The Borzu Nama (pronounced as Borzū-Nāma or Borzū-Nāme) ( fa, برزونامه) is a
Persian epic poem of about 65,000 couplets recounting the exploits and adventures of the legendary hero Borzu, son of
Sohrab[William L. Hanaway, "Borzu-Nama" in Encyclopedia Iranica.]
accessed October, 2010[BORZU-NĀMA (article 2) in Encyclopedia Iranica by Gabrielle van den Berg]
accessed October, 2010. and grandson of
Rostam.
Plot
Abraham Hyacinthe Anquetil-Duperron identifies the author as 'Ata'i, who is further identified as 'Amid Abu'l 'Ala' 'Ata b. Yaqub Kateb Razi by Blochet. He was a poet of the
Ghaznavid court and died around 1078-1079. The language of the Borzu-nama is characteristics of texts of the 11th century. The story is versified in the same meter and style of
Ferdowsi
Abul-Qâsem Ferdowsi Tusi ( fa, ; 940 – 1019/1025 CE), also Firdawsi or Ferdowsi (), was a Persians, Persian poet and the author of ''Shahnameh'' ("Book of Kings"), which is one of the world's longest epic poetry, epic poems created by a sin ...
's
Shahnama. The Borzu-nama is possibly the longest of the post
Shahnama epic poems and includes material from
Iranian national legends not used by
Ferdowsi
Abul-Qâsem Ferdowsi Tusi ( fa, ; 940 – 1019/1025 CE), also Firdawsi or Ferdowsi (), was a Persians, Persian poet and the author of ''Shahnameh'' ("Book of Kings"), which is one of the world's longest epic poetry, epic poems created by a sin ...
.
The story starts with
Sohrab the son of
Rostam. On his way from
Turan to fight the Iranians he marries a woman named Shahru. Before leaving, he gives her a token to give to their unborn child. The child is named Borzu by Shahru and she raises him without disclosing his father's identity. The young Borzu is recruited into
Afrasiab's, the King of Turan, army. Borzu eventually forces his mother to reveal his father's name. On finding that it was
Sohrab, he sets off to battle
Rostam to avenge his father's death.
Afrasiab then sends him with an army to
Iran, but Borzu is captured by Rostam's son
Faramarz
Faramarz ( fa, فرامرز) is an Iranian legendary hero (''pahlavan'') in Ferdowsi's ''Shahnameh'' ("Book of Kings"). He was son of Rostam and at last killed by Kay Bahman.
The book Faramarz-nama, written about a hundred years after Shahnameh, ...
and taken to
Sistan. Shahru is informed of Borzu's capture, and helps him escape. He is recaptured by
Rostam, and not recognizing his grandfather, Borzu battles
Rostam. His life is spared at the last minute when Shahru reveals their relationship. Borzu and Rostam embrace and Borzu joins the Iranian forces.
Afrasiab learns of this and sends Susan-e Rameshgar, a musician and sorceress to capture Rostam and Borzu. Afrasiab arrives with his army and the epic takes up a long series of battles and adventures that include famous Iranian and Turanian heroes from the Shahnameh, along with
Div
Div or DIV may refer to:
Science and technology
* Division (mathematics), the mathematical operation that is the inverse of multiplication
* Span and div, HTML tags that implement generic elements
* div, a C mathematical function
* Divergence, ...
s,
Paris (fairies) and wizards. The tale concludes with the death of Borzu at the hands of a
Div
Div or DIV may refer to:
Science and technology
* Division (mathematics), the mathematical operation that is the inverse of multiplication
* Span and div, HTML tags that implement generic elements
* div, a C mathematical function
* Divergence, ...
.
Editions
The Borzu-nama has not yet been published in a critical edition, but versions of the text have been included in the Shah Nama editions of both Turner Macan (pp. 2160–296) and Dabirsiāqi.
Possible influences
Friedrich von Suhtschek, in a discussion of the Iranian sources of the Grail legend, claimed, but did not prove, that the Borzu Nama is the direct source of
Wolfram von Eschenbach’s
Parzifal
''Parzival'' is a medieval romance by the knight-poet Wolfram von Eschenbach in Middle High German. The poem, commonly dated to the first quarter of the 13th century, centers on the Arthurian hero Parzival (Percival in English) and his long qu ...
.
See also
*
Ferdowsi
Abul-Qâsem Ferdowsi Tusi ( fa, ; 940 – 1019/1025 CE), also Firdawsi or Ferdowsi (), was a Persians, Persian poet and the author of ''Shahnameh'' ("Book of Kings"), which is one of the world's longest epic poetry, epic poems created by a sin ...
*
List of Persian poets and authors
The list is not comprehensive, but is continuously being expanded and includes Persian writers and poets from Iran, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, India, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. This list is alphabetized by chronological or ...
*
Persian literature
Notes
{{Persian literature
Persian mythology
Persian poems
Epic poems in Persian