Naṟṟiṇai

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}} {{Sangam literature}} {{italic title}} '''''Natrinai''''' ({{langx|ta|நற்றிணை}} meaning ''excellent tinai''<ref name="ttp3">{{cite book|author=Takanobu Takahashi|title=Tamil Love Poetry and Poetics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wgCHuVGyZoEC|year=1995|publisher=BRILL Academic|isbn=90-04-10042-3|pages=2, 46–48}}</ref>), is a classical work of Tamil literature, and traditionally the first of the Eight Anthologies (''Ettuthokai'') in Sangam literature.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|pp=51–52}} The collection – sometimes spelled as ''Natrinai''<ref>{{cite book|author=Velayutham Saravanan|title=Colonialism, Environment and Tribals in South India,1792-1947|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JEfUDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT63|year=2016|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-315-51719-3}}</ref> or ''Narrinai''<ref>{{cite book | author= Padma Srinivasan | editor-last=Indra | editor-first=C. T. | editor-last2=Rajagopalan | editor-first2=R. | title=Language, Culture and Power | chapter= Towards a Third Language| publisher=Routledge | year=2017 | isbn=978-0-203-70344-1 | doi=10.4324/9780203703441}}</ref> – contains both ''akam'' (love) and ''puram'' (war, public life) category poems. The anthology includes 400 poems, mainly consisting of 9 to 12 lines, with a few ranging from 8 to 13 lines.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|p=51}}<ref name="ttp3"/> According to Takanobu Takahashi, a Tamil literature scholar, the ''Natrinai'' poems were likely composed between 100–300 CE, based on linguistic features, style, and the dating of their authors.<ref name="ttp1">{{cite book|author=Takanobu Takahashi|title=Tamil Love Poetry and Poetics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wgCHuVGyZoEC|year=1995|publisher=BRILL Academic|isbn=90-04-10042-3|pages=47–52}}</ref> Kamil Zvelebil, another scholar of Tamil literature and history, dates some poems to the 1st century BCE.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Zvelebil|first=Kamil|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=degUAAAAIAAJ&q=info:3mNeiVqlnhoJ:scholar.google.com/&pg=PR9|title=The Smile of Murugan: On Tamil Literature of South India|date=1973|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-03591-1|language=en}}</ref> According to its manuscript colophon, ''Natrinai'' was compiled under the patronage of a Pandyan king named ''Pannatu Tanta Pantiyan Maran Valuti'', though the compiler remains anonymous.<ref name="ttp3"/>

The poems are attributed to 175 ancient poets.<ref name="ttp3"/> Two of the poems are credited to the patron king.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|pp=51–52}} According to Zvelebil, the collection includes a few Sanskrit loanwords and makes 59 references to historical events.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|pp=51–52}} Several lines were later borrowed into renowned post-Sangam Tamil works such as the ''Tirukkural'', ''Silappatikaram'', and ''Manimekalai''. The Tamil legend of Kannagi (or Kannaki), who tore off her breast in protest of her husband's wrongful execution, appears in ''Natrinai'' 312.{{sfn|Kamil Zvelebil|1973|pp=51–52}}<ref name="jp1977">For a summary of Kannagi story: {{cite book|author=E.T. Jacob-Pandian|editor=K Ishwaran|title=Contributions to Asian Studies: 1977|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VRMVAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA56|year=1977|publisher=Brill Academic|isbn=90-04-04926-6|pages=56–57}}</ref>

==Translations== The text was translated by A. Dakshinamurthy and published by the International Institute of Tamil Studies, Chennai in 2000.{{citation needed|date=October 2019}}

==References== {{reflist}}

;Bibliography * Mudaliyar, Singaravelu A., Apithana Cintamani, An encyclopaedia of Tamil Literature, (1931) - Reprinted by Asian Educational Services, New Delhi (1983) * {{cite book|author=Kamil Zvelebil|title=The Smile of Murugan: On Tamil Literature of South India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=degUAAAAIAAJ|year=1973|publisher=BRILL|isbn=90-04-03591-5}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Natrinai}} Category:Sangam literature