Iranian folklore

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Iranian folklore, including jokes, legends, games, folklore heroes and beliefs is sophisticated and complex.

Persian Arts
Visual Arts
Painting
Miniatures
Decorative Arts
Jewellery
Embroidery	Motifs
Tileworks	Handicrafts
Pottery
Literature
Literature	Mythology
Folklore
Other
Architecture	Cuisine
Carpets	Gardens
Performance Arts
Dance	Music
Cinema

Contents 1 Heroes 2 Books 3 Oral legends and tales 4 Creatures 4.1 Folklore games 5 Traditional ceremonies 6 Characters in jokes 7 Beliefs 8 Music,dance and Performing Arts 9 Pimps, prostitutes and mobs 10 See also 11 Further reading 12 References 13 External links

[edit] Heroes

• Pourya-ye Vali
• Hasan Kachal "Hasan the Bald"
• Khaleh Soskeh "Auntie cockroach"
• Hossen e Kurd e shabestari "The Kurdish Hossen of Shabestar"
• Karim shereyee "Karim the addict"
• Baba shammal
• Koroghlu (Iranian Azarbaijan)
• Mathar Fulad-zereh "Mother of Fulad-zereh"^[1]
• Otour-khan Rashti
• Churchill used for any mischievous person in oral folklore
• Jaffar Jenni or Zaffar Jenni
• Ya'qub-i Laith is a popular folk hero in Iranian history, and it was at his court that the revitalization of the Persian language began after two centuries of eclipse by Arabic.^[2].

[edit] Books

"Dāstān" in Persian means “story". The genre to which they refer may go back to ancient Iran.It was a widely popular and folkloric form of story-telling: dastan-tellers tend to tell their tile in coffee houses.They told tales of heroic romance and adventure,stories about gallant princes and their encounters with evil kings, enemy champions, demons, magicians,Jinns, divine creatures, tricky Robin Hood-like persons (called ayyārs), and beautiful princesses who might be human or of the Peri (“fairy”) race.

• Samak-e Ayyar:An ancient fictional book about an Iranian ayyār^[3] (6th century AH) written by Faramaz Ibn Khodad(Faramarz son of Khodad)(Persian: فرامرز بن خداداد بن عبدالله الکاتب الارجانی )
• Darabnameh:An ancient book of 12th Century , written by Abu Tahir Tarasusi,that's a fictional book about the Alexander and Dara^[4][5]
• Firuzshahnama
• Dastan-e Amir Hamza ,"The adeventure of Amir Hamze" ^[6][7]
• One Thousand and One Nights
• Eskandar Nameh ,"The Persian Alexander Romances" , not to be confused with the classic book of Nezami , but rather more alike a version of Alexander romance that is used in Naghali,different versions of the tale were told by Naghals (popular storytellers), these versions departed from the western story and became, to varying degrees, Iranianized^[8].
• Cehel Tuti , "The Forty Parrots" ; a collection of entertaining stories about the wife of a merchant and a pair of parrots ^[9].
• Amir Arsalan-e Namdar , popular Persian legend which was narrated to Nasser al-Din Shah Qajar.

[edit] Oral legends and tales

• Boz boz Gandhi"Suger goat"
• Shangol o Mangol o Habeh-e-Angur
• Maah pishoni "(the girl with)Moon(sign)in her brow"
• Kadou ghelghelehzan "The trundle gourd"
• Sarma Pirezan"Grand mother COLD"

[edit] Creatures

• Karkadann
  

  

  The Nightmare in European folklore is similar to Iranian "Bakhtak"
• Davaal paa (Persian: دووال پا ) "lasso-leg creature"
• Aal ^[10]
• Bakhtak (Persian: بختک )"Nightmare" A ghost or an evil creature that cause Sleep paralysis^[11]
• Genie " elf, goblin"
• Div "Daeva "
• Peri
• Zār (Persian: زآر) A ritual in some of the south coastal Iranian provinces that is a kind of spiritual "trance" dance. In some cases it can go for a long time,until the dancer drops down of exhaustion ^[12]
• Takam "The king of goats", a male goat, in the folklore of Azarbaijan.

[edit] Folklore games

Physical games

• Amo Zangirbaff "Uncle chain-weaver"
• Attal Mattal Totuleh
• Ghayyem Moshak
• Gorgam be Hava
• Alak dou Lak
• Bikh divari
• Ghapp bazi "knucklebone Playing"
• Khar polis "Donkey-Cop"
• Aftaab Mahtab "Sunshine Moonlight"
• Ganiyeh
• Laay laay

folklore Card games

• Hokm:A game for four players ^[13].
• Ganjafa ^[14][15]
• Chahâr barg (4 cards) is another fishing game,also sometimes known as Pâsur,Haft Khâj(seven clubs)or Haft va chahâr, yâzdah(7+4=11).
• Âs Nas: Perhaps Âs Nas is the game from which modern Poker may have sprung ^{[16] [17]}

folklore Verbal games

• Moshereh (Poetry Game):Every side has to answer the other side with a poem beginning with the last word of the previous poem.
• Ye Morgh Darm ("I have a hen" game)

other folklore games

• Backgammon

[edit] Traditional ceremonies

folklore Nowruz traditional characters

• Hajji Firuz traditional herald of Nowruz.
• Kouseh Bar Neshin (کوسه بر نشین) (A Nowruz folklore Tradition)“the riding of the thin-bearded”^[18]
• Mir Nowrouzi "Temporary king of Nowruz times"(A Nowruz folklore Tradition)^[19][18]
• Fal-Gûsh (lit.divination by ear),is an act of fortunetelling in Chaharshanbe Suri^[20].

folklore religious ceremonies

• Omar koushoun "Killing of Umar" .A fest for ceremonial killing of Umar ibn Sa'ad, falsly mistaken with Umar.
• Iranian folklore of Mourning in Muharram and Ashura Iranian way of folkloric mourning in mourning of Muharram^{[21][22][23][not in citation given]}

other folklore traditions

• Taarof

[edit] Characters in jokes

• Molla Nasr al din
• Dakho (دخو)

[edit] Beliefs

• Ajîl-e Moshkel-goshâ "The problem-solving nuts" of Chaharshanbe Suri^{[24] [25]}
• Cheshm Nazar (چشم نظر)and Nazar Ghorboni (نظرقربونی): That is a pendant or gemstone or likewise that is used as necklace to protect its owner from Evil_eye^[26].Compare with Nazar (amulet).
• Cheshm-Zakhm (lit. “a blow by the eye”), the evil eye (Chashm also occurs alone with the same meaning; cf. Chashm-e bad, Chashm-e Shūr, Chashm-e hasūd “envious eye”; nazar zadan or chashm zadan “to inflict with the evil eye”; Middle Persian duščašmīh or sūr-čašmīh), the supposed power of an individual to cause harm, even illness or death, to another person (or animals and other possessions) merely by looking at him or complimenting him^[27].Dried capsules of Esfand (Peganum harmala)(known in Persian as اسپند espænd or اسفنددانه esfænd-dāneh) mixed with other ingredients are placed onto red hot charcoal, where they explode with little popping noises, releasing a fragrant smoke that is wafted around the head of those afflicted by or exposed to the gaze of strangers. As this is done, an ancient prayer is recited. This prayer is said by Muslims as well as by Zoroastrians^{[28] [27][29]}.
• fāl gereftan (Divination),Many varieties of divination are attested in Persian folk practice. They include interpretation of objects which appear haphazardly, interpretation of involuntary bodily actions (sneezing, twitching, itches, etc.), observing animal behavior, divining by playing cards (fāl-e waraq) or chick-peas (fāl-e noḵod), bibliomancy (e.g., fāl-e Hafez), divination by means of mirrors and lenses (āʾīna-bīnī), observation of the liver of a slain animal (jegar-bīnī), divination by means of the flame of a lamp, etc^[20].

[edit] Music,dance and Performing Arts

• Naghali and Pardeh dari, That is narrating of important stories from the Iranian fables, myths and epics which have remained from ancient times with special tone, feelings and expression. In this play, one person both narrates and plays all the roles.Pardeh dari is a special kind of Naghali which is done mostly in the streets.There is a hanging picture on which some scenes of a story are printed. The pardeh dar (story-teller) narrates the story with a demonstration of the scenes. This kind of narration is used for epics as well as religious stories^[30].Many naqhāls in the Safavid period specialized in single, though extensive stories; they were accordingly known as Shahname khan, Amīr Ḥamze khan, and the like^[31].

[edit] Pimps, prostitutes and mobs

• Fatemeh Arreh (A character originally in One Thousand and One Nights)
• Zaal Mamad (A character, showing a sinister person)

[edit] See also

• Shahnameh
• Persian mythology
• Ya'qub-i Laith Saffari a historical Ayyar and Iranian king
• Bazaar

[edit] Further reading

• Mohammad-Ali Naqib-al-Mamalek, Amir Arsalan-e Rumi, ed. M. J. Mahjub, Tehran, 1340 sh./1961
• German translation: R. Gelpke as Amir Arsalan: Liebe und Abenteuer des Amir Arsalan, Zurich, 1965
• Dastan of Amir Hamzah
• Daniel, Elton L. (2006). Culture and Customs of Iran. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0313320535. 
• Omidsalar, Mahmud (2005), Magic in Literature and Folklore in the Islamic Period, http://www.iranica.com/newsite/articles/ot_grp7/ot_magic_islam_20050310.html .Encyclopedia Iranica. Retrieved on 2008-10-31.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Daily life and social customs An article by Encyclopedia Britanica Online
• Folkore studies of Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan An article by Encyclopedia Iranica
• Folk Poetry An article by Encyclopedia Iranica
• The passion (t'azia) of Hussein ibn 'Ali by Peter Chelkowski, an article of Encyclopædia Iranica.
• Multimedia of Iranian story telling (Naghaali )by children
• Card games in Iran
• Pasurbazi (In Persian)
• Ganjafeh (In Persian)
• Iranian women performing Naqqhali