Epic
Daredevils of Sassoun
Սասնա ծռեր
Anonymous · 1874
Synopsis
Four generations of larger-than-life heroes defend the land of Sassoun. Tsovinar, daughter of King Gagik, conceives the twins Sanasar and Baghdasar by drinking the water of a spring; they found the house of Sassoun. Mher the Great, son of Sanasar, then his son David, confront the Melik of Msr, who holds the country under tribute; David, raised far from his own people and revealed to himself by an old woman, marches against him shod in iron boots. The fourth branch is that of Little Mher.
Context
The epic lived for a long time in oral tradition alone. In 1873, the churchman Garegin Srvandztiants noted down a version from a storyteller of Taron, Krpo, and published it in 1874 under the title David de Sassoun ou la Porte de Mher; Manouk Abeghian published another in 1889, and many variants were collected afterwards. In 1939, a unified text was composed from some sixty tellings by Manouk Abeghian, Gevorg Abov and Aram Ghanalanian. Frédéric Feydit's French translation appeared in 1964.
Who it is for
A verse epic, to be read by branches: each follows one generation of heroes and can be read separately.
Prizes and reception
The performance of the epic has been inscribed since 2012 on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list; David of Sassoun has become the Armenian national hero.