This, 'the Knight in the Panther Skin' (also known as 'Man in the Panther Skin') is a 12th century medieval epic poem. It is considered one of the masterpieces of Georgian literature, and has been called the Georgian national epic. On the Translation_ Lyn Coffin's translation shows superb technical mastery of the elaborate shairi form used by Shota Rustaveli in his 12th century epic, the knight in the Panther Skin. Coffin is faithful to both meter and rhyme.