Div-e Sepid

In the Persian epic of Shahnameh Div-e Sepid (Persian: دیو سپید, lit. White Demon), is the chieftain of the Divs (demons) of Mazandaran. He is a huge being. He possesses great physical strength and is skilled in sorcery and necromancy. He destroys the army of Kay Kavus by conjuring a dark storm of hail, boulders, and tree trunks using his magical skills. He then captures Kay Kavus, his commanders, and paladins; blinds them, and imprisons them in a dungeon. The greatest Persian mythical hero Rostam undertakes his "Seven Labors" to free his sovereign. At the end, Rostam slays Div-e Sepid and uses his heart and blood to cure the blindness of the king and the captured Persian heroes. Rostam also takes the Div's head as a helmet and is often pictured wearing it.[1]

Div-e Sepid, the white demon, is slain by Rostam. 16th-century Persian book illustration.

In the Shabrangnama

In the Shabrangnama it is revealed that the white demon sired a son.[2]

Alternative views

It is written in the Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society that the struggle between Rostam and the white demon represents a struggle between Iranians and invaders from the north, from the Caspian provinces.[3]

The Div-e Sepid is believed by Joseph J. Reed to have been a northern prince.[4] Warner believes that he is a personification of the Mazandaranians, who were believed to have skin of an unhealthily pale colour caused by the climate of their homeland[5] Some scholars hold the opinion that these divs of Mazandaran are merely wild people of the forest.[6] Others are of the opinion that they are a group of enemy kings of ancient Mazandaran (which might have been different from its modern location) and Tabaristan.[7] Alexander Krappe theorized that Ahriman himself was believed to have white skin.[8] P. Molesworth Sykes believes that the name "White Div" represents a white nation.[9]

According to one source Zal spoke of the horrid race of white-skinned people.[10] This however contradicts with the fact that Zal was an albino himself. Zal means albino in Persian language. [11]

References
  1. Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis (1993). Persian Myths. University of Texas Press. ISBN 0-292-71158-1.
  2. Shahnama Studies II : the Reception of Firdausi's Shahnama. Melville, C. P. (Charles Peter), 1951-, Van den Berg, Gabrielle Rachel, 1967-. Leiden: Brill. 2012. ISBN 9789004228634. OCLC 808441521.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  3. Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society By Royal Central Asian Society
  4. P. 23 Outlines of universal history: in three parts; with a copious index to each part, showing the correct mode of pronouncing every name mentioned ... by Joseph J Reed
  5. P. 507 Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics Part 16 By James Hastings
  6. The Wild Rue: A Study of Muhammadan Magic and Folklore in Iran By Bess Allen Donaldson
  7. P. 120 World Of Myths By Felipe Fernández-Armesto
  8. Alexander H. Krappe 'Albinos and Albinism in Iranian Tradition' Folklore Vol. 55, No. 4 (December 1944) pp. 170-4
  9. P. 137 A History of Persia By Percy Molesworth Sykes
  10. P. 121 Myths of the Hero: With 105 Illustrations by Norma Lorre Goodrich
  11. Encyclopædia Iranica, "Zal", E. Yarshater
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