Girl, Serpent, Thorn - Melissa Bashardoust Page 0,125
fire for each shah, as well as by the Fire of Victory, the highest level of sacred fire, which burns perpetually and has many different ritual sources, including lightning.
The dakhmeh (also commonly spelled dakhma), or “tower of silence,” was the traditional Zoroastrian resting place in ancient Persia. Because fire and earth were sacred creations of Ahura Mazda, dead bodies were not cremated or buried. Instead, they were left above the ground in open-air structures to be exposed to the weather and carrion birds. Tombs were also built aboveground for important figures such as Cyrus the Great, whose tomb is still standing in Iran.
DIVS
In their earliest incarnations, divs represent the physical and spiritual evils of the world, such as wrath, drought, or corruption. In later times, and in the Shahnameh, divs are monster or ogre figures, often with animal-like features. They are the traditional fairy-tale monster, kidnapping maidens and kings, fighting heroes, and generally causing destruction. In the Shahnameh, they can change form or even turn invisible.
Druj (meaning “lie”) is one subset of demon and also sometimes refers to female demons. Kastar comes from a Middle Persian word for “destroyer” or “wrongdoer,” but I borrowed the term to represent another kind of demon.
Divs are traditionally associated with the north and with mountains, with the ridge of Mount Arezur being the gateway to hell (called Duzakh).
PARIKS
The pariks of this novel are the middle ground between the pairika and the pari. The pairika (Old Persian) were malevolent female demons who could take many forms and were associated with nighttime. Over time, the pairika evolved into the more romantic pari or peri—beautiful, winged women similar to fairies who are benevolent toward humanity. I thought it would be interesting to track the progression of the pairika from foe to friend in the novel, and so the pariks are a little bit of both.
THE SHAHMAR
Azad, the Shahmar (from the words “shah” meaning king and “mar” meaning snake), is based on the Shahnameh’s King Zahhak, who is in turn based on the earlier Azhi Dahaka. It’s a wild story, so get ready.
Azhi Dahaka is a demon from the start, a three-headed dragon bent on destroying humanity but who is defeated and chained up in a mountain. The Shahnameh took this figure and made him a human prince who is persuaded by Ahriman (the Middle Persian name for Angra Mainyu) into killing his father and taking the throne. Ahriman then disguises himself as a chef and requests to kiss Zahhak’s shoulders when he is offered a reward for his meals. Zahhak grants the request, and as a result, a snake grows out of each shoulder, and they keep growing back even after Zahhak tries cutting them off. Ahriman (disguised as a doctor this time) tells Zahhak that the snakes will eventually die if he feeds them human brains, so Zahhak orders the deaths of two men every night to feed his shoulder snakes and is generally a tyrant until he is eventually overthrown and chained up inside a mountain.
Azad also bears a resemblance to a character in the Shahnameh called Shiroyeh (who corresponds to the historical figure of Kavad II), a prince with an ill-omened horoscope who overthrows his father (and eliminates his brothers) in a military coup and is ultimately poisoned.
There is also a figure called the Shahmaran in the folklore of various West Asian cultures who is a benevolent snake queen, but my Shahmar is not based on that figure.
THE SIMORGH
As in the novel, the simorgh is a mythical bird in folklore. The story in the novel of the simorgh adopting a son is a loose version of the story of Zal in the Shahnameh. In the story (which happens after Zahhak’s story in the Shahnameh, not concurrently, as in the novel), the simorgh adopts an infant boy who has been abandoned by the mountainside because he has white hair (a sign of evil). This boy, Zal, grows up to be the chief adviser to the shah. He is also the father of Rostam, a legendary figure who is similar to Hercules.
Years later, when Rostam is grievously wounded, Zal calls up his adopted mother by burning one of the three feathers she gave him, and the simorgh heals Rostam’s wound by soaking one of her feathers in milk and placing the feather over the wound.
SURI AND NOG ROZ
The festival of Suri in the novel is a combination of the festivals of Chaharshanbeh Suri and Fravardigan. Fravardigan was traditionally held the five (or sometimes ten) days before