The question of reference sources in the Shahnameh and the extent of Ferdowsi's employment of oral narrations have long been one of the complicated issues in examining the Shahnameh. In recent years, in spite of the valid and valuable researches carried out, there are some significant issues, especially on the question of sources in this work which have remained unkown. Those who have engaged themselves in examining the Shahnameh have restricted their remarks to the findings to Taqīzāde and Safā which were presented a century ago.
Safā and Taqīzāde, by relying on Ferdowsi's verses have proved the employment of written sources by Ferdowsi. The author of this paper first investigates the methods of making reference to written sources by Ferdowsi's contemporaries, then he makes a comparison between those methods and that of Ferdowsi. In this paper the author deals with those techniques which are the ways of learning narratives and are common among narrators. These techniques are: samā' (narrating and spelling), reading, permission, monāvele (donation), communication, declaration, testament, and vejāde (excessive joy).
The author has proved the decisive utilization of written sources in the Shahnameh by describing two methods: spelling and excessive joy.