Gordafarid

Sohrab fights Gordafarid

Gordafarid in the Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp

Gordāfarīd^[1] (Persian: گردآفريد‎) is one of the heroines in the Shāhnāmeh "The Book of Kings" or "The Epic of Kings", an enormous poetic opus written by the Persian poet Hakīm Abū l-Qāsim Ferdowsī Tūsī around 1000 AD. She was a champion who fought against Sohrab (another Iranian hero who was the commander of the Turanian army) and delayed the Turanian troops who were marching on Persia. She is a symbol of courage and wisdom for Iranian women.

But one of those within the fortress was a woman, daughter of the warrior Gazhdaham, named Gordafarid. When she learned that their leader had allowed himself to be taken, she found his behaviour so shameful that her rosy cheeks became as black as pitch with rage. With not a moment's delay she dressed herself in a knight's armour, gathered her hair beneath a Rumi helmet, and rode out from the fortress, a lion eager for battle. She roared at the enemy ranks, "Where are your heroes, your warriors, your tried and tested chieftains?"

— Ferdowsi, Shāhnāmeh^[2]

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