Epic in Malayalam
Epic is ഇതിഹാസം (ithihasam) in Malayalam, the word used for the great narrative poems such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata. It stretches to mean legend and even history, and film reviewers borrow it for a story told on a grand scale.
Epic, legend, history.
മുത്തശ്ശി പഴയ ഇതിഹാസം കഥ പോലെ പറഞ്ഞു.
muthashi pazhaya ithihasam katha pole paranju.
Grandmother told the old epic like a story.
Dictionary entry
- ഇതിഹാസം (ithihasam) — Epic, legend, history.
This single entry covers epic, legend and historical narrative at once, so a reader has to judge from context whether a text is being called a poem, a legend or a piece of history.
Common questions
What is epic in Malayalam?
Say ഇതിഹാസം (ithihasam), the term for a great traditional narrative.
Why does it also mean history?
Because the word originally meant an account of what happened. Traditional thought treated the great narratives as records, so one word serves both.