The Journal of Epic Literature
Year:2013 | Volume:9 | Issue:15|Papers Count:9

In the past few decades one of the difficulties and questions in the field of philology of Shahnameh is the ambiguity concerning the record of either “Rakhsh” or “Dakhsh” used in the phrasal verb “to rakkhsh/Dakhsh with the meaning of “ to darken “ in four couplets of Shahnameh. The majority of shahnameh manuscripts in this regard is “Rakhsh” and the choice of most editions and authentic emendations except for the text edited by Dr Khaleghi Motlagh and his colleagues is “Dakhsh”. The word “dakhsh” which means “dark” apparently was first recorded in Jahangiri Dictionary compiled (1017 H.G) with reference from Shahnameh and then was repeated in other Dictionaries. The author of this article based on certain documents assumes that the latter form if genuine is more accurate and is more superior to Rakhsh. Moreover it is likely that in Shahnameh manuscripts it would have been altered to a more familiar and simple form of Rakhsh. Rakhsh and “to Rakhsh” with the meaning of “to darken” is not seen in Farsi Dictionaries and texts and the etymology of this word is also completely opposite of this meaning, however the suggested etymologies for Dakhsh confirms the meaning of “blackness” for it.

The basis of the epic stories among different human ethnic groups is known to be the chants and scattered oral narratives told by the minstrels and public entertainers. Often accompanied by music and dramatic, theatrical and ritual movements, these narratives were performed for the aristocrats and for the people and sometimes sur place underwent fundamental transformations. In this article first the views of the scholars regarding the oral chants and their narrators among different nations and the role of these poems in the formation of grand epic works were dealt with. Then evidence regarding the oral history of these narrations in ancient Iran and the social and artistic role of Ashkani minstrels who had the major part in the realization of this oral tradition has been presented. Finally, the tradition of recording these oral narratives reaching its peaks in the Sassanid era has been investigated. This created a trend whose continuation in the Islamic era in terms of translation of these works into Farsi and Arabic and their poetic recreation by the Iranian poets has produced the movement of the composition of Shahnameh in the Eastern Iran, and later on led to the formation of the rich Persian literature treasury.

In this article first the structural code of the sacred affair in Yasna has been investigated and its counterpart concepts of the same root in the vedic sources have been studied. Then the arrangement and organization of these centers of meanings representing the sacred affair is pointed out, and finally a pentavalent system has been suggested which on the one hand is connected to the forces forming the human soul and spirit and on the other hand is related to the elements forming the material world and in this way it welds the material and the spiritual worlds and also the great and small world together.

Some do not recognize Shahnameh as a historical text since being an epic or due to its versified form and despite its mythic sections its historical value is underestimated. This research aims to find answers to the questions regarding the style and the manner o f historiography of Shahnameh, recognize its historiographical characteristics and to show the value and standpoint of Shahnameh in the trend of historiography in Iran. Casting a look upon the ancient Persian historiography, and the first Islamic centuries those characteristics were analyzed to show that the style used in Shahnameh was the continuation of the ancient way in historiography. The method was to search for the historiographical elements and themes in the text, having in mind Ferdowsi’s reasons, purposes and motivation for recording history, bringing evidence from the Shahnameh text and classify them into six sections. The poetic, fictive and mythological aspects of the text and also the ethical and national purposes of Ferdowsi to enliven and immortalize the Persian national identity in no way undermined the historical aspect of the events. Based on these findings it could be understood that apart from sharing the historiographic characteristics of the ancient Iran and its rebirth, Shahnameh has taken this style to its utmost power and efficiency and hence has influenced greatly the histories succeeding it.

Hoom or Haoma also known in Vedic culture as Saoma is a mysterious plant assuming its position alongside Gods and deities in the vast expanse of Indo-Iranian mythology. The footprints of this plant deity can be traced in the most ancient written texts such as Vedas and also in Avesta well continued up to the literature of the middle period and then in Shahnameh. At present the standpoint of this plant and its essential oil in the Zoroastrians religious ceremonies and rituals is a relic of its glorious past. This research investigates the cultural roots of this plant since the antiquity till present and shows how a transposition from the realm of myth to the epic underwent remarkable transformations.

This research deals with the investigation of how Shahnameh is used for today’s children based on the theory of “Shahnameh moving from myth to tale”. The essence of Shahnameh containing a period of Iran’s mythological history, is based upon the Persian myths which with passage of time have turned into allegories in Shahnameh and have left their positive and negative characteristics in the mysteries, secrets, symbols and messages of the stories some of which do not correspond with the children’ world. Therefore, for familiarizing children with the stories of Shahnameh it seems appropriate to put aside the negative characteristics of myths as far as child’s culture is concerned and concentrate on the positive aspects and in this way sections of the story in a format of a short story can artistically and literarily be presented to them in a simple language.

The story of Goshtasb’s journey to the Roman Empire and his marriage with Katayun, a Byzantine princess in Shahnameh is one of the stories that is strongly continued its literary life in the oral culture of Iranians. What has been Ferdowsi’s source to narrate this story is not clearly known however in nearly all general history books written in Farsi after shahnameh this story is present. In this regard what exists today with variety of narrations among the Iranian ethnic groups is a story called Seapony and in the international tale-type index it is classified under type 314. Although there are minor differences with the Shahnameh narrative, this story has kept many of its structural and semantic characteristics. Since the most ancient international written narratives dates back to the twelfth century, Ferdowsi’s narrative takes precedence over them.

Despite the fact that hundreds of manuscripts of shahnameh have been investigated by the scholars, yet sometimes quite accidently mystery is unveiled from an abandoned and forsaken copy only to bewilder the eager artists and literary figures. Of such works, is a complete Shahnameh, illustrated and gilded with beautiful calligraphy produced by the calligrapher Abdul Razzagh Ghazvini and with the artistic collaboration of other infamous painters in the year 1044 Hijra found in Ghazvin’s Darossaltaneh. This invaluable manuscript is currently kept in the national archive of Kabul, in Afghanistan and has not yet been introduced to the artistic and literary circles. The purpose of this article is to introduce this artistic work for the first time.