And she was fair as is the Eastern sun.
He upon whom her gaze but once did rest
Was ravish’d of his heart and soul and thought.”
Tinatina is a beautiful type of womanhood, such as we might expect to find in the literature of Western Europe, but hardly in a little country standing alone amid the wild hordes of Asia. Her wisdom, her strength of character, the purity and loyalty of her love, have made her the model of many a generation of Rustaveli’s countrywomen, who have ever behaved nobly alike in joy and sorrow.
Avtandil is thus portrayed:—
“A prince’s son was Avtandil, the very first
’Mong all the bravest warriors of the aged king
His form was slender as the cypress-tree,
And clear and beauteous was his piercing glance.
Though young, his soul was true and strong