Peri
This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2012) |
Grouping | Mythical creature |
---|---|
Country | Iran |
Peris (singular: peri) are exquisite, winged
Etymology
The Persian word پَری parī comes from Middle Persian parīg, itself from Old Persian *parikā-.[5] The word may stem from the same root as the Persian word par 'wing',[6] although other proposed etymologies exist.[5] The word has been borrowed into Azerbaijani as pəri, into Hindustani as parī (Urdu: پری / Hindi: परी), and into Turkish as peri. It is etymologically unrelated to the English word fairy.[4]
In Persian mythology and literature
Peris are detailed in Persianate folklore and poetry, appearing in romances and epics. Furthermore, later poets use the term to designate a beautiful woman and to illustrate her qualities.
At the start of
Peris were the target of a lower level of evil beings called دیوسان
Turkish mythology
Parīs feature as Turkic mythological entities among other (Islamic or central Asian) creatures, such as jinn, ʿifrīt (fiends), nakir, and devils (šayāṭīn).[8] Kazakh shamans would sometimes consult parīs for aid.[9] Uyghur shamans are reported to use the aid of parīs to heal women from miscarriage, and protect from evil jinn.[10]
Parīs are attested in Turkish sources from the 11th century onward.[11] The term parī was probably associated with the Arabic jinn when entering the Turkic beliefs through Islamic sources.[12] Although jinn and parī are sometimes used as synonyms, the term parī is more frequently used in supernatural tales.[13] The parī are usually considered beneficent in Turkish sources,[14] though, in Kazakh tradition, they are sometimes considered to be malevolent jinn.[15] While the parī appear as complex figures in earlier Tatar poetry, in contemporary thought, they are usually merged into a single category with demons and devils.[16]
According to Turkologist Ignác Kúnos, the peris in Turkish tales fly through the air with their cloud-like garments of a green colour, but also in the shape of doves. They also number forty, seven or three, and serve a Peri-king that can be a human person they stole from the human realm. Like vestals, Kúnos wrote, the peris belong to the spiritual realm until love sprouts in their hearts, and they must join with their mortal lovers, being abandoned by their sisters to their own devices. Also, the first meeting between humans and peris occurs during the latter's bathtime.[17]
Islamic scripture and writings
With the spread of Islam through
Marriage, although possible, is considered undue in Islamic lore. Because of humans' impatience and distrust, relationship between humans and peris will break up. Bilqis, the Queen of Sheba, is, according to one narrative, the daughter of such a failed relationship between a peri and a human.[22]
Today, they are still part of folklore and accordingly they are said to appear to humans, sometimes punishing hunters in the mountains who are disrespectful or waste resources, or even abducting young humans for their social events. Encounters with peris are held to be physical as well as psychological.[23]
The belief in peri still persist among Muslims in India as a type of spiritual creature besides the jinn, devils (shayatin) and the ghosts of the wicked (ifrit).[24]
Among Kho people, peri are believed to cast love spells, used by a spiritual master referred to as peri-khan (master of faries). They would live far from urban regions, having mastered the art of working with peris.[25]
Although peris are usually regarded as benevolent creatures, according to the book people of the air, they are credited with being morally ambivalent creatures, who could be either Muslims or infidels.[26]
Western representations
The character of the peri, as a supernatural wife, shares similar traits with the swan maiden, in that the human male hides the peri's wings and marries her. After some time, the peri woman regains her wings and leaves her mortal husband.[27]
The term peri appears in the early Oriental tale
In
French composer Paul Dukas's ballet La Péri (1912) depicts a young Persian prince who travels to the ends of the Earth in a quest to find the lotus flower of immortality, finally encountering its guardian, the Peri.[28]
Gilbert and Sullivan's 1882 operetta Iolanthe is subtitled The Peer and the Peri. The "peris" in this work are also referred to as "fairies".
A peri, whose power is in her hair, appears in Elizabeth Ann Scarborough's 1984 novel The Harem of Aman Akbar.
In Lotte Reiniger's The Adventures of Prince Achmed, the titular character falls in love with a fairy queen named Pari Banu.
See also
References
- ISBN 978-0-7656-8047-1.
- ^ a b Nelson, Thomas (1922). Nelson's New Dictionary of the English Language. Thomas Nelson & Sons. p. 234.
- ISBN 9789004280649.
- ^ a b Marzolph, Ulrich (08 Apr 2019). "The Middle Eastern World’s Contribution to Fairy-Tale History". In: Teverseon, Andrew. The Fairy Tale World. Routledge, 2019. pp. 46, 52, 53. Accessed on: 16 Dec 2021. https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9781315108407-4 - "Turkish peri masalı is a literal translation of the term 'fairy tale,' the originally Indo–Persian character of the peri or pari constituting the equivalent of the European fairy in modern Persian folktales (Adhami 2010). [...] Probably the character most fascinating for a Western audience in the Persian tales is the peri or pari (Adhami 2010). Although the Persian word is tantalizingly close to the English 'fairy', both words do not appear to be etymologically related. English 'fairy' derives from Latin fatum, 'fate', via the Old French faerie, 'land of fairies'. The modern Persian word, instead, derives from the Avestan pairikā, a term probably denoting a class of pre-Zoroastrian goddesses who were concerned with sexuality and who were closely connected with sexual festivals and ritual orgies. In Persian narratives and folklore of the Muslim period, the peri is usually imagined as a winged character, most often, although not exclusively, of female sex, that is capable of acts of sorcery and magic (Marzolph 2012: 21–2). For the male hero, the peri exercises a powerful sexual attraction, although unions between a peri and a human man are often ill-fated, as the human is not able to respect the laws ruling the peri's world. The peri may at times use a feather coat to turn into a bird and is thus linked to the concept of the swan maiden that is wide-spread in Asian popular belief. If her human husband transgresses one of her taboos, such as questioning her enigmatic actions, the peri will undoubtedly leave him, a feature that is exemplified in the widely known European folktale tale type 400: 'The Man on a Quest for His Lost Wife' (Schmitt 1999)."
- ^ a b "PAIRIKĀ". Iranicaonline.org.
- ^ a b Boratav, P.N. and J.T.P. de Bruijn, “Parī”, in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. Consulted online on 31 January 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0886>
First published online: 2012
First print edition: ISBN 978-90-04-16121-4, 1960-2007
- ^ Olinthus Gilbert Gregory Pantologia. A new (cabinet) cyclopædia, by J.M. Good, O. Gregory, and N. Bosworth assisted by other gentlemen of eminence, Band 8 Oxford University 1819 digitalized 2006 sec. 17
- ISBN 978-0-226-06456-7p. 322
- ^ Basilov, Vladimir N. "Shamanism in central Asia." The Realm of Extra-human. Agents and Audiences (1976): 149-157.
- ^ ZARCONE, EDITED BY THIERRY, and ANGELA HOBART. "AND ISLAM." The Sufi orders in northern Central Asia.
- ^ DAVLETSHİNA, Leyla, and Enzhe SADYKOVA. "ÇAĞDAŞ TATAR HALK BİLİMİNDEKİ KÖTÜ RUHLAR ÜZERİNE BİR ÇALIŞMA: PERİ BAŞKA, CİN BAŞKA." Uluslararası Türk Lehçe Araştırmaları Dergisi (TÜRKLAD) 4.2 (2020): 366-374.
- ^ DAVLETSHİNA, Leyla, and Enzhe SADYKOVA. "ÇAĞDAŞ TATAR HALK BİLİMİNDEKİ KÖTÜ RUHLAR ÜZERİNE BİR ÇALIŞMA: PERİ BAŞKA, CİN BAŞKA." Uluslararası Türk Lehçe Araştırmaları Dergisi (TÜRKLAD) 4.2 (2020): 366-374.
- ^ MacDonald, D.B., Massé, H., Boratav, P.N., Nizami, K.A. and Voorhoeve, P., “Ḏj̲inn”, in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. Consulted online on 31 January 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0191>
First published online: 2012
First print edition: ISBN 978-90-04-16121-4, 1960-2007
- ISBN 978-90-04-16121-4, 1960-2007
- ISBN 978-90-04-16121-4, 1960-2007
- ^ DAVLETSHİNA, Leyla, and Enzhe SADYKOVA. "ÇAĞDAŞ TATAR HALK BİLİMİNDEKİ KÖTÜ RUHLAR ÜZERİNE BİR ÇALIŞMA: PERİ BAŞKA, CİN BAŞKA." Uluslararası Türk Lehçe Araştırmaları Dergisi (TÜRKLAD) 4.2 (2020): 366-374.
- ^ Kúnos, Ignác (1888). "Osmanische Volksmärchen I. (Schluss)". Ungarische Revue (in German). 8: 337.
- ^ https://iranicaonline.org/articles/genie-
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- ISBN 978-1-605-20603-5page 256
- ^ Joseph Freiherr von Hammer-Purgstall Rosenöl. Erstes und zweytes Fläschchen: Sagen und Kunden des Morgenlandes aus arabischen, persischen und türkischen Quellen gesammelt BoD – Books on Demand 9783861994862 p. 103 (German)
- ISBN 978-0-415-93919-5page 463
- ISBN 978-0-231-51065-3page 570
- OCLC 739388185. p. 35-38
- ^ Shamanism and Islam: Sufism, Healing Rituals and Spirits in the Muslim World. (2017). Vereinigtes Königreich: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 148
- ^ Polish Fairy Tales. Translated from A. J. Glinski by Maude Ashurst Biggs. New York: John Lane Company. 1920. p. 96.
- ^ Blakeman, Edward (1990). Notes to Chandos CD 208852, p. 5
- Ferdowsi; Zimmern, Helen (trans.) (1883). "The Epic of Kings". Internet Sacred Text Archive. Retrieved October 18, 2011.