These two talks were given at the Meany Hall of the University of Washington as a pre-lecture to the shadow play, “Feathers of Fire” which is based on the story of Zal and Rudabeh from the Shahnameh, The Persian Book of Kings which is the national Iranian epic written by the Iranian poet, Ferdowsi more than 1000 years ago. Dr. Afshin Sepehri talks about the background of this book and how it is related to the history of Iran. Dr. Samad Alavi discusses the legacy of Shahnameh over the past millennium.