Arnavāz (Persian: اَرْنَواز; "Arənauuāčī" in Avestan) is one of the two daughters (or possibly sisters) of Jamshid, the mythological king of Parsia. Arnavāz and her sister, Shahrnāz first married Zahhāk, but later married Fereydun, after he had defeated Zahhāk and imprisoned him in mount Damāvand.[1] In some versions of Shahname, including the Moscow version and that of Ṯaʿālebī, Arnavaz and Shahrnāz are the daughters of Jamshid, but in others, they are his sisters.[2][3]
According to the Shahname, she lived with Zahhak in harmony and Zahhak "taught her how to commit crime". Nonetheless, Arnavāz was the advisor of Zahhak. When Fereydun finally defeated Zahhak, he made Arnavāz and her sister repent, cleansed them of their sins and took both of them as his consorts. Shahrnaz had two sons with him Tur and Salm, while Arnavāz had a son with him, his youngest, Iraj. Fereydun then divided the world between his sons, giving Rum (Roman) to Salm, Turan to Tur, and Iran to Iraj. Because Iran was the best part of the world, this aroused the jealousy of Salm and Tur, leading them to kill Iraj. However, Iraj had an (unnamed) daughter who married Pashang (not to be confused with Turanian Pashang), and had a son with him, Manuchehr, who avenged his grandfather's murder.[4]
References
- ^ Gazerani, Saghi (2016-01-01), "2 The Appropriation of an Avestan Hero and the Birth of the House of Rostam", The Sistani Cycle of Epics and Iran’s National History, Brill, pp. 45–69, ISBN 978-90-04-28296-4, retrieved 2024-10-11
- ^ A. Sh. Shahbazi (December 15, 1986). "Arnavāz". Encyclopædia Iranica. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
- ^ Pierce, Laurie (May 2015). "Serpents and Sorcery: Humanity, Gender, and the Demonic in Ferdowsi's Shahnameh". Iranian Studies. 48 (3): 349–367. doi:10.1080/00210862.2014.1000629. ISSN 0021-0862.
- ^ Jackson-Laufer, Guida Myrl (1995). Traditional Epics: A Literary Companion. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-510276-5.