Azhdaha, Azhdahak, Ezhdeha () or Azhdar (اژدر) is a mythical creature in Iranian mythology, roughly equivalent to the

dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

. They are gigantic snake-like creatures living in the air, in the sea, or on the earth. ''Sad dar-e nathr'' and ''sad dar-e Bondahesh'', ''

Shahnameh The ''Shahnameh'' (, ), also transliterated ''Shahnama'', is a long epic poem written by the Persian literature, Persian poet Ferdowsi between and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50,000 distichs or couple ...

'' and '' Garshaspnameh'' are among the principal texts that contain information about the creature. In

Persian literature Persian literature comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Persian language and is one of the world's oldest literatures. It spans over two-and-a-half millennia. Its sources have been within Greater Iran including present-day ...

, Azhdahas are depicted as a giant snake or lizard with wings. According to tradition, they have a huge body, a fierce face, their mouths are wide with many teeth, and their eyes are bright. Azhdahās are actually normal snakes, according to ''Ajāyeb ul-Makhlooghāt'', a book by Mohammad b. Mahmoud b. Ahmad-e Tusi (wrote in 1160 AD), "when a snake lives 100 years and its length becomes 30 Gazes (a traditional measurement unit approximate to a meter), it is called an azhdahā". He also wrote that "because of their harassment to other creatures, God eventually will throw them into the sea and in there, their body will continue to grow, such that their length becomes more than 10,000 Gazes. Then in the sea, they evolve to have two wings, like a fish, and the waves of the sea are because of their movements. Eating the heart of an Azhdahā brings courage and bravery. Their skins are suitable to healing the wound of love, and if someone buries an azhdahā's head in soil, the conditions of that soil will become good." Another work which was considerably influenced by the ''Ajayeb ul-Makhlooghaat'', is the '' Nuzhat al-Quloob''. Completed in 1339–1340, the author and historian, Hamd Allah Mustaufi Qazvini, describes the azhdaha as being terrible in appearance, with flaming eyes, a wide mouth, and a body of enormous length. Like Ahmad-e-Tusi, he also maintains that the dragon was at first a serpent, and it was only after he became more than thirty yards long that it came to be called an azhdaha. He says that after the azhdaha was cast into the sea by God, for terrorizing the people on land, it developed fins and continued to grow in the sea. Eventually it grew so much that it caused damage in the sea, and after it was killed, its body was cast up on the shore to provide food for the inhabitants of the Land of

Gog and Magog Gog and Magog (; ) or Ya'juj and Ma'juj () are a pair of names that appear in the Bible and the Quran, Qur'an, variously ascribed to individuals, tribes, or lands. In Ezekiel 38, Gog is an individual and Magog is his land. By the time of the New ...

. In

, the

national epic A national epic is an epic poem or a literary work of epic scope which seeks to or is believed to capture and express the essence or spirit of a particular nation—not necessarily a nation state, but at least an ethnic or linguistic group wi ...

Greater Iran Greater Iran or Greater Persia ( ), also called the Iranosphere or the Persosphere, is an expression that denotes a wide socio-cultural region comprising parts of West Asia, the South Caucasus, Central Asia, South Asia, and East Asia (specifica ...

, azhdahās appear in a number of stories.

Sām Sām (), also transliterated Saam, is a mythical hero of ancient Persia, and an important character in the Shahnameh The ''Shahnameh'' (, ), also transliterated ''Shahnama'', is a long epic poem written by the Persian literature, Persian p ...

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, Esfandiar,

Bahram V Bahram V (also spelled Wahram V or Warahran V; ), also known as Bahram Gur (New Persian: , "Bahram the onager unter), was the Sasanian Empire, Sasanian King of Kings (''shahanshah'') from 420 to 438. The son of the incumbent Sasanian shah Ya ...

(Gur) are among the heroes that kill an azhdaha.

References

{{Shahnameh Asian dragons Legendary reptiles Persian legendary creatures Legendary serpents