The Epic of Kings: Stories Retold from Firdusi
Abul-Qâsem Ferdowsi Tusi
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
The Shahnameh (The Book of Kings) is a monumental poem composed around 1000 C.E. by the Persian poet Ferdowsi. It narrates the exploits of mythical kings and heroes of ancient Persia as well as historical episodes from the Sasanian era. It is regarded as the national epic of Iran and its stories were once well known wherever Persian poetry was read, from Central Asia to Anatolia and from India to the Caucasus.
Helen Zimmern's version retells some of the best-known legends of the Shahnameh in English prose. She writes: "With a view to reproduce the naïve archaic character of the original, I have ventured to write my stories in the simple language of the age of Shakespeare and the English Bible, in order that by thus removing them from everyday speed, to remove them from the atmosphere of to-day."- Summary by Kazbek (10 hr 7 min)
Chapters
Preface by Helen Zimmern | 4:56 | Read by roselbex |
Introduction by Helen Zimmern | 25:57 | Read by Claudia Caldi |
Prefatory Poem--Firdusi in Exile by Edmund W. Gosse | 27:25 | Read by Kazbek |
The Shahs of Old | 26:45 | Read by Robert DiGangi-Roush |
Feridoun | 31:24 | Read by roselbex |
Zal | 13:53 | Read by roselbex |
Zal and Rudabeh | 41:37 | Read by roselbex |
Rustem | 29:45 | Read by roselbex |
The March into Mazinderan | 46:27 | Read by roselbex |
Kai Kaous Committeth More Follies | 20:31 | Read by roselbex |
Rustem and Sohrab | 36:06 | Read by roselbex |
Rustem and Sohrab (continued) | 34:54 | Read by roselbex |
Saiawush | 43:23 | Read by roselbex |
The Return of Kai Khosrau | 31:57 | Read by roselbex |
Firoud | 33:56 | Read by roselbex |
The Vengeance of Kai Khosrau | 17:56 | Read by roselbex |
Byzun and Manijeh | 33:08 | Read by roselbex |
The Defeat of Afrasiyab | 9:41 | Read by Inkell |
The Passing of Kai Khosrau | 30:05 | Read by roselbex |
Isfendiyar | 17:43 | Read by roselbex |
Rustem and Isfendiyar | 37:20 | Read by roselbex |
The Death of Rustem | 12:13 | Read by Ryan Williams |