The Story Archive

The Epic of King Gesar

Tibetan oral epic · c. 1200 CE · Poem · Tibetan · Medieval

The gods send one of their own down to be born in Ling as a scabbed and unpromising child with an uncle who would rather he died, and he takes the kingship and his bride by winning a horse race that had been arranged to destroy him. From there the cantos send him out against the demon king of the north, against Hor, Jang and Mon, each campaign a separate night's singing with its own melodies. Still performed across Tibet, Mongolia and the Himalaya by bards who say the words arrive in dreams, and at well over a million lines it is the longest epic anywhere.

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Attributes

Genre
EpicFantasyAdventure
Theme
Good vs EvilDuty & HonorFame & GloryFreedom vs FateWar & Violence
Archetype (Jung / Campbell)
HeroDivine ChildRuler / KingMagicianVillain / Tyrant
Plot structure
Hero's JourneyEpisodicOvercoming the MonsterExile and Return
Symbol / motif
The MountainThe SwordTalisman / CharmThe Horizon
Conflict
vs Supernaturalvs Personvs Fate / Gods
Mode / tone
EpicMythicAdventure
Culture / tradition
Tibetan

Closest analogues