Vor of Barrayar

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The Vor of Barrayar are a fictional military caste and essentially aristocracy of the planet Barrayar in the sci-fi book series the Vorkosigan Saga.^[1]

On Barrayar, there exist major classes: the Vor and everyone else, occasionally referred to in the books as plebes or proles. Vor status is considered genetic, hereditary, and inescapable. All Vor surnames begin with the syllable Vor-, often prefixed to a recognizable surname from some Earth nation (e.g. Vorsmythe).

Because it is an honorific, the prefix Vor- is dropped at the Imperial Service Academy (though not in the service itself) to emphasize the ideal of meritocracy. While the Vor men are generally involved in military or government service the women often lead sheltered lives at home raising children. ^[1]

One Vor privilege is the right to carry weapons, usually a stunner or knife. Even low Vor women carry a "Vorfemme" knife, presumably to defend their honor from rapacious males. In the novel Barrayar, when Cordelia Vorkosigan buys the crippled Lt. Koudelka a sword-stick to improve his self-confidence, he protests that he cannot carry it. Admiral Aral Vorkosigan gets around this by "issuing" it to him in his capacity as a military officer.

1 Origins of "Vor"
2 Levels of Vor
- 2.1 High Vor
3 Oaths of the Vor
4 Vor Names
- 4.1 The Vor Counts
- 4.2 Other Vor names
5 See also
6 References

[edit] Origins of "Vor"

These are obscure, but the word exists in Russian, one of four languages spoken on Barrayar. As Russian: Вор "Vor" means thief, it means "thief" or "thief-lord" or Thief in law ("Vor v zakone"). Most aristocracies arise from warlords, who in turn tend to arise from competing bands of brigands, so this explanation is plausible.

The Russian "dvor" means "court", and "dvoryanin" were the "new nobles" created by Ivan The Terrible and Boris Godunov to counterbalance the boyars (old nobles). See the entry on Muscovy.

"Vor does mean 'thief'!" — Duv Galeni, in the novel Memory.

In the Russian translations of the Vorkosigan saga, though, Vor is rendered as For (Фор); the novel The Vor Game is called Igra Forov/Игра Форов ("The Game of the Fors") in Russian.

[edit] Levels of Vor

[edit] High Vor

The term "High Vor" does not appear to have official standing within Barrayaran society, but is used informally by characters to refer to the upper-most, aristocratic portion of the Vor. The Vor are a military caste, and while all Vor have certain legal privileges and responsibilities Vor status does not necessarily denote wealth or political power. It appears that all aristocrats are Vor, but only a small portion of Vor are aristocrats; similar social arrangements have existed on Earth, e.g. the samurai of Japan or knights in Medieval Europe.

There are 60 Districts on Barrayar, each governed by a Vor with the title Count. On Barrayar, Count derives from accountant, as they were originally Imperial Tax Collectors and Accountants.

Members of a Count's immediate family have titles roughly parallel to those of a British Marquess's family. The heir, usually the eldest son of the Count, is Lord (Surname); his wife is Lady (Surname). Other children of a Count are called Lord or Lady (Forename) (Surname), e.g. Lord Mark Vorkosigan or simply Lord Mark. While Miles' grandfather, Count Piotr Vorkosigan, lived, Miles Vorkosigan was known as Lord Miles, and his father Aral Vorkosigan was Lord Vorkosigan. Upon Piotr's death and Aral's assumption of the count-ship, Miles immediately became Lord Vorkosigan.

According to the author, other Vor can be referred to as Lord (Surname), and considered High Vor, as a mark of some other form of authority or historical idiosyncrasy. For example, according to Bujold, Ivan Vorpatril is not heir to the Vorpatril Countship, but he, and especially his mother, Alys Vorpatril, are High Vor. This is largely because Padma Vorpatril, Alys's husband and Ivan's father, was descended from Xav Vorbarra (and thus next in line after Aral as a potential claimant to the throne) and also because Alys's role as Gregor's social caretaker gives her a measure of power and respect.

[edit] Oaths of the Vor

Taken from a separate stub that is more appropriate here

The Vor Caste can offer varyingly strong oaths and promises.

Of course, they pledge an oath of service to the emperor and the Imperium when they enter the Military. Additionally, Armsmen swear an oath for life to their Count when taking up their service.

Any man can offer his own personal promise. How serious this is can vary but it is usually equivalent to "I promise."

But most of the Vor have a high ideal of honor. When they swear by "their word as Vor_name" it is much more equivalent to a serious and heartfelt "I swear to God." It is so strong that men, including Aral Vorkosigan, have been known to kill others for calling them on their word.

[edit] Vor Names

[edit] The Vor Counts

The following is a list of all Vor names that are confirmed to have a district associated with them. There are 60 such names. These names are not in any particular order though more important names tend to be towards the top.

Vorbarra - The Imperial family.
Vorkosigan - A line of ten Counts (Miles will be No. 11), but few collateral descendants. Thanks to former Regent Aral Vorkosigan, the family enjoys special favor with the Emperor.
Vorpatril - A large clan with a link to the Vorbarra line through Ivan Vorpatril's late father, Padma Xav, a grandson of Prince Xav Vorbarra.
Vordarian - Soon after the death of Emperor Ezar, the then Count Vordarian attempted to usurp the throne from the child Emperor Gregor.
Vorhalas - Compensating for the treason of his sons Evon and Carl in Vordarian's Pretendership, the current Count Vorhalas is the most loyal, upright and conservative member of the Council, but no friend to the Vorkosigans.
Vorrutyer - A large clan infamous for erratic or insane personalities. Aral Vorkosigan's first wife, who took many lovers and committed suicide, was a Vorrutyer, as was Aral's male lover, the corrupt and sadistic Ges Vorrutyer. Aral himself is descended from Count Pierre "Le Sanguinaire" Vorrutyer, or Bloody Pierre. The last Count Vorrutyer, also Pierre, was eccentric if not actually mad. His sister Lady Donna went to Beta Colony to be surgically changed into a man so she could inherit the title as Lord Dono, over her malicious cousin Richars, while her foppish drunkard cousin Byerly used his contacts to lay the groundwork at home.
Vortala - Count Vortala was Emperor Ezar's last Prime Minister, a reformer who mistakenly tried to fix Barrayaran society from the top down.
Vordrozda - Miles Vorkosigan exposed a Count Vordrozda as a traitor, who attempted to have his cousin Ivan conveniently disappear as the opening act of a Byzantine plot to become heir to the Imperium.
Vorbretten - Friends of Miles, the current Count was discovered to have a Cetagandan ancestor, leading to an impeachment trial before the Council of Counts, and it also led to him being ridiculed, often called René ghem-Bretten. The Vorbrettens born after the Cetagandan occupation, manifested musical talents, no doubt a result of inheriting carefully designed Cetagandan genes.
Vorsmythe - Industrialist, Miles Vorkosigan told his clone-brother Mark to speak with Vorsmythe about his "Butter Bugs"
Vorvolk - The current Count, Henri, is one of Emperor Gregor's close friends and one of only a few Counts near in age to the Emperor.
Vortrifrani - The current count was suspected of a plot to crash an empty space freighter onto the Imperial Palace, though ImpSec were unable to link him to the actual saboteurs.
Vorlopoulos - Famous for Vorlopoulos's Law which limits each Count to only 20 armsmen and makes starting a private army treason for a Vor Lord.
Vorbohn - Count in charge of the District Militia in Vorbarr Sultana.^[2]
Vortugalov
Vorinnis
Vorkalloner
Vormoncrief
Vorville
Vorpinski
Vortaine
Vorvolynkin
Vormuir
Vorgarin
Vorfolse
Vorlakial
Vortashpula
Vorvolynkin
Vorharopulos

[edit] Other Vor names

The following is a list of Vor names that come up during the series but do not appear to have a district on Barrayar associated with them. It is possible, even likely, that all Vor names represent a district, however the novels have been very ambiguous with respect to these names. These names are in no particular order.

Vorreedi - A Lord Voreedi was the "protocol officer" on Cetaganda, or more accurately, Chief of ImpSec on Cetaganda, during the novel Cetaganda.
Vortorren
Vorsoisson - The family name of Etienne Vorsoisson, principally important for being Ekaterin's first husband.
Vorvayne - Ekaterin's Maiden name.
Vorvane
Vorthys - Lord Auditor Professor Dr. Vorthys (unknown if a relative is a Count). Before becoming an Imperial Auditor, he was a professor of engineering who specialized in failure analysis; he is perhaps to some extent based on Bujold's father, an engineering professor who edited a multivolume Nondestructive Testing Handbook [1].
Vorob'yev - Lord Vorob'yev was the Barrayaran Ambassador to Cetaganda during the novel Cetaganda. ("Vorob'yev" is an actual Russian surname stemming from vorobey meaning "sparrow". Apparently some Vor got the privilege by having convenient surnames that mimicked the prefix.)
Vorthalia - Mentioned as a heroic legend, such as Vorthalia the Bold or Vorthalia the Loyal. Probably a Count but can't be proven yet.
Vorventa - from Lord Vorventa the Twice Hung one of only a few people tried for a crime after death.
Vorgier - The ImpSec Captain on the civilian transfer station during the novel Komarr
Vortalon - A (in-universe) fictional holovid hero
Voraronberg
Vorgorov - Lady Cassie may or may not have dumped Ivan Vorpatril at one point or another
Vormurtos
Vorwyn
Vorgustafson
Vorhovis
Vorkeres
Vorlightly - A historical 'Lady Vorlightly' was married to the sitting emperor, serving as precedent for the social and ceremonial protocol of Gregor's marriage to Laisa Toscane.
Vorbataille
Vortienne
Vorparidjis
Vorlaisner
Vorberg - The unfortunate lieutenant that gets his legs lopped off as a result of Miles's seizure disorder shortly before the events of the novel Memory.
Vorzohn - Unknown but highly probable if it's an actual person or district. Vorzohn's Dystrohpy is named after this line. No person bearing this name is ever seen in it.