Esfandiyar
Encyclopedia
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian hero. He was the son and the crown prince of the Kayanian King Goshtasp
Vishtaspa
Vishtaspa is the Avestan-language name of a figure of Zoroastrian scripture and tradition, portrayed as an early follower of Zoroaster, and his patron, and instrumental in the diffusion of the prophet's message...
(from Middle Persian
Middle Persian
Middle Persian , indigenously known as "Pârsig" sometimes referred to as Pahlavi or Pehlevi, is the Middle Iranian language/ethnolect of Southwestern Iran that during Sassanid times became a prestige dialect and so came to be spoken in other regions as well. Middle Persian is classified as a...
Wishtasp from Avestan language Vishtaspa
Vishtaspa
Vishtaspa is the Avestan-language name of a figure of Zoroastrian scripture and tradition, portrayed as an early follower of Zoroaster, and his patron, and instrumental in the diffusion of the prophet's message...
) and brother of the saintly Pashotan (Middle Persian Peshotan, Avestan Peshotanu).
Perso-Arabic 'Esfandyar' derives from Middle Persian 'Spandadat' or 'Spandyat' (the variance is due to ambiguities inherent to Pahlavi script), which in turn derives from Avestan Spentodata "Given by/through bounty" or "Given by (the) holy" (see Amesha Spenta
Amesha Spenta
' is an Avestan language term for a class of divine entities in Zoroastrianism, and literally means "Bounteous Immortal" The noun is amesha "immortal", and spenta "furthering, strengthening, bounteous, holy" is an adjective of it...
for other meanings of spenta-). The Median language
Median language
The Median language was the language of the Medes. It is an Old Iranian language and classified as belonging to the northwestern Iranian subfamily which includes many other languages such as Azari, Zazaki, Gilaki, Mazandarani, Kurdish and Baluchi.-Attestation:Median is only attested by numerous...
*Spendata - as it is reconstructed - probably motivated a similar Old Persian form, which may be inferred from Greek Sphendadates, a 5th century BCE political figure unrelated to the Esfandiar of legend. Equally unrelated is the Sassanid-era feudal house of Spandyat, that - like numerous other feudal houses also - adopted a Kayanian name in order to legitimize and emphasize the antiquity of their genealogy.
In the Shahnameh
Rostam
Rostam is the national hero of Greater Iran from Zabulistan in Persian mythology and son of Zal and Rudaba. In some ways, the position of Rostam in the historical tradition is parallel to that of Surena, the hero of the Carrhae. His figure was endowed with many features of the historical...
, as described in Ferdowsi
Ferdowsi
Ferdowsi was a highly revered Persian poet. He was the author of the Shahnameh, the national epic of Iran and related societies.The Shahnameh was originally composed by Ferdowsi for the princes of the Samanid dynasty, who were responsible for a revival of Persian cultural traditions after the...
's epic Shahnameh
Shahnameh
The Shahnameh or Shah-nama is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c.977 and 1010 AD and is the national epic of Iran and related societies...
, or Book of Kings. It is one of the longest episodes in the epic, and one of its literary highlights:
Esfandyar is promised the throne by his father Goshtasp if he manages to repel an invasion in far-off provinces. Esfandyar is successful at this, but his father stalls and instead sends him off on another mission to suppress a rebellion in Turan
Turan
Tūrān is the Persian name for Central Asia, literally meaning "the land of the Tur". As described below, the original Turanians are an Iranian tribe of the Avestan age. As a people the "Turanian" are one of the two Iranian peoples both descending from the Persian Fereydun but with different...
. Esfandyar is again successful, and upon his return Goshtasp hedges once again and - although he is aware of a prediction that foretells the death of Esfandyar at the hand of Rostam - compels the young hero to go and bring the aging Rostam in chains for his arrogance and not paying due respect to the king. Although Esfandyar initially protests, reminding his father of Rostam's fame, great age and services to the dynasty, he eventually complies with his father's wishes and sets out towards Rostam.
Upon reaching the home of Rostam, Esfandyar delivers the message, but Rostam refuses to comply with being put in chains, accepting only to accompany the young prince to his father's. Esfandyar insists, but Rostam - although making numerous concessions - stands his ground, and the two eventually meet in single combat. Unknown to Rostam is the fact that Esfandyar had bathed in a pool of invincibility, and in the subsequent battle, Esfandyar is unaffected by Rostam's blows while the champion is seriously wounded.
Pleading respite to dress his wounds, Rostam withdraws, where he learns of Esfandyar's secret and of his weakness: when Esfandyar swam in the pool of invincibility, he kept his eyes closed, and it is through these that the young prince can be vanquished. Upon hearing this, Rostam fashions a forkhead arrow with a feather of Simurgh
Simurgh
Simurgh , also spelled simorgh, simurg, simoorg or simourv, also known as Angha , is the modern Persian name for a benevolent, mythical flying creature...
and a twig of a tamarisk tree, and when the battle resumes the next morning, Esfandyar is slain by a shot through the eyes.
Dragon blood
Near the city DehloranDehloran
Dehloran is a city in and the capital of Dehloran County, Ilam Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 27,602, in 5,787 families. The city lies along Road 64, near the Iraqi border. A national natural monument lies in the northeastern part of the city....
is a natural liquid tar
Tar
Tar is modified pitch produced primarily from the wood and roots of pine by destructive distillation under pyrolysis. Production and trade in tar was a major contributor in the economies of Northern Europe and Colonial America. Its main use was in preserving wooden vessels against rot. The largest...
spring. This black spring is located in a natural protected area named Abgarm. According to native myths, this tar spring was the blood of a dragon
Dragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
that was killed by Esfandiyar.
See also
- the heel of AchillesAchilles HeelAchilles Heel may refer to:* Achilles' heel, a metaphor for a fatal weakness in spite of overall strength* Achilles Heel , music by Pedro the Lion* Achilles Heel , off Antarctica...
- the shoulder of SigurdSigurdSigurd is a legendary hero of Norse mythology, as well as the central character in the Völsunga saga. The earliest extant representations for his legend come in pictorial form from seven runestones in Sweden and most notably the Ramsund carving Sigurd (Old Norse: Sigurðr) is a legendary hero of...
(Siegfried) - the thighs of DuryodhanaDuryodhanaIn the Hindu epic the Mahābhārata, Duryodhana is the eldest son of the blind king Dhritarashtra by Queen Gandhari, the eldest of the one hundred Kaurava brothers, Emperor of the world at that time which means Emperor of India or Bharatvarsha as it was known at that time, cousin and the chief...