In the

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

n epic of

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 ...

Div-e Sepid (, lit. White Div), is the

chieftain A tribal chief, chieftain, or headman is a leader of a tribe, tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies There is no definition for "tribe". The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of weste ...

of the Divs (demons) of

Mazandaran Mazandaran Province (; ) is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Sari, Iran, Sari. Located along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea and in the adjacent Central Alborz mountain range and Hyrcanian forests, it is border ...

. He is a huge being. He possesses great physical strength and is skilled in

sorcery Sorcery commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), the application of beliefs, rituals or actions employed to manipulate natural or supernatural beings and forces ** Goetia, ''Goetia'', magic involving the evocation of spirits ** Witchcraft, the ...

and

necromancy Necromancy () is the practice of Magic (paranormal), magic involving communication with the Death, dead by Evocation, summoning their spirits as Ghost, apparitions or Vision (spirituality), visions for the purpose of divination; imparting the ...

. He destroys the army of Kay Kavus by conjuring a dark storm of

hail Hail is a form of solid Precipitation (meteorology), precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailsto ...

, boulders, and tree trunks using his magical skills. He then captures Kay Kavus, his commanders, and paladins; blinds them, and imprisons them in a dungeon. The greatest

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

mythical hero

Rostam use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = Kabulistan , death_cause = With the conspiracy of his half-brother Shaghad, he fell into a we ...

undertakes his " Seven Labors" to free his sovereign. At the end, Rostam slays Div-e Sepid and uses his heart and blood to cure the blindness of the king and the captured Persian heroes. Rostam also takes the Div's head as a helmet and is often pictured wearing it.

In the ''Shabrangnama''

In the ' it is revealed that the white demon sired a son. The ''Shabrangnama'' is a heroic epic that follows the story of Shabrang, son of the White Div, seeking revenge on the Iranians for his father's death by Rostam. Born with div-like features, Shabrang grows up and attacks Mazandaran, killing many, including Aulad, who ruled Mazandaran by Rostam's decree. With his mother, Mahyar, as the throne's figurehead, Shabrang leads an army against Iran. Rostam, summoned by Kay Kavus, confronts Shabrang with a group of Iranian heroes. In the ensuing battles, Shabrang uses magic to his advantage, but the Iranians ultimately defeat the divs' army, and Shabrang flees to Turan for help. The epic highlights Shabrang's unique characteristics and the use of magic in battles, providing an engaging narrative different from the ''Shahnameh''.

Alternative views

It is written in the ''Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society'' that the struggle between Rostam and the white demon represents a struggle between Iranians and invaders from the north, from the Caspian provinces. The Div-e Sepid is believed by Joseph J. Reed to have been a northern prince. Warner believes that he is a personification of the Mazandaranians, who were believed to have skin of an unhealthily pale colour caused by the climate of their homeland Some scholars hold the opinion that these divs of Mazandaran are merely wild people of the forest. Others are of the opinion that they are a group of enemy kings of ancient Mazandaran (which might have been different from its modern location) and Tabaristan. Alexander Krappe theorized that Ahriman himself was believed to have white skin. P. Molesworth Sykes believes that the name "White Div" represents a white nation. According to one source Zal spoke of the horrid race of white-skinned people. This however contradicts with the fact that Zal was an

albino Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and reddish pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albinos. Varied use and interpretation of ...

himself. Zal means albino in Persian language.''Encyclopædia Iranica''
"Zal"
E. Yarshater According to the '' Georgian Chronicles'', the one who blinded K'ekapos (Kay Kavus) was the chief of the Laks. In the '' Kush Nama'' written by the poet Iranshah, the White Div is given the name of Eridu (اریدو or ارندو) and is said to have been a descendant of

Ham Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in '' Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 39. As a processed meat, the term '' ...

, son of

Noah Noah (; , also Noach) appears as the last of the Antediluvian Patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5–9), the Quran and Baháʼí literature, ...

. He is described as having "a body like a camel and a white hide, his strength inspired fear and hope. The Nubians spoke much about him, they call him the White Demon. The men of that land had never seen anyone with such strength in times of battle and trials of honor. His upper body was like the branches of trees, his neck and shoulders like a savage elephant."

References

External links

{{Shahnameh Demons Daevas Persian literature Persian mythology Shahnameh characters