The Knight in the Panther's Skin (Georgian: ვეფხისტყაოსანი) is a Georgian medieval Narrative Poem. It was written by national poet Shota Rustaveli in the late 12th or early 13th century, during the Georgian Golden Age under the reign of Tamar the Great.
It's a Chivalric Romance. The story centers on Avtandil and two quests: the first to find the mysterious man Tariel, and second to play The Matchmaker for Tariel and his love Nestan-Darejan.
As a Public Domain Story, it can be found on LibriVox here
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Tropes
- The Good King: King Rostevan is described as a great king. This legitimizes his decision to make his daughter Tinatin heir. It's unconventional, but if Rostevan — who has a track record of making good decisions — thinks it's a good idea, it probably is.There was in Arabia Rostevan, a king by the grace of God, happy, exalted, generous, modest, lord of many hosts and knights, just and gracious, powerful, far-seeing, himself a peerless warrior, moreover fluent in speech:
- The High Queen:
- The poem's preface dedicates the work to the real Tamar of Georgia, and describes her very complimentarily. There is a theory that the author was in love with her.
- Tinatin is described (among other things) as very beautiful, very wise, and generous to a fault. Her father, King Rostevan, abdicates early in the story, appointing her as the next "king". One of the two main heroes, Avtandil, is in love with her.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Fictional Tinatin is clearly based on the real Tamar, the current monarch at the time. King George III has no sons, so he made his daughter Tamar his heir. So too is the case with King Rostevan and his daughter Tinatin. To avoid a Succession Crisis, both fathers have their daughter begin ruling while he's still alive, so that by the time he does die, it's already settled. George made Tamar co-ruler and they ruled together as a Parent-Child Team for 6 years until his death, when she became sole ruler. Rostevan appoints Tinatin as the next ruler, then abdicates. Both Tamar and Tinatin rule under the title "king".
