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A Mythological Analysis of the Role and Function of the Divs in Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh in Light of Mircea Eliade’s Theories | ||
| Journal of Language Studies | ||
| Volume 10, Issue 2, Part 2, June 2026, Pages 204-228 PDF (745.33 K) | ||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||
| DOI: 10.25130/Lang.10.2.P2.11 | ||
| Authors | ||
| Fadhl Mahmood Wali; Prof. Dr. Jihad Shukri Rashid | ||
| Department of Persian Language, College of Languages, Salahaddin University, Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq | ||
| Abstract | ||
| The present study, drawing on the mythological and phenomenological theories of Mircea Eliade, examines the function and role of the dīvs (demons) in Shāhnāmeh. It also seeks to analyze the reflection of the dīvs in the Shāhnāmeh in relation to the layers of primordial myths within the Mazdean tradition. According to Eliade’s definition, myth is the narration of events that occurred “in the beginning”; therefore, the presence of the dīvs in the Shāhnāmeh is not merely an epic or literary element, but rather a return to the primordial events of creation and to the original struggle between light and darkness. In this study, the dīvs are analyzed, as principal examples, in connection with the stories of Keyumars and Siyāmak, Tahmuras the Demon-Binder, Jamshid, the demons of Mazandaran, and Akvan the Demon. In the narrative of Keyumars and Siyāmak, the opposition between Ahriman and Ahura Mazda is re-created on an epic narrative level. In the account of Tahmuras, the dīvs are, on the one hand, regarded as ahrimanic forces and, on the other, by granting the art of writing to humankind, they bring about the manifestation of a paradoxical concept, or, in Eliade’s terms, a “coincidence of opposites.” In the story of Jamshid, the dīvs, through the aid of the divine farr, are integrated into the framework of sacred order; however, with the rupture of this farr, they are transformed into forces of chaos.The demons of Mazandaran and Akvan the Demon likewise each reveal an aspect of the relationship between cosmogony and regeneration. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| dīvs; eternal return; Mircea Eliade; primordial myth; sacred and profane | ||
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