New Naqqaliشاهنامه
Character · The Shahnameh · Volumes I, II, III

Gorginگرگین

gor-GEEN

Son of Milad, an Iranian champion.

In the poem
First at B4.1, The Reign of Kay Kavus, His Sitting upon the Throne, and His Intent to March to Mazandaran; last at E6.5, Khosrow and Bahram Parley
Named
101 times, in 55 sections
Main stories
C2 The Tale of Bijan and Manijeh (47); C3 The Battle of the Twelve Rukhs (10); C4 The Final Afrasiab Wars and the Disappearance of Kay Khosrow (7)
Parents
Milad
Plates
Vol I: VIII, Vol II: IV, Vol II: V
Genealogical plate: The Champions of Iran
Volume I, Plate VIII: The Champions of Iran. Tap to open the genealogies.

In the poem’s own words

The 8 sections that name Gorgin most often, with the summary from the Notes and the couplets that name Gorgin. Tap a couplet number to read it in the full poem.
C1.2

Rostam Is Summoned to Fight Akvan

At Kay Khosrow’s court a herdsman reports a golden Gur-e-Khar killing horses in the royal pasture. The Shah knows it for the Div Akvan, and when no champion volunteers he summons Rostam from Zabul by letter. Rostam comes and accepts the hunt.

  • C1.2.3
    With Giv and veteran Rohham near the king,Wise Kharrad sat, and Gorgin joined the ring.
  • C1.2.21
    He shaped its words with justice, love, and care,And gave it into Gorgin’s hand to bear.
  • C1.2.28
    Then Gorgin hurried like a storming gale,As though a Gur-e-Khar pursued his trail.
Gorgin named 3 times here · read the section in the full poem · notes
C2.3

Bijan Goes to Fight the Wild Boars

Bijan and Gorgin ride toward the forest, hunting with cheetahs and hawks along the way. Gorgin refuses any part in the fight, so Bijan goes in alone, kills the boars with his khanjar, and loads their heads and tusks to carry before the Shah.

  • C2.3.2
    He took Gorgin, the son of Milad, too,His match in strength, whose war-cry carried through.
  • C2.3.14
    When wine had flushed the face of each man red,Gorgin looked round to find himself a bed.
  • C2.3.20
    Gorgin replied: “That was not our accord,Nor was it promised to the new-crowned lord.
Gorgin named 3 times here · read the section in the full poem · notes
C2.4

Gorgin Tricks Bijan

Envious of Bijan’s triumph, Gorgin praises him over wine, then describes a garden two days off where Afrasiab’s daughter Manijeh keeps her spring feast with a hundred maids. He proposes they carry the women off, and Bijan, young and eager for fame, is caught.

  • C2.4.1
    Malignant Gorgin, stung within like flame,In at one quarter of the wood he came.
  • C2.4.9
    When they had drunk a little of the red,Bijan looked once at Gorgin, and he said:
  • C2.4.11
    Then Gorgin said: “O fair-faced man of might,I never saw such mastery in a fight.”
Gorgin named 4 times here · read the section in the full poem · notes
C2.11

Gorgin Brings False Tidings of Bijan

Gorgin searches a week, finds only Bijan’s riderless horse and turns home in fear. Giv rides out to meet him and collapses in grief. Gorgin invents a marvelous Gur-e-Khar that carried Bijan away; Giv sees through the lie but waits for the Shah’s justice.

  • C2.11.1
    When one full week had passed and none returned,Gorgin searched on, while fear within him burned.
  • C2.11.11
    Repentant, Gorgin cast the kamand out,And caught the horse, and turned his face about.
  • C2.11.14
    The Shah soon heard that Gorgin had returned,Without Bijan, while royal anger burned.
Gorgin named 13 times here · read the section in the full poem · notes
C2.12

Giv Brings Gorgin before Khosrow

Giv lays his case before the Shah, who comforts him with a prophecy that Bijan will fight in the coming war. Gorgin’s story falls apart under questioning; Khosrow curses him and has him fettered. Giv is told to search, and to wait for Nowruz and the world-revealing cup.

  • C2.12.6
    Now Gorgin has returned with lying tongue,A guilty soul, and news from evil sprung.
  • C2.12.13
    He said to Giv: “What tale has Gorgin told?Where did he leave that comrade, true and bold?”
  • C2.12.14
    Giv told the tale about his gallant son,As Gorgin had recounted, one by one.
Gorgin named 7 times here · read the section in the full poem · notes
C2.19

Rostam Pleads for Gorgin

Gorgin sends word begging Rostam to intercede. Rostam rebukes him but agrees, warning that if Bijan dies Gudarz and Giv will still claim his blood. Two days later he asks the Shah, who has sworn against mercy, and Khosrow frees Gorgin for Rostam’s sake.

  • C2.19.1
    When Gorgin heard that Rostam had drawn near,He thought a path to freedom might appear.
  • C2.19.11
    When Gorgin’s message reached him, Rostam sighedOne cold breath from the liver, deep inside.
  • C2.19.30
    He spoke of Gorgin, fallen from his height,His ruined fortune and his wretched plight.
Gorgin named 4 times here · read the section in the full poem · notes
C2.24

Rostam Rescues Bijan from the Pit

Seven chiefs cannot shift the stone, so Rostam lifts it alone and hurls it away. He makes Bijan pardon Gorgin before drawing him up by kamand, breaks his fetters, and sends him off with Manijeh while he rides against Afrasiab.

  • C2.24.24
    Forgive Gorgin, Milad’s son, and breakThe chain of vengeance; pardon for my sake.”
  • C2.24.26
    Do you not know what Gorgin did to me?How deep the hurt, how base his treachery!
  • C2.24.32
    For all the wrong that Gorgin brought my way,I must endure this further bitter day.
Gorgin named 4 times here · read the section in the full poem · notes
C3.37

Gorgin Battles Andariman

Gorgin and Andariman break their spears, then trade arrows behind wolf-skin shields. Gorgin’s shaft pins Andariman’s Roman helmet to his chest, and a second brings him down. Gorgin cuts off the head, leads away the dead man’s charger and raises his banner.

  • C3.37.1
    Gorgin rode ninth to claim revenge in fight,Against Andariman, a chief of might.
  • C3.37.6
    A shaft from Gorgin pierced his rival’s breastAnd pinned his Roman helm fast to his chest.
  • C3.37.7
    As that brave rider reeled beneath the blow,Then Gorgin shot once more and laid him low.
Gorgin named 4 times here · read the section in the full poem · notes
All 55 sections that name Gorgin
  1. B4.1 The Reign of Kay Kavus, His Sitting upon the Throne, and His Intent to March to Mazandaran
  2. B5.7 Rostam Slays the White Div
  3. B5.10 Kavus Wars with Mazandaran
  4. B6.1 Kavus Wars with Hamavaran
  5. B6.3 Hamavaran’s King Imprisons Kavus
  6. B7.1 Rostam and the Seven Warriors Go Hunting
  7. B7.2 Rostam Battles the Turanians
  8. B7.3 Pilsam Battles the Iranians and Alkus’ Battle
  9. B8.5 The Birth of Sohrab
  10. B8.11 Sohrab Takes the White Fortress
  11. B8.13 Kavus’s Anger at Rostam
  12. B8.17 Sohrab Attacks Kavus’s Army
  13. B9.53 Siavash Is Taken by Afrasiab
  14. B10.4 Rostam Takes Vengeance
  15. B10.28 Kay Khosrow Crosses the Jihun
  16. B11.3 Kay Khosrow Surveys His Kingdom
  17. B11.5 The Mustering of the Pahlevans
  18. B11.6 Kay Khosrow Honors the Pahlevans
  19. B12.5 Bahram Meets Forood on the Mountain
  20. B12.13 The Death of Jarireh
  21. B13.4 Khosrow Dispatches Tus to Turan
  22. B13.9 The Second Battle of Iran and Turan
  23. B13.15 Khosrow Learns of His Army’s Plight
  24. B13.29 Piran Reckons with Rostam’s Coming
  25. B14.7 Rostam Exhorts the Troops
  26. B14.21 Afrasiab Hears of Rostam’s Coming
  27. B14.25 Rostam Wrestles Puladvand
  28. B14.27 Rostam’s Return to Court
  29. C1.2 Rostam Is Summoned to Fight Akvan
  30. C2.2 Irman’s People Appeal to Khosrow
  31. C2.3 Bijan Goes to Fight the Wild Boars
  32. C2.4 Gorgin Tricks Bijan
  33. C2.5 Bijan Seeks Manijeh
  34. C2.7 Manijeh Carries Bijan to Her Palace
  35. C2.8 Bijan Is Brought before Afrasiab
  36. C2.11 Gorgin Brings False Tidings of Bijan
  37. C2.12 Giv Brings Gorgin before Khosrow
  38. C2.15 Giv Brings Word to Rostam
  39. C2.19 Rostam Pleads for Gorgin
  40. C2.20 Rostam Arms His Men
  41. C2.24 Rostam Rescues Bijan from the Pit
  42. C2.27 The Iranians Defeat Afrasiab
  43. C3.3 Kay Khosrow Sends Gudarz against Turan
  44. C3.5 Giv’s Visit to Piran
  45. C3.6 The Armies Are Set in Array
  46. C3.24 Iran and Turan Fight a Pitched Battle
  47. C3.28 Gudarz and Piran Choose the Warriors
  48. C3.37 Gorgin Battles Andariman
  49. C4.2 Kay Khosrow Musters against Afrasiab
  50. C4.15 Khosrow’s Second Battle with Afrasiab
  51. C4.26 Afrasiab Returns with the Faghfoor of Chin
  52. C4.48 The Court Is Closed to the Nobles
  53. C4.51 Zal Admonishes Kay Khosrow
  54. C4.55 Kay Khosrow Gives His Last Counsel
  55. E6.5 Khosrow and Bahram Parley

Family

Parents
Milad
Volume I · Plate VIIIThe Champions of Iranthe great houses of the muster · B11.5Volume II · Plate IVThe House of Visehthe Battle of the Rukhs · C3Volume II · Plate VThe House of Keshvadthe champions of Iran · C2–C5

On the maps

B5.10–B5.11Kavus's Mazandaran Campaign and the Return to IranB6.1The Hamavaran Sea-War and Kavus's CaptivityB7.1The Frontier Hunt and the Clash of the Seven ChampionsB11.3–B11.7The Realm Restored: Kay Khosrow’s Fronts and the Division of CommandsB13.9–B13.26The Siege of Mount Hamavan and the Gathering of the WorldC2.3–C2.10Bijan's Hunt, His Capture, and the PitC2.20–C2.27Rostam's Merchant-Disguise Rescue to KhutanC3.6–C3.39The Battle of the Twelve Rukhs

Where the name appears

Named mentions by book, from the Universe Registry, the index behind this site. Titles and epithets are not counted.
B4The War with Mazandaran2B5The Seven Labors of Rostam3B6The Folly of Kay Kavus2B7The Fight of the Seven Warriors3B8The Tragedy of Rostam & Sohrab4B9The Story of Siavash1B10Vengeance for Siavash and the Retrieval of Kay Khosrow2B11Kay Khosrow’s Kingship3B12Forood and the Snowstorm Campaign2B13Mount Hamavan and the Kamus Campaign5B14The Great Battle with the Khan of Chin4C1Rostam and the Div Akvan3C2The Tale of Bijan and Manijeh47C3The Battle of the Twelve Rukhs10C4The Final Afrasiab Wars and the Disappearance of Kay Khosrow7E6Khosrow Parviz3

More in the Glossary and the index of characters.