Scheherazade
Legendary narrator and framing character of One Thousand and One Nights.
Last updated
Her name derives from Middle Persian Šahrzād, traditionally analyzed as a compound meaning "born of the city" or "daughter of the realm"[1] The character's storytelling contract with King Shahryar involves her command and invitation to "Listen," engaging the king and listeners as active participants.[2]
Key facts and history
The earliest references to a work resembling Alf Layla wa-Layla appear in ninth-century Arabic sources describing a collection translated from a Middle Persian original called Hazār Afsān ("A Thousand Stories").[3] The historian Al-Maqrizi identified Scheherazade with the legendary Persian queen Humay Chehrzad.[4] A ninth-century Arabic manuscript from Cairo represents the earliest known textual witness to the story of Scheherazade.[4][2] Only incomplete Arabic manuscripts from the ninth and tenth centuries survive, as no full manuscript from that era remains.[3]
Oral performances and manuscript copying in Baghdad, Damascus, and Cairo drove the collection's development from the ninth through the fourteenth centuries.[5] Later medieval manuscripts, especially those produced in Egypt, saw ongoing addition, adaptation, and reorganization of tales.[6]
What the cited sources add
Jagot states that Scheherazade's witty, lively, and dynamic voice was taken up by storytellers across Baghdad, Damascus, Cairo, and al-Andalus, with influences from Greek, Coptic, North African, and Hebrew traditions.[2] Jagot describes Scheherazade as the singular authorial woman whose voice bookends the narrative cycles and echoes throughout the tales, resulting from multiple unknown storytellers who composed, expanded, and translated these tales across places from premodern India to 18th-century France.[2]
References
- Wikipedia, "Scheherazade" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Muhsin Mahdi, The Thousand and One Nights (Alf Layla wa-Layla): From the Earliest Known Sources; Ulrich Marzolph & Richard van Leeuwen, The Arabian Nights Encyclopedia, entry “Shahrazād”; D. N. MacKenzie, A Concise Pahlavi Dictionary; Ehsan Yarshater (ed.), Encyclopaedia Iranica, entries “Šahr” and “-zād” (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Jagot, "A very short history of One Thousand and One Nights", Shakespeare's Globe, 2023-01-11. facts only, no text reused. shakespearesglobe.com
- Wikipedia, "Scheherazade" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Muhsin Mahdi, The Thousand and One Nights (Alf Layla wa-Layla): From the Earliest Known Sources (Leiden: Brill, 1984); Ulrich Marzolph & Richard van Leeuwen, The Arabian Nights Encyclopedia, “Manuscripts” (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Scheherazade" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Muhsin Mahdi, The Thousand and One Nights; "Bibliotheca Maqriziana Edited by Frédéric Bauden (Université de Liège) OPERAMAIORA volume 5" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Scheherazade" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Robert Irwin, The Arabian Nights: A Companion; Heinz Grotzfeld, “Neglected Conclusions on the Arabian Nights”; Robert Irwin, The Arabian Nights: A Companion; Andras Hamori, On the Art of Medieval Arabic Literature; María Jesús Rubiera Mata, studies on Andalusi narrative traditions (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Scheherazade" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Jagot, "A very short history of One Thousand and One Nights", Shakespeare's Globe, 2023-01-11 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Scheherazade (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Mythological & Legendary Figures
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Scheherazade (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced