QUEEN TAMARA

"FIRST SERVANT: Where did you come from? SOLDIER: I came in this way because I don't know which way to go in. FIRST SERVANT: But where are you going? SOLDIER: To Prince Giorgi. I come from the camp."

1903

Queen Tamara (1903) is Hamsun's fifth, and penultimate, play.

The plot is inspired by Georgian history, which Hamsun had become acquainted with during his great Caucasus journey in 1899. The Christian Queen Tamara is at war with a Muslim Khan and his army. When the Khan is imprisoned, however, Tamara becomes captivated by him, and when he is finally killed, Tamara vows never again to attempt to defeat her Muslim subjects by force.

Queen Tamara has only been performed once in 1904, until a new performance on the occasion of Hamsun's 150th anniversary in 2009. The drama has been considered rather weak poetry, but has recently been praised for its conciliatory approach to the relationship between Christians and Muslims.