In medieval Arabia, King Rostevan's daughter Tinatin sends his devoted commander Avtandil to track a mysterious knight glimpsed weeping by a riverbank, clad in a panther's skin and capable of felling armed men single-handed. Georgia's great national epic, told in rhymed verse, follows friendship, a vanished beloved, and a quest across kingdoms.
When someone hides the true cause of their suffering, those around them treat the wrong illness. A lover burning with secret passion lets the doctors blame his blood and bleed his arm, accepting a useless cure rather than confess. Concealment turns a heartache into a medical puzzle no one can solve.
In this world, a hero shows his greatness through his fierceness in battle and also through his grief for love. A knight can sit weeping by a stream and still look like a lion. Lasting, lifelong longing for a beloved is something to pray for, not something to hide as weakness.
Overwhelming force can win affection as well as obedience. The enemies who survive a warrior's onslaught beg him for mercy, and the poem comments, quoting scripture, that fear makes love. Awe of someone's power can turn into attachment to them.
The ideal rulers give generously to orphans, widows and the poor while frightening wrongdoers and crushing anyone who challenges their rule. Generosity to the weak and harshness toward the wicked together bring a peace so complete that, in the poem's image, the goat and the wolf feed side by side.
Kings derive their authority from God. The same power that made the heavens gave the world to humankind, and every monarch is made in God's likeness. Royal power is therefore a reflection of divine order, not just a human arrangement.