The Remnants of Myths in The Tales of Mashdi Galin Khānom

The Tales of Mashdi Galin Khānom, compiled by Laurence Paul Elwell-Sutton, includes 110 folk tales of the Iranian people. The present article tries to show the remnants of myths in some of these folk tales and also to compare the myths with Shāhnāmeh and other mythological books. In these stories, there is no mention of Zal and Simorgh, but the hero is raised by a bird, and the seahorse and the horse help him by pulling a few strands of hair from their mane and giving it to the protagonist. The present study, by using descriptive-analytical method, shows that some folk tales are modified myths that have been reflected in stories and legends over time. The presence of myths in folk tales and legends has led to their survival. The content of the tales may not have all the characteristics of myths, but they are modeled on one or more myths or events of Shāhnāmeh. By analyzing some of folk tales of  The Tales of Mashdi Galin Khānom, the authors have attempted to study the effect of myths in some of these stories and to explain how they were transformed.