Shreve, SusanRutti, Sophia2021-01-26https://hdl.handle.net/1920/11920This thesis has been embargoed for 10 years and will not be available until April 2030 at the earliest.In Ancient Persia, fate and the Persian Shahs rule all. But when Zāl, the White-Haired Warrior, and Rudabeh of Kabol fall in love they defy not only the hand of fate but also the petty dictates of their leaders. Zāl, a cursed and legendary soldier lives and serves with only one purpose: to conquer in the name of Persia and, when he can finally rest, to rest in the place where he was raised—the God’s Nest. That is until he meets Rudabeh, a Princess and a Fire-Goddess entangled in family duty, political intrigue and a prophecy that hovers over her life: she will be the mother of the greatest conqueror of Persia, but in the child’s birth she will die—a trade she’s not sure she’s willing to make. Their love and desire to be married finds them at odds with the greatest Shah in Persia, their families, and in the time of greatest strife, their own natures. When Rudabeh finally sees Zāl as the legendary cursed soldier that he is, she wonders if she has trapped herself in a situation that even she cannot escape. The sins of birth are not easily forgiven.enShahnamehZalFerdowsiPersian mythMythologyRudabehThesis