Natrinai (ta|நற்றிணை meaning excellent tinai), is a classical Tamil poetic work and traditionally the first of the Eight Anthologies (Ettuthokai) in the Sangam literature. The collection – sometimes spelled as Natrinai[1] or Narrinai[2] – contains both akam (love) and puram (war, public life) category of poems. The Naṟṟiṇai anthology contains 400 poems, mainly of 9 to 12 lines, but a few with 8 to 13 lines each.[3] According to Takanobu Takahashi – a Tamil literature scholar, the Naṟṟiṇai poems were likely composed between 100–300 CE based on the linguistics, style and dating of the authors.[4] While Kamil Zvelebil – a Tamil literature and history scholar, dates some poems to the 1st century BCE.[5] The Naṟṟiṇai manuscript colophon states that it was compiled under the patronage of the Pandyan king named Pannatu Tanta Pantiyan Maran Valuti, but the compiler remained anonymous.[3]
The Naṟṟiṇai poems are credited to 175 ancient poets.[3] Two of these poems are attributed to the patron king. According to Kamil Zvelebil – this poetic anthology contains a few Sanskrit loan words and contains 59 allusions to historical events. Many lines from these poems were borrowed into later Tamil works such as the famed post-Sangam Tamil works: Tirukkural, Silappatikaram and Manimekalai. The Tamil legend about Kannagi (Kannaki), one who tore of her breast to protest against her husband's unjust execution, appears in Naṟṟiṇai 312.[6]
The text has been translated by A. Dakshinamurthy and published by the International Institute of Tamil Studies, Chennai in the year 2000.