12th Century Political Reality and the Argument of Oldness The Knight in the Tiger’s Skin

Abstract

In The Knight in the Tiger’s Skin, as one of the significant segments of Rustaveli’s worldview we consider to be the enigmatic form of Anthroponi Parsadani. Our point of view somewhat contradicts the viewpoint established in the Georgian scientific literature, which originates from Yu. Abuladze's works and considers the creative anthroponyms used in the poem to be derived from the Persian language. The same opinion was also shared by Z. Gamsakhurdia with factual directness. In our understanding, in the anthroponym Parsadani, Rustveli refers to the ancient Hebrew lexical unit Pharisee, and that the character's predecessor is considered to be Giorgi III. It can be seen that, despite the creative conventionality, in the central character of The Knight in the Tiger’s Skin, Tariel, the tragedy of Demna Uplistuli (Prince) can be seen. We believe that the feudal law violated by Demetre I or George III, the removal of Prince Demetre from the Royal Throne or the gouging out of his eyes are dominant among Rustaveli’s concepts. It is in this context that the argument of oldness, scattered in the two stories of The Knight in the Tiger’s Skin, is considered.
In particular, the lines of the formulation of the essence of death or the explanation of honorable behavior given in the Will of the Arab lad [/Avtandil], should be directly related to the words spoken by the King about oldness and passing away at the Rostevan’s meeting. The historical and literary facts are that Giorgi-Farsadan is an autocratic King and Demna-Tariel, brought up in the family of Amirspasalar (Army Commander), is a young man deceived by the King [/uncle], who, is still underage and does not even realize the perfidiousness of the King’s plan.
The storyline of The Knight in the Tiger’s Skin is quite colorful, although, brilliantly done. In the whole fabric of the poem, Rustaveli’s concepts outline in parts and in this context, the theme of oldness or the argument of "monasticism" used by the Kings of India and Arabia is one of them; and it is highly probable that there is something essential connecting it with the reality of the enthronement of a woman by George III in his own lifetime.