The Problem of Ferdowsî's Sources

Bibliographic Data

ID3963929
AuthorsDick Davis (corresponding author)
Year1996
Volume116
Issue1
Pages48
Publication date1996-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of the American Oriental Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0003-0279 • E-ISSN: 2169-2289
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/606371
OpenAlexW2316658810
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited4

The article questions the usual view that Ferdowsi's main source for the Shâhnâmeh was a written prose history of pre-islamic Iran commissioned by Abu Mansur Abd al-Razzâq. It is pointed out that Ferdowsi's claim to have had access to such a history is conventional in character and is paralleled in other chronicles. The article discusses the so-called older-preface to the Shâhnâmeh and al-Tha'âlebi's history in the light of this claim. It concludes by pointing out that the rhetoric of the Shâhnâmeh fits Parry's and Lord's descriptions of oral verse rhetoric and suggests that, for the legendary part of the poem (up to the advent of the Sasanians), Ferdowsi in all probability used versified oral rather than written prose, sources, or if he used written sources these were in verse and derived from an oral tradition. It is accepted that for the Sasanian portion of the poem written prose sources were probably used

Eurasian Exchange Networks · Historical and Linguistic Studies · History · Islamic Studies and History

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub