#persian folklore

[couldtheycatchkira]

Could Zahhāk solve the Kira murders?

Could catch Kira, would survive

Could not catch Kira, would survive

Could catch Kira, would not survive

Could not catch Kira, would not survive

Voting ended onMar 11

[aquatic-indie-gal]

Inktober 2025 Day 1: Roc

A Gigantic Bird of Prey Known to Snatch Elephants and Even Scare Off Travelers. Some Explorers or Scholars like Marco Polo have Established The Existence of Rocs being Seen, However, Before The Secret History of Rocs Goes Way Beyond That in The Dinosaur Age.

Like How Most Giants are Portrayed, in Persian Mythology, They are Known to be Attackers Including to Voyagers (The Most Well-Known Tale being Sinbad the Sailor and His Crew where Sinbad finds Some Eggs belonging to a Roc in "One Thousand & One Nights"/"Arabian Nights").

Roc (c) Persian Folklore

[dancflorhardkor]

Creatuanary 2025 Day 20: Manticore

[pixiesdirt]

Two questions for Iranian/Persian tumblr users who may know Persian mythology/folklore/culture.

1. So I have been building this fantasy world for a couple years now, called Vundabar, which as the name may imply has been inspired by mainly European folklore/mythology/culture, to an extent granted because it is still an alien world in the middle of nowhere, but I was inspired by parts of the world that I wished to implement aspects of into my lil ole planet, for a world without diversity, is rather boring don't you think? I even recently created a location based on Mexico, where my family is from, but my question is if it would be alright to draw inspiration from Persian mythology/folklore/culture as influence for a location called; "The Milky Desert" where the sand is entirely made of glass, an ancient library rests underground, and small towns are scattered around. Of course I fully intend on learning a whole lot more, I know very little which takes me to my second question.

2. Would anyone care to educate me on such subjects?

Now you may be wondering why am I making this post, well my fantasy world is used for my dungeon and dragons campaigns which I run and stream on twitch/spotify! So I don't wish to appropriate I merely desire to represent. ty.

[matarsack]

A lil bit of Persian folklore that might kinda explain why nandor had loved his horse so much.

That was actually a thing for many, if not all, persian warriors. Their horse was everything to them. Their horse was what gave them a great edge in battle and was their most trusted companion as they traveled vast expanses of earth to conquer and take revenge. Warriors on horses were always the highest ranked ones whereas the lower ranks were foot soldiers and easily expendable.

The ancient Persians loved their horses so much they were actually named after them! For example, Lohrasb, a name for men, means ‘owner of a fast horse.’ Or Gashtasb, another male name, means ‘owner of a ready horse’. Or ‘Tahmasb’ means ‘owner of a strong horse’. Notice that ‘asb’ at the end of the names? It means ‘horse’ in Persian.

But the most famous horse tale in Persian folklore is ‘Rakhsh’ رخش, the beloved horse of Rostam, the greatest and strongest hero of them all.

When rostam was just a child, he was so big and strong that ordinary horses could not stand his sheer weight. But then came Rakhsh. A red and white stallion. Rakhsh actually chose Rostam. Whenever someone else approached Rakhsh, its mother would scare them away. But apparently Rostam was the right one for Rakhsh.

And Rakhah was such a loyal and smart horse it saved Rostam’s life on many occasions and in the end, they died a tragic death together.

[briefbestiary]

A prime man-eating beast of legend. This Persian monster is the peak of its food chain, capable of killing any animal as its prey, with the notable exception of the elephant. Elephants are the only animal that the manticores' death-bringing sting has absolutely no effect on.

[learning-persian]

Is anyone here interested in learning about Rostam, the most iconic mythological hero in Persian folklore? Because he’s a favorite character of mine and I want to talk about him but it’s gonna take a lot of time so do you wanna hear it?

[hindnqarnfel1]

Umm al duwais, Melmodas:

Umm Al Duwais is an evil jinn from the folklore on both sides of the Persian gulf. (And a reoccurring character in my comic)

Das/Duwais in her name is the Persian word for sickle. (Tho the word is also used in the Arabic side of the gulf, where alot of Persian words have entered the regional dialect. )

Basic facts: Umm al Duwais/Takes the form of a beautiful woman, the enchanting aroma of perfume emanates from her, she lures her victims(mostly men) to her and then chops them up with her sickles.

There's a lot of variety when it comes to stuff like where her sickles are so Im going to list as many as I know.

*her hands are sickles.

*she is holding sickles in her hands

*one of her legs is a sickle, the other is a donkey's leg.

*both her legs are camel legs. (This variation I think only exists on the Arabian/khaleeji side of the gulf)

*both her legs are sickles and she chops men in half while ... 👀 You know ..

*she appears in the sea, calls sailors to her and drags them underwater and chops them up with her sickle legs (this variation only exists on the Persian/Bandari side of the gulf as far as I can tell)