Introduction to the Monstrous Dragon

Through stories, we are able to connect with one another through time. In the Persian epic, the Shahnameh, a reader is able to do just that and experience the grand story along with its author, Ferdowsi. The original poem was first composed in 10th-century Persia, though the physical manuscript, the Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp, was created 500 years after, under the patronage of a Persian king. One can start to understand the historical and cultural impact it made by focusing on the 3 main parts consisting of Persian myth, heroic legends, and history. The myth portion covers the story of creation, the second part describes the great heroes of Persian legend and the third gives a more realistic account of historical events that took place in Persia. One of the most famed characters in this epic appears as a heroic legend named Sekandar, known also as Alexander the Great. This hero encounters all sorts of challenges, including those far removed from a modern reader. 

All throughout the literature, monsters and the idea of them make a very notable and significant presence in the lives of the characters. Creatures such as the Sigmurgh make appearances but arguably the most famous would be the Shahnameh’s iteration of the dragon. In the epic, the heroic legend Sekandar fights and kills a dragon that is terrorizing a village. In the text, the creature’s habitat and temperament are described by a villager as such:

“A path exists around this mountainside

But first you’ll have to find a willing guide;

Beyond the crest there lies a dragon’s lair, 

His poison sickens birds that venture there.

The noxious vapors reach the moon, there’s no

Safe route by which your warriors could go.

His massive maw breathes fire, and he could snare

An elephant with his two locks of hair;

Our city doesn’t have the strength to fight.

We have to take up five cows, every night, 

For him to feed on; and how fearfully

We place them on the rocks for him to see, 

Afraid that if he finds us he’ll come down

And, piece by piece, destroy us and our town”

Through both text and physical artifacts, one can see that dragons within Persian culture were significant to both storytelling and everyday life. It is clear that these monsters became fundamental icons to depict fear and suffering to readers done through fearsome depictions and gruesome storytelling. It can also be argued that dragons are included in many Persian stories to further showcase the abilities of a hero. Since the monsters are almost unimaginably terrifying to a reader, the fact that the heroes in the stories can defeat them is astounding.