Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, Zoroaster ( ). Among the wo ...

mythology, Axtya, also spelt Akhtya or Axt (, ), is an evil sorcerer and an opponent of the religion, known for killing those who were not able to answer his

riddles A riddle is a :wikt:statement, statement, question, or phrase having a double or veiled meaning, put forth as a puzzle to be solved. Riddles are of two types: ''enigmas'', which are problems generally expressed in metaphorical or Allegory, alleg ...

. There is a mention of him in the

Avesta The Avesta (, Book Pahlavi: (), Persian language, Persian: ()) is the text corpus of Zoroastrian literature, religious literature of Zoroastrianism. All its texts are composed in the Avestan language and written in the Avestan alphabet. Mod ...

, where the hero Yōišta of the Fryāna family (Middle Persian: ') performs a sacrifice to the goddess

Aredvi Sura Anahita Anahita is the Old Persian form of the name of an Iranian goddess and appears in complete and earlier form as ('), the Avestan name of an Indo-Iranian cosmological figure venerated as the divinity of "the Waters" ( Aban) and hence associat ...

, who grants him the boon of being able to answer Axtya's 99 questions. This story is elaborated at greater length in the mediaevalThe main manuscript that the English translation was made from, dates from the 14th century . Pahlavi text '. There Axtya threatens to destroy a certain city unless a righteous man comes out and solves his riddles. Yōšt steps forward for this task, and with some divine assistance manages to answer all of Axtya's 33 questions, after which he asks three questions of his own. Unable to answer them, Axtya seeks help from

Ahriman Angra Mainyu (; ) is the Avestan name of Zoroastrianism's hypostasis of the "destructive/evil spirit" and the main adversary in Zoroastrianism either of the Spenta Mainyu, the "holy/creative spirits/mentality", or directly of Ahura Mazda, th ...

, who refuses to reveal the answers. Axtya then admits defeat and is ritually slain by Yosht. This story is likely to be of an

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...

origin as there are broad parallels in

Nordic mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...

, particularly in the wisdom contest between

Odin Odin (; from ) is a widely revered god in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Most surviving information on Odin comes from Norse mythology, but he figures prominently in the recorded history of Northern Europe. This includes the Roman Em ...

and the giant

Vafþrúðnir Vafþrúðnir (Old Norse "mighty weaver"Orchard (1997:170).) is a wise jötunn in Norse mythology. His name comes from ''Vaf'', which means weave or entangle, and ''thrudnir'', which means strong or mighty. Some interpret it to mean "mighty in rid ...

in the

Vafþrúðnismál ''Vafþrúðnismál'' (Old Norse: "The Lay of Vafþrúðnir") is the third poem in the ''Poetic Edda''. It is a conversation in verse form conducted initially between the Æsir Odin and Frigg, and subsequently between Odin and the jötunn Vafþrú ...

poem of the Poetic Edda, as well as the contest described in chapter 10 of the 13th-century Hervarar Saga.

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * {{cite encyclopedia, last = Kanga, first = M.F., title =

Encyclopædia Iranica ''Encyclopædia Iranica'' is a project whose goal is to create a comprehensive and authoritative English-language encyclopedia about the history, culture, and civilization of Iranian peoples from prehistory to modern times. Scope The ''Encyc ...

, entry = Axt, year = 2011, section-url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/axt-av Zoroastrianism Persian mythology