Granados Maldonado, La Zaragozaida

Granados Maldonado, La Zaragozaida

Mexico First published in 1904.     Francisco Granados Maldonado La Zaragozaida     Francisco Granados Maldonado is, to this day, the very definition of an obscure poet. We do not know when or where he was born; according to extant registers, he died in...
The Epic of Jangar

The Epic of Jangar

Kalmykia, currently a republic in Southern Russia Transmitted orally for centuries. First published in 1910.   The Epic of Jangar   From ancient times to modernity, epic narratives have served as cultural repositories for humanity’s deepest existential questions....
Pessoa, Mensagem

Pessoa, Mensagem

Portugal 1934   Francisco Pessoa, Mensagem Francisco Pessoa’s Mensagem (1934) is an esoteric national epic simultaneously steeped in reverential homage to the past while paving the way for what it means to compose an epic in the modern era. This duality can be...
Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

England First published 1954-1955 (written between 1937 and 1949)   J. R. R. Tolkien The Lord of the Rings The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien, was first published in three parts—The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King—in...
Rand, Atlas Shrugged

Rand, Atlas Shrugged

United States First published in 1957   Ayn Rand Atlas Shrugged   When we think of epics, we typically think of long poems like the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Aeneid, The Divine Comedy, Paradise Lost, and Popol Vuh. However, prose works like Moby Dick and The...