Iran Composed: ca. 977-1010 CE Abolqasem Ferdowsi, Shahnameh The monumental poem of the Persian poet Ferdowsi, the Shahnameh or Book of Kings, which was completed by this poet in the year 1010 CE, is a massive retelling of the lives and times of 50 kings of...
Russia The tradition originates in the 10th or 11th century; the first extant transcriptions are from the 17th century. Anonymous, bylinas (traditional Russian epic songs) Among Eastern European Slavic folk genres, the bylina–an epic song about...
France Composed: ca. 1040-1115 CEEarliest extant manuscript: ca. 1129-1165 CE Anonymous The Song of Roland (La chanson de Roland) Halt sunt li pui e li val tenebrus… the high hills and foreboding valleys of the Pyrenees pass at Rencesvals reverberate with...
Ireland 11th century (earliest extant version) Anonymous, Táin Bó Cúailnge Táin Bó Cúailnge (‘The Cattle Raid of Cooley’) is a complicated work. While its plot is relatively simple, it is difficult to introduce, especially as an epic, because of its textual...
Iran 12th century CE Farid ud din Attar Manṭiq Al-Ṭayr (The Conference of the Birds) This book is an ornament for the ages.It offers something for both the high and low.If you came sad and frozen to this book,its hidden fire will blaze and melt...
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