The Mystical and Sainted Portrait of Kāve Āhangar in Folklore Narratives of Shāhnāmeh

As the first hero of Shāhnāmeh, Kāve Āhangar (Kaveh the Blacksmith) is one of the characters whose name is not mentioned in Avestan and Pahlavi texts; some scholars believe that he is an emerging figure in Iranian epic literature. According to the Shāhnāmeh, the activities of Kaveh were to help Fereydun in the uprising against Zahāk and to build a national flag for Iranians. After completing these two tasks, he suddenly leaves the scene and faces an uncertain end. But in some folklore texts and books of Naqqali, the story of this heroic figure is narrated in a different way. In these texts, he is introduced not as a national hero, but as one of the saints who, with the help of the sacred and supernatural forces, rises up against the demonic forces. Based on folklore texts and books of Naqqali and by using descriptive-analytical method, the present article tries to explain the narrative themes related to the life of Kaveh. The authors believe that many of the fictional themes of his life – such as reaching the station of saints, making the flag called Derafsh Kavian with help of Divine names and motifs, casting spells on demonic characters, knowing the language of birds, choosing a voluntary death - have been borrowed from the stories concerning the life of saints, mystics and charismatic kings of Iran.