Azadeh (Shahnameh)
Āzādeh (
The tale of Azadeh begins when she is invited by the king to a hunting trip. During the hunt, four gazelle turned up.[1] When the king asked her, which gazelle to shoot, she challenged the king to make a female gazelle into a male, a male into a female and to pin the leg of one to its ear.[2] There are sources that cite the impossibility of the tasks as a ploy to prevent the king from slaying the animals.[3] Bahram completed all her requests. He severed the horns of the male gazelle with his two-headed arrow so that the animal resembled a female.[2] Then, double-headed arrow hit the female gazelle on its forehead so that it resembled horns. Instead of praising the king, Azadeh stated that the king was assisted by demons.[2] Bahram got angry and used his horse to trample Azadeh to death.
In the tale of
Bahram and Azadeh hunting was a popular subject in Persian miniature,[7] and other media, such as mina'i ware paintings. The moment usually shown is when Azadeh challenges the king to pin a gazelle's foot to its shoulder with an arrow (when raising the foot to scratch itself).
References
- ^ Kennion, Roger Lloyd (1911). By Mountain, Lake and Plain: Being a Sketch of Sport in Eastern Persia. Edinburgh, UK: W. Blackwood and Sons. p. 99.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-87099-142-4.
- ISBN 978-0-87395-802-8.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-349-62615-1.
- ISBN 9789004228634.
- ISBN 9781136854118.
- ^ Khaleghi-Motlagh, Dj. "ĀZĀDA". ENCYCLOPÆDIA IRANICA. Retrieved 2 May 2016.