Iranian folklore

Iranian folklore is the body of folk traditions that grew out of Greater Iran. It covers oral tales, heroes, joke characters, mythical beings, beliefs, customs, ceremonies, and games.

Storytelling was central to Iranian culture. In classical times, performers called *gōsān* (by the Parthians) or *huniyāgar* (by the Sasanians) entertained at royal courts and public theaters. After the Safavid era, coffeehouses became venues for storytellers and poetry readers.

Several folktales are well known in Iran. These include “Kadu Qelqelezan” (“Rolling Pumpkin”), “Māh-pišāni” (“Moon-brow”), “Nāranj o Toranj” (“Bitter Orange and Bergamot Orange”), “Šangul o Mangul,” and “Xāle Suske” (“Auntie Cockroach”). One tale, “Sarmā ye Pirezan” (“Old Woman’s Cold”), explains a cold spell in the month of Esfand: an old woman whose flock failed to mate asked Moses to extend winter so the animals could copulate. Other tales are “The Wonderful Sea-Horse,” “The Black Colt,” and “The Horse of the Cloud and the Wind.”

Historical tale collections also preserve Iranian stories. “Amir Arsalān e Nāmdār” was a popular legend recited to Naser-ed-Din Shah. “Dārāb-nāme,” a 12th-century work by Abu Taher Tarsusi, fictionalizes Alexander the Great and Darius III. “Eskandar-nāme” is an Iranian version of the Alexander romance, distinct from Nezami’s classic. “One Thousand and One Nights” derives its frame story from the lost Middle Persian “Hazār Afsān” (“Thousand Nights”). “Samak-e Ayyār,” written down in the 12th century, follows an *ayyār*—a warrior from a class active between the 9th and 12th centuries, sometimes called *javānmard* (“young man”). The national epic “Šāhnāme,” by 10th-century poet Ferdowsi, is based on the Middle Persian “Xwadāynāmag,” a compilation of Iranian kings and heroes from myth to Chosroes II. “Vāmeq o Ozrā” derives from the Greek romance of Metiochus and Parthenope, written down by poet Onsori in the 11th century.

Heroes from the *Šāhnāme* include Arash the Archer, who settled a land dispute with Turan by shooting an arrow from Damavand; the festival Tirgan is linked to this story and to the ancient myth of Tishtrya. Garshasp is a dragon-slaying hero honored as *jahān-pahlavān* (“chief hero”). Gordafarid is praised for her martial role in the tragedy of Rostam and Sohrab.