Sinbad

"Seven voyages I made in all, each a story of such marvel as confounds the reason and fills the soul with wonder."

- Sinbad

Sinbad, sometimes known as Sindbad or Sinbad the Sailor, is an Arabic folk hero and the main character of the 7 Voyages of Sinbad portion of the 1,001 Nights collection of Arabic folktales. Hailing from Baghdad, Sinbad became a merchant seaman and set out to make his fortune, only to stumble upon multiple adventures and disasters in seven strange voyages.

On his travels, he falls afoul of strange beasts and civilizations, discovers mythical locations and treasures, and narrowly escapes death a number of times. Among his stranger exploits, he lands on a giant whale he mistakes for an island, which then dives, leaving him stranded; encounters gigantic birds called rocs which carry off elephants and sink one of his boats with thrown boulders; escapes from a valley filled with diamonds, but infested with giant serpents; is attacked by hairy, pygmy cannibals; marries a beautiful woman from a distant kingdom, only to have her die and discover that it is custom in this civilization to bury the deceased's spouse alive; and even encountered a strange ogre which sat on his shoulders until Sinbad got him drunk enough to toss him off. After seven voyages, Sinbad retired a very wealthy man.