Magic carpet

Riding a Flying Carpet, an 1880 painting by Viktor Vasnetsov.

A magic carpet, also called a flying carpet, is a legendary carpet that can be used to transport persons who are on it instantaneously or quickly to their destination.

Contents [hide] 1 In literature 2 See also 3 Notes 4 External links

[edit] In literature

Magic carpets have appeared in literature from almost Biblical times through the present day. The popularity of One Thousand and One Nights brought magic carpets to the attention of Western audiences. The literary traditions of several other cultures also feature magical carpets. The magic carpet of Tangu, also called "Prince Housain's carpet" was a seemingly worthless carpet from Tangu in Persia that acted as a magic carpet. It was featured in tales from One Thousand and One Nights.

Another of Vasnetsov's renderings of the same subject.

Solomon's carpet^[1] was reportedly made of green silk with a golden weft, sixty miles long and sixty miles wide: "when Solomon sat upon the carpet he was caught up by the wind, and sailed through the air so quickly that he breakfasted at Damascus and supped in Media."^[2] The wind followed Solomon's commands, and ensured the carpet would go to the proper destination; when Solomon was proud, for his greatness and many accomplishments, the carpet gave a shake and 40,000 fell to their deaths.^[3] The carpet was shielded from the sun by a canopy of birds. In Shaikh Muhammad ibn Yahya al-Tadifi al-Hanbali's book of wonders, Qala'id-al-Jawahir ("Necklaces of Gems"), Shaikh Abdul-Qadir Gilani walks on the water of the River Tigris, then an enormous prayer rug (sajjada) appears in the sky above, "as if it were the flying carpet of Solomon [bisat Sulaiman]".^[4]

In Russian folk tales, Baba Yaga can supply Ivan the Fool with a flying carpet or some other magical gifts (e.g., a ball that rolls in front of the hero showing him the way or a towel that can turn into a bridge). Such gifts help the hero to find his way "beyond thrice-nine lands, in the thrice-ten kingdom". Russian painter Viktor Vasnetsov illustrated the tales featuring a flying carpet on two occasions (illustrations, to the right).

In Mark Twain's "Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven", magic wishing-carpets are used to instantaneously travel throughout Heaven.