Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh turned into novel

TEHRAN,Dec.31(MNA) -- A novel adaptation of Ferdowsi’s magnum opus Shahnameh was recently published in the country. Iranian author Morteza Safari has turned the Persian national epic into a novel having been rewritten in his own style under the title “Mansur”. The main characters of the novel are Mansur and his wife Katayun, the author said, adding, “Ferdowsi (Mansur) composes the history of Iran into poetry at the age of 30 at the insistence of his wife, Katayun.” Published by Sayeh-Gostar Publications, the novel contains 550 selected stories from Shahnameh. “I hate violence and I have tried to make the least use of the words war and violence in this novel. I have actually tried to moderate the stories in my own style,” the author said. Shahnameh, which is known as the “Book of Kings” in English, is the celebrated work of the epic poet Ferdowsi, in which the Persian national epic found its final and enduring form. It was completed in 1010. The Shahnameh millennium was accepted on UNESCO’s 2010 calendar of events.