Recently Viewed
News
Latest
Categories
Your Opinion
Follow Us
- The commemorate the 135 and 140 anniversaries of brother and sister- Sir Oliver Wardrop (1864-1948) and Marjory Scott Wardrop (1869-1909), we are publishing oce more the Marjorie Wardrop version of translation of The Man in the Panther's Skin that is still considered the closest to the original when compared to other translations. and provide it with Oliver Wardrop's preface.
Borth Marjories and Oliver Wardrops spent their whole lives in the service of the noble task by discovering for the Western civilization on the cultural phenomenon of unprecedented scope, depth and importance - the poem that kept a small nation spiritually sane and alive since Middle Ages. Their deed enriched the gerneral panorama of the world cultures and brought to the foreground the cultural identity of the Georgians; the can never be overstimated. - "Georgia is a central Asian region which is situated in the mountains between the Black and Caspian seas. This, the 'Man in the Panther Skin' (also known as 'the Knight in the Panther Skin') is a 12th century medieval epic poem. It is considered one of the masterpieces of Georgian literature, and has been called the Georgian national epic. The author, Prince Shota Rustaveli, was a noble in the court of Queen Tamar, and served as her treasurer. He was also a painter who created frescoes in the Georgian monastery of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem. We do not know specific birth and death dates for Rustaveli. The poem was first printed in 1712 in Tblisi. This translation is, thankfully, into clearly written prose, unlike some of the awful 19th century attempts to versify translated poetry. Wardrop's translation, which she modestly called an attempt, makes enjoyable reading.
The poem, strangely enough, is not set in Georgia, but in fictionalized versions of Arabia, Persia, India and fairy-tale lands set in the environs of the Indian Ocean. (However the characters are at one point described as speaking fluent Georgian!) There are two chief male protagonists, Avt'handil and Tariel. Tariel, the eponymous 'Knight in the Panther's Skin' is made heir to all India, but tragically falls in love with his adoptive sister, Nestan. Driven mad by this love, he ends up killing the man she is to marry and fleeing India. Nestan is also spirited away to parts unknown. The search for Nestan, described as radiant as the sun, so beautiful that everyone she meets falls in love with her, is the central thread of the story. Avt'handil, the suitor of the Queen of Arabia T'hinat'hin, sees Tariel wandering disconsolate one day and goes in quest of this mysterious knight. Eventually they meet up and after a long quest end up finding Nestan. Nestan and Tariel marry, and Avt'handil marries T'hinat'hin. I have appended a short synopis of the story to this etext, based on my reading notes.
The narrative and characterizations are remarkable for a work of this period. Rustaveli had great psychological insight, providing backstory and motivations for his cast. The women characters are well written and memorable (particularly the merchant P'hatman). Rustaveli's female characters are not just props as in some of the medieval romances. Emotional relationships between characters of the same sex (both male and female), like the Biblical David and Jonathan, are portrayed as tender and sensual, shedding light on how our conventional sex roles are modern cultural constructs. -
Format: Paperback
Pages: 283
Language: English
Publisher: Nekeri
Pub. Date: January 2005
ISBN / ID: 9789994080830
ISBN-10: 9994080830
-
Ask a question about this product
- © 2011 Prospero's Books & Caliban's Coffeehouse
- Betsy's Hotel
- Recommended By Simonseeks.com
- Origo Web