The Knight in the Panther's Skin (Georgian: ვეფხისტყაოსანი, romanized: vepkhist'q'aosani pronounced [vepʰχistʼqʼaosani] literally "the one with the skin of a tiger") is a Georgian medieval epic poem, written in the 12th or 13th century by Georgia's national poet Shota Rustaveli.

[5][6] It tells of the friendship of two heroes, Avtandil and Tariel, and their quest to find the object of love, Nestan-Darejan, an allegorical embodiment of Queen Tamar.

The poem is regarded as the "coronation of thought, poetic and philosophical art of medieval Georgia",[7] a complex work with rich and transcending genres.

She expanded the Georgian kingdom to its historical maximum, repulsed invasions, and established protectorates over many area Muslim and Christian lands.

[10] Rustaveli, born in Rustavi, a Meskhetian village, was close to King Tamar and possibly served as her treasurer.

თამარს ვაქებდეთ მეფესა სისხლისა ცრემლ-დათხეული, ვთქვენი ქებანი ვისნი მე არ-ავად გამორჩეული.

მელნად ვიხმარე გიშრის ტბა და კალმად მე ნა რხეული, ვინცა ისმინოს, დაესვას ლახვარი გულსა ხეული.

ქართველთა ღმრთისა დავითის, ვის მზე მსახურებს სარებლად, ესე ამბავი გავლექსე მე მათად მოსახმარებლად, ვინ არის აღმოსავლეთით დასავლეთს ზართა მარებლად, ორგულთა მათთა დამწველად, ერთგულთა გამახარებლად.

Similarly, the qualification of "knight" is not derived from the original title and its alternative translations exist, such as the "valiant" or simply a "man.

Tinatin asks Avtandil to find the strange knight in three years, promising him her hand in marriage in return.

After two years and nine months of searching, Avtandil finds the knight in the panther's skin hiding in a cave, with only a maiden for company.

Tariel wages war with the Khatavians to earn the favor of Nestan, but is dismayed to learn that she has already been promised to the Khwarezmian prince.

Moved by this story, Avtandil promises his friendship and brotherhood to Tariel, and agrees to help him find his love, Nestan-Darejan.

Avtandil then returns home to Phridon and to the cave of Tariel and later all three friends decide to go to the country of Kaji with an army of three hundred men to find and deliver Nestan.

It seems that the choice of places refers primarily to the national character of these peoples: the Arabs are portrayed as more rational, as the king Rostevan and his knight Avtandil with their communication skills and action help to break deadlocks.

[25] These two characters represent the most devoted friends, and tender lovers; both heroes capable of courtly love and men endowed with free will.

[26] They initially were actively involved and served the kingdoms held position of modern "steward" or "Mayor of the Palace".

[28] It is also close to Saint George slaying the dragon whose cult was particularly strong in the 12th century especially in the episode where Tariel kills a lion and a panther.

[29] Although they take little action, the female characters, Tinatin and Nestan-Darejan are constantly present in thoughts of the knights and serve to give the narrative tension as a whole.

Princesses, higher in social rank than their servant knights, are inspired by the Queen Tamar or reflect the fact that each of them is the sovereign in their own realm.

It is very characteristic that when Patman learns of the purpose of Avtandil's journey, she makes no attempt to keep the man she loves at her side even for a short time.

To counterbalance the mentality of the Middle Ages and the ecclesiastic morality of asceticism, Rustaveli proclaims the freedom of man as a personality, free of thought and feeling.

The valiant must win his beauty by impeccable behavior, including a constant devotion, the rejection of social duties, and selfless loyalty.

These three men belong to different nations, they find themselves with the same aspirations and the same goal and that is their union of forces that can and will destroy a tyranny and evil what is represented by the Kajs.

In equal rights, women can develop a sincere friendship with the opposite sex without love and desire and Asmat is dedicated to Tariel.

The success of the three heroes in the liberation of Nestan shows that justice can exist on earth, as with enough courage and perseverance, one can find the happiness here.

[48] Nevertheless, the moral framework of the work is Christian, with a clear dichotomy between a good god and a hard and disappointing world.

Believing Rustaveli was a Muslim (an opinion also proffered by Nicholas Marr in 1917), the Georgian Orthodox Church in the past systematically destroyed copies of the poem.

In 2015, an English poetic translation by Lyn Coffin was published, combining literary achievement with academic precision.

[citation needed] Today, unabridged editions are available in many languages: Abkhaz,[58] Armenian,[59] Azerbaijani,[60] Bashkir, Belarusian,[61] Bulgarian, Chechen,[62] Chinese,[63] Chuvash, Czech,[64] Esperanto,[65] Greek, Hebrew,[66] Hungarian,[67] Italian,[68] Japanese,[69] Kazakh,[70] Korean, Kurdish,[71] Kyrgyz,[72] Moldovan,[73] Mongolian,[74] Ossetian,[75] Persian, Romanian,[76] Serbian, Slovak,[77] Spanish,[78] Tatar, Turkmen,[79] Ukrainian,[80] Hindi, and Uzbek.