What is the shahnameh?

Answer 1

it is one of the longest, if not the longest, epic story written. it was written by the great Persian poet/author ferdowsi in 1000 . the main character is rotam, a hero that is a flawed character, showing the true human nature. the book is enormously long and took ferdowsi 30 years to complete. it is tied to Persian nationalism (of greater Persia because it was written then) and zoroastrianism (Persian religion at the time, first monotheistic religion of the world derived from Persia). the stories also empower women, with one battle against a woman almost resulting to a draw and two of the men characters who were looking to wed being picked as mates by the women. rotam battled his son and only realized it upon beating him. various parts of the story have been extracted and used (as well as credited) by authors and directors... ie Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, chronicles of Narnia