A Psychological Analysis of the Symbols and Archetypes in Kerm-e- Haftvad Story of Firdausi's Shahname

Ferdowsi's Shahname, our national and ethnic narration, is a valuable mélange of myth, epic and history. Some critics have tried to divide Shahname into three distinct mythical, epical and historical parts but these three parts are so integrated that it has been impossible to distinguish them or to draw a borderline between them. For example, those stories which have been considered as historical part of Shahname by some of the critics are mixed with the stories which have roots in mythical thinking, symbolic concepts and national archetypes, yet having a tinge of myth. One of these stories is the story of Karam Haftvad. This mere mythical story is one of the most complex stories of Shahname which can be analyzed from different points of view. So many of the critics have tried to consider this story parallel to the historical realities and to find time, place and justification for it but they have hardly been successful simply because although the mythical plot of the story has been inspired by a reality, it needs mythological analysis to find this implicit reality. "What is Karam Haftvad's myth saying?" and "where has it been inspired by?" are the questions which this article tries to analyze relying on Carl Gustavo Jung's theory.