Ji'e'toh
Author: Nairah Tarak
General
The Aiel people follow ji'e'toh, honor and obligation. It is a complex code, and sometimes pretty hard to understand. The whole life of the Aiel circles around this code, and everything they do is ruled by ji'e'toh.
No outsider can completely understand this complicated system of honor, and the Aiel have difficulty explaining the concept.
Robert Jordan says that to be Aiel is to follow ji'e'toh.
To make it a bit easier, we'll imagine a scale of balance, where all our actions will be measured. In one side of the scales lies the whole ji'e'toh concept, and in the other one our actions. If we do something good, the action-scale will go up and give us ji, honor. And if we do something bad, the action-scale will go down and give us toh, obligation.
Ji
The action which gives greatest honor is to touch an enemy, without killing him or harming him in any way. It gives great honor because it is so difficult. It is more honorable to let the defeated live than to kill him. The defeated man has lost ji to his opponent and now has toh, and therefore the defeated can ask to be made gai'shain. This will fulfill his toh by being allowed to live, and allows him to earn the ji back, which he lost to his opponent.
Gai'shain means "pledged to peace in battle" in the Old Tounge. A battle prisoner must not wear any clothes until he can be clothed in white robes. He is made gai'shain and must serve his captor for one year and a day. They must serve meekly and never complain, never touch a weapon and use no violence. Meekness is not an Aiel trait, and servitude is repulsive to the people. That is how the gai'shain earns back his ji, by facing the embarrassment without displaying pride.
A Wise One, a blacksmith, a child, a woman with child or one who has a child under the age of ten cannot be taken gai'shain.
Gai'shain seldom run away. But if one does, he will be hunted down and returned to his sept to begin a year and a day anew. The loss of ji is so great that a first-sibling might go as gai'shain as well to discharge the sept's toh, more than one if they feel the loss of ji is great enough (TSR, Ch. 23).
Killing a gai'shain is like killing a defenseless child, and one such murderer would be struck down by all other Aiel, even his own kin.
When the Aiel laid siege to the Stone of Tear, they took what is called "the fifth". This is something they always do when they have defeated an enemy. It is according to ji'e'toh and is honorable. To take less would be foolish, but to take more would loose ji.
Toh
When Rand is in Caemlyn and needs maps, Sulin talks to the gai'shain as if she is Far Dareis Mai, a Maiden of the Spear (LoC, Ch. 21). This gives her toh toward the gai'shain, and she fulfills it by working as a servant in the Palace. To remind a Maiden gai'shain that she is a Maiden of the Spear is a deep dishonor. It is the same with eight of the thirteen Aiel warrior societies (LoC, Ch. 28).
Aiel never lie. That gives you toh toward the one you have lied to. It is a specific spoken lie that incurs toh.
When Egwene first meets Amys in Tel'aran'rhiod, she claims to be Aes Sedai of the Green Ajah (TSR, Ch. 11). Later she also tells the Wise Ones the same.
Egwene gives her word to Amys not to enter Tel'aran'rhiod again by herself, but she does it anyway. Amys catches her and Egwene has toh towards her. To fulfill her toh, Egwene must braid her hair like little girls among the Aiel. Amys also threatens to make her cut her skirts off short and carry a doll if Egwene lies to her again (TSR, Ch. 35).
Later, Egwene confesses to the Wise Ones that she lied when she said she was Aes Sedai and she wants to fulfill her toh to everyone she has lied to. She finds a belt and the women she has lied to strike her with it (LoC, Ch. 33).
Da'tsang means "despised one" in the Old Tounge. Those who have demonstrated that they have no honor are made da'tsang. They are required to wear black and do only useless work until they are shamed into regaining their honor. Someone is made da'tsang by three Wise Ones saying "you are da'tsang" (ACoS, Ch. 40).
The Shaido capture Galina Casban at Dumai's Wells (ACoS, Prologue). She is taken to Sevanna's camp and made da'tsang because some of the Wise Ones say she admitted to having killed the Wise One Desaine, though in truth, Sevanna has several Wise Ones loyal to her murder Desaine (LoC, Prologue).
Toh cannot be judged by others, and must be given freely. Only you can judge how much your honor is worth. It is also insulting to remind someone that he has toh towards you. An Aiel suffers more from embarrassment and shame than he does from physical pain, and therefore that's what most of the punishments are for: trying to make the person feel embarrassed or ashamed.
Toh no longer exists once it has been met, and the incident won't be referred to again or held against you.
