Sinbad the Sailor
Fictional mariner and hero of a story-cycle in One Thousand and One Nights.
Last updated
Sinbad the Sailor is a cycle of tales that became part of the One Thousand and One Nights only in later manuscripts.[1]
Quick Facts
- Field
- Folklore and literature
- Nationality
- Arab (Baghdad, Abbasid Caliphate)
- Known for
- Seven voyages
- encounters with monsters and supernatural phenomena
- frame story with Sinbad the Porter
- Period
- Early Abbasid Caliphate (8th–9th centuries CE, reign of Harun al-Rashid 786–809)
Facts from the source article.
Key facts and history
The Sinbad tales were added to the Nights in the Egyptian branch of the manuscript tradition.[1] The cycle is set during the reign of the Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid (786–809).[2] Later sources include Abbasid works like Wonders of the Created World, which drew on 13th-century mariners' experiences in the Indian Ocean.[1] The first European translation was Antoine Galland's Les mille et une nuits, with an English edition appearing in 1711.[2]
The earliest separate English edition found in the British Library is an adaptation from around 1770.[3] Sir Richard Burton's 1885 translation included the Sinbad cycle as tale 120 in Volume 6.[4] The narratives mirror the period when Arab and Muslim seafarers were venturing out to discover new commercial routes.[1]
What the cited sources add
In that voyage, passengers break a giant roc's egg and eat the chick, provoking the parent rocs to destroy the ship with boulders.[5] Sinbad is then enslaved by the Old Man of the Sea, who rides on his shoulders day and night.[5] A direct quote from the fifth voyage is given in the source: after his fourth journey, Sinbad states that his "carnal man was again seized with the longing to travel."[5]
References
- Wikipedia, "Sinbad the Sailor" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Pinault 1998, p. 721–722 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Sinbad the Sailor" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The new Arabian winter nights entertainments. Containing one thousand and eleven stories, told by the Sultaness of the Indies, to divert the Sultan from performing a bloody vow he had made to marry a virgin lady every d (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Sinbad the Sailor" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Adventures of Houran Banow, etc. (Taken from the Arabian Nights, being the third and fourth voyages of Sinbad the Sailor.)", Thornhill and Sheppard, 1770 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Sinbad the Sailor" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Burton, "The Book of one thousand & one nights", Woll amshram; Marzolph, "The Arabian nights encyclopedia", 2004, p. 506–8; Irwin, "The Arabian nights: a companion", 2004 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Sinbad the Sailor" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: JPG image. stefanmart.de (original not read by us) 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 Sinbad the Sailor (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: Sinbad the Sailor (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