Magic carpet

For other uses, see Magic carpet (disambiguation).

Magic carpet
Riding a Flying Carpet, an 1880 painting by Viktor Vasnetsov.
Plot element from Middle Eastern literature
Genre	Fantasy
In-story information
Type	Magical carpet
Function	Transportation device
Specific traits & abilities	Capable of flight

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.

In literature

The popularity of One Thousand and One Nights brought the idea of the magic carpet to the attention of Western audience. In these tales 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. The literary traditions of several other cultures also feature magical carpets.

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.

In J. K. Rowling's book Quidditch Through the Ages, it is said that flying carpets are more popular than broomsticks among wizards in countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran and Mongolia.

In popular culture

The Flying Carpet on one of Baghdad Airport's buildings

Magic carpets have also been featured in modern literature, movies, and video games, and not always in a classic context.

• In his comic fairy tale Prince Prigio, Andrew Lang makes one of the hero's christening gifts a magic carpet.
• A magic carpet is featured in the film The Thief of Bagdad (1924) and its remake The Thief of Bagdad (1940).
• Poul Anderson's Operation Chaos features an alternate America in which flying carpets are a major form of transportation, along with brooms.
• In Super Mario Bros. 2, an enemy named Pidgit rides on a flying carpet, which the player can use after defeating him.
• Magic carpets are featured in the episode "Mario's Magic Carpet" from the series The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
• A flying carpet is also a character (complete with personality) in the 1992 Disney film Aladdin.
• Contemporary journalists often described the 1955 Citroën DS automobile as having ride quality similar to a magic carpet.^{[citation needed]}
• In the novel Sourcery by Terry Pratchett, several characters use a magic carpet as a means of escape.
• Mr. Popo from the famous manga and anime Dragon Ball rides a magic carpet.
• Flying carpets are a mode of transportation called "Hawking mats" in the novel Hyperion by Dan Simmons.
• Harry Potter - The Ministry of Magic has made magic carpets illegal in the UK, made in a reference in the 4th book Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• In the online MMORPG RuneScape, magic carpets (made from camel hair) used to be a popular and common method of transportation around the Kharidian Desert, but lost favour after the Emir of Al Kharid, the desert town, fell to his death after mistaking an ordinary carpet for his magic one. However, certain enterprising businessmen have revived this method of travel across the expanse of the desert, for a price.
• The Magic carpet also return in Sonic Riders and Sonic and the Secret Rings.
• A popular amusement ride which rotates riders vertically but keeps them heads-up is called "Flying Carpet".
• In one episode from Baby Looney Tunes, when Daffy borrowed and used Sylvester's blanket on a slide, Daffy went airborne for a few seconds in a way resembling one riding on a flying carpet.
• In the MMORPG World of Warcraft, a character with a sufficient high skill in tailoring can create a flying carpet for use as a mount.
• In the 1993 video game Link: The Faces of Evil for the Philips CD-i console, a supporting character known as Gwonam flies on a magic carpet in cinematic sequences and in the game itself.
• The card game Magic The Gathering included a Magic Carpet card in the Arabian Nights expansion. The Legends expansion features Al-abara's Carpet, another magic carpet.
• In Glen Cook's fantasy series The Black Company, some of the powerful wizards known as The Taken use flying carpets both to travel long distances quickly and to gain tactical superiority in battle.

See also

• Asterix and the Magic Carpet - illustrated comic story book on the adventures of Asterix, Obelix and Cacofonix in India
• Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery of the Persian Carpet (Frogwares) (PC)
• King Solomon's Carpet - novel
• Magic Carpet - In the Disney movie Aladdin, this character is found in the Cave of Wonders and eventually assumes an essential role.
• Magic Carpet - video game released by Bullfrog Productions in 1994 and followed by a sequel Magic Carpet 2
• Old Khottabych, Soviet book and later 1956 film with the depiction of Flying Carpet
• Operation Magic Carpet - military operations
• Steppenwolf - song "Magic Carpet Ride"

Notes

1. ^ Retold for children by Sulamith Ish-Kishor, The carpet of Solomon: A Hebrew legend 1966.
2. ^ The Jewish Encyclopedia, s.v. Solomon: Solomon's carpet"
3. ^ The Jewish Encyclopedia, ibid.
4. ^ Qala'id-al-Jawahir book 6

External links

• The secret history of the Flying Carpet