Often, if contestedly, called the national epic of Iran, the Shahnameh, or Book of Kings, was written in the 10th century by Abol-qasem Ferdowsi, who took as his subject the pre-Islamic history of the Iranian people, starting with the creation of the world and ending with the 7th century Muslim Arab conquest of the Persian empire. The poem is called the Book of Kings—as opposed to, say, the Book of Iran—because Ferdowsi tells Iran’s story by telling the stories of the nation’s monarchs, from the first and mythical king Kayumars to Yazdegerd III, whose reign was the last before the Persian empire fell. These tales, encompassing the reigns of fifty monarchs, are told over the course of more than fifty thousand couplets, making the Shahnameh one of the longest poems ever written.
The Shahnameh can be read, broadly speaking, as the story of Iran’s rise and then its fall as a result of the Muslim conquest. In that context, the stories in The Teller of Tales trace the rise and fall and rising again of the mythical Iran that precedes the historical one. If we think in musical terms, these stories function as a kind of overture to the entire epic, introducing the themes that will be developed in the rest of the poem—justice, loyalty, honor, the selfless righteousness of the king and the consequences of betraying those values.
Unfortunately, The Teller Of Tales is out of print. I am hoping eventually to find another publisher, but, for now, you can download a copy of the uncorrected proof. In exchange, I hope you will consider subscribing to my newsletter, It All Connects.
Aria Fani, Director of Persian and Iranian Studies Program at the University of Washington. Read Professor Fani's review here.
Patrick James Dunagan and Ava Koohbor in Galatea Resurrects #17, read their full review here.