Shahnameh

"Yes, the Shahnameh is an epic poetic rendition of what is generally described as the national myth of Iran. It is in effect a creation myth which looks at mythical and legendary kings down into the historical period of the last two pre-Islamic dynasties. What Ferdowsi, the author of this poem, did at the cusp of the 11th century was put this monumental prose material into poetic form. And this was a form that could be memorised so that the history and identity of a people who had suffered defeat in a conquest could also be maintained for prosperity. The edition I am looking at is an abridged translation by Dick Davis and I think it is probably the best on the market. The original is twice the length of the Iliad: it is a huge, huge text which many Persians and Iranians can recite part of. But I think this text and the way in which Dick Davis has managed to bring some of the lyrical beauty of the text into English is also a great way for a non-Persian speaker to be able to access the myths and legends of the Iranians. Scholars often say that the identity of a people can be recognised in their collected myths, and these are the collected myths of the Iranians which are a good repository of information and ideas. It has a lot of stories of knights and heroes and damsels in distress – all sorts of things that would later become the centrepieces of medieval romantic literature."