Amu Nowruz ( fa, عمو نوروز, "Uncle Nowruz"), also known as Baba Nowruz (بابا نوروز), is a

legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess ...

ary character originating in

Iranian folklore Iranian folklore encompasses the folk traditions that have evolved in Greater Iran. Oral legends Folktales Storytelling has an important presence in Iranian culture. In classical Iran, minstrels performed for their audiences at royal courts and ...

. According to the folklore, he appears annually at the beginning of spring, together with his companion Haji Firuz, to mark the beginning of

Nowruz Nowruz ( fa, نوروز, ; ), zh, 诺鲁孜节, ug, نەۋروز, ka, ნოვრუზ, ku, Newroz, he, נורוז, kk, Наурыз, ky, Нооруз, mn, Наурыз, ur, نوروز, tg, Наврӯз, tr, Nevruz, tk, Nowruz, ...

, the Iranian New Year. According to some historians he symbolizes Zal, father of

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, the hero of

Shahnameh The ''Shahnameh'' or ''Shahnama'' ( fa, شاهنامه, Šāhnāme, lit=The Book of Kings, ) is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c. 977 and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50 ...

. On the eve of spring

equinox A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun crosses the Earth's equator, which is to say, appears directly above the equator, rather than north or south of the equator. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise "due east" and se ...

, when the Iranian New Year is celebrated in the Iranian cultural continent from Albania in the West to

Western China Western China (, or rarely ) is the west of China. In the definition of the Chinese government, Western China covers one municipality ( Chongqing), six provinces (Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Shaanxi, Gansu, and Qinghai), and three autonomous re ...

in the East, Amu Nowruz brings children gifts, similar to the Western Christian folk character Santa Claus. He is the husband of Nane Sarma, who shares a traditional love story with him in which they can meet each other only once a year. Amu Nowruz is characterized as an elderly silver-haired man who puts on a felt hat, and has a walking stick, a long cloak of blue canvas, a sash, a pair of thin-soled

giveh The Kurdish Kalash ( Kurdish:کەڵاش) or Persian Giveh or Giwah ( fa, گیوه, is a kind of soft, comfortable, durable and handmade shoe that is common in several parts of Iran especially in rural and mountainous areas of Kermanshah Province ...

, and a pair of linen trousers.
Amu Nowruz
'', Fazlollah Mohtadi, ''Shiraz University Centre for Children's Literature Studies'' He is a wise historical presence who passes the old story of Nowruz to the youth. Haji Firuz plays a tambourine, dances, and demands gifts, while Amu Nowruz is the giver.

Amu Nowruz and Nane Sarma

The story of Amu Nowruz and Nane Sarma is one of the symbolic legends of the transition from the old year to the new year: According to legend an old woman named Nane Sarma ("Grandma Frost") is the wife of Amu Nowruz but can only see him on this one night of the year, after which she leaves him and goes on her way until the next year. Another version of this story says that on the first day of spring every year, Nane Sarma expects Uncle Nowruz to come and visit her, but before he comes she falls asleep from exhaustion and when she wakes up she realizes that Uncle Nowruz has come and gone. It has also been said that if the two see each other the world will be destroyed. In another retelling, Amu Nowruz travels all around the world giving children gifts (much like Santa Claus) on his way to meet Nane Sarma, who loved him dearly. Nane Sarma would wake up early on the spring equinox to clean her house and ready her table. However, each year she falls asleep just before he arrives. Kindhearted Amu Nowruz would not wake her up; instead, he eats some of the food set out and places a flower in her new clothes. Then, he departs to continue his long journey. When dawn touches Nane Sarma’s face, she wakes to realize she had missed seeing Amu Nowruz again. Each year the cycle repeats, and she awaits him every spring.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Amoo Norooz Nowruz Iranian folklore Iranian culture Holiday characters Christmas gift-bringers

Amu Nowruz and Nane Sarma

See also

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