Battle Circle (novels)

"Battle Circle" is a trilogy of science fiction novels by Piers Anthony. Originally published separately, the trilogy was later combined into a single volume. The three novels are:
#"Sos the Rope" (1968)
#"Var the Stick" (1972)
#"Neq the Sword" (1975)

etting

The novels take place on a post-apocalyptic Earth. The history is not given in detail, but the landscape is filled with the ruins of the previous civilization, and large areas (referred to as the "badlands") are still deadly because of radiation, presumably from nuclear war. In North America, there are three main civilizations: the crazies and underworlders, and the nomads who are the main focus of the novels.

Combat

The nomad society lives by a strict code of conduct. Conflicts over anything, whether a perceived slight or the right to sleep with a woman, are settled by combat in the battle circle. Each man is known by the weapon(s) he wields, hence the names of the title characters. Sos (originally 'Sol the Sword', forced to give up his name and weapon after being defeated by Sol of All Weapons) wields a metal cable with weights on the end of it, which is an unusual weapon. Var wields sticks, essentially two batons, also made of metal. Neq wields a traditional sword. Most men wield one of the six traditional weapons: sword, club, sticks, staff, daggers or morning star (More commonly known as a heavy flail - a spiked ball on a chain).

Despite the fact that the weapons are deadly, fights are rarely fatal. Combat ceases when one man is obviously defeated, either because he cannot defend himself or because he has left the circle, voluntarily or otherwise.

Combat can also be between teams, either fighting together (two on two) or by each side choosing who to put in the circle, which can involve strategy. One of the lessons learned early on is that if two teams of ten fight each other it is possible for the weaker team to win nine of ten fights if they are just slightly weaker, by pitting their best fighter against the other side's second best, their second best against the other sides third best, and so on, until their tenth best fights the other side's best, obviously losing that battle by a large margin.

Combat is often used to determine loyalty. So in the above scenario a group of ten can become a group of eighteen, in essence giving their weakest fighter up for the other side's second through tenth best fighters.

Names

The nomads have a very particular naming convention. Men choose their own first name, which follows the pattern consonant-vowel-consonant. As mentioned above, their last name is the weapon(s) they wield. Women are inherently nameless, and when they are bound to a man (a situation which is breakable at any time by either party) her name is the man's name +a. Children take the name of their father +i. So if Var had a wife, she would be Vara, and if they had children, they would all be known as Vari until they achieved adulthood.