my lips. I pressed my lips to it, and kissed it. "Absolute obedience," I said.
Slave Girl of Gor. P 106
It is under that sword, that uncompromising power, that strong mastery that a woman who emerges from the circle drawn in the sands, the dirt serves.
A bondmaid of Torvaldsland serves naked both literally and figuratively.
Absolute obedience and perfection are expected of her. She is bold, brazen, open, honest and fearless. She is as nature intended, female�. created for the pleasure of strong men, men who control and own her without compromise. Within this slavery she flourishes and is beautiful, for she is free and true to her inner nature.
A bondmaids life can be likened to a �mat and kettle� slave of the South, but she is much more than that. She is all slaves, mat and kettle to pleasure slave. She may be seen herding and tending the bosk just after daybreak, or heard singing out with pleasure as a Jarl uses her in the furs
Strong Men own her, Men who shape her for their pleasure. Under a strong Jarl she is expected to please and be pleasing without question and with His guiding hand she emerges to soar. Just as the steel about her neck is formed under the skilled hands of the blacksmith the Jarls skilled hands form the creature of His pleasure.
The raw iron was naught til forged and formed under skillful, patient hands. He heats, cools, bends the raw iron until the desired contour begins to form. With a skilled eye he hammers unnecessary edges away; hours are spent upon the task before him. As He works small imperfections are removed or filled in. Then when the collar matches the vision in his minds eye it is polished, stroked and held up before his eyes so that he may gaze upon its beauty, its perfection.
She stood very still, facing the couch, at its foot. She was a bond-maid. She was property. She was owned. "Force me," she whispered. Bond-maids know they are chattel, and relish being treated as such. Deep in the belly, too, of every female is a desire, more ancient than the caves, to be forced to yield to the ruthless domination of a magnificent , uncompromising male, a master; deep with in them they all wish to submit, vulnerably and completely, nude, to such a beast.
Marauders of Gor, p.136
compare a bond's awakening femininity to the clay in a Jarl's hands
the clay has form ...texture ...color ....but as it is molded in his hands it becomes something more beautiful
think of the making of a collar in the hands of a metal worker
the iron is heated...cooled
its hammered smooth....inperfections removed
the stroke it and polish it til its perfection in their eyes
Within her service she is naked before Him, both literally and figuratively. He knows every thought, emotion, she hides nothing from Him, He expects nothing less from her. Within those hands she becomes what nature intended, female in all her forms. She is bold, brazen, fearless, her beauty blossoms. In her owners hands absolute obedience and beauty is expected of her, nothing less is permitted.
"Thyri, and other bond-maids, leaped and clapped their hands. How alive and vital they seemed! Their hair was loose, in the fashion of bond-maids. Their eyes shone; their cheeks were flushed; each inch of them, each marvelous, imbonded inch of them, was incredibly alive and beautiful . How incredibly feminine they were, so living and uninhibited and delightful, so utterly fresh, so free, so spontaneous, so open in their emotions and the movements of their bodies; they now moved and laughed and walked, and stood, as women, pride was not permitted them; joy was. Only a kirtle of thin, white wool, split to the belly, stood between their beauty and the leather of their masters."
Marauders of Gor, pg.100
�A bond-maid thrust through the crowd. �Does my Jarl not remember Gunnhild?� she asked. She whimpered, and slipped to his side, holding him, lifting her lips to kiss him on the throat, beneath the beard. About her neck, riveted, was a collar of black iron, with a welded ring, to which a chain might be attached�
Marauders of Gor, page 42
"I saw people running down the sloping green land, toward the water. Several came from within the palisade. Among them, white kirtled, collared, excited, ran bond-maids. These, upon the arrival of their master, are permitted to greet him. The men of the north enjoy the bright eyes, the leaping bodies, the squealing, the greetings of their bond-maids."
Marauders of Gor, pg. 82
When you look at all three....the bondmaid circle, the brand, the term 'belly beneath the sword' all are intertwined, each speaks to the very nature of a bondmaid. Each a symbol, a declaration of who, what a bondmaid is. A bondcircle may have awoken the bond, but it is the Free she serves, her duty, her life within that uncompromising mastery that form her into a bond. A brand may declare her bond, but it is the unseen brand ....the symbolic phrase of 'belly beneath the sword' that brands her heart, fires her belly.
