Document Type : Research Paper

Author

• mohammad hadi khaleghzadeh

Associate Professor of Persian Language and Literature, Yasouj Branch, Islamic Azad University, Yasouj, Iran

Abstract

In folk culture and folk legends, there are earthly and extraterrestrial figures and characters with positive and negative positions. One of these beliefs is the belief in an imaginary creature called "Dovalpa". Dovalpa is an old man who looks oppressed and sits on strange roads and every lonely passerby who comes across him asks him to wash his feet and cross the stream or take him home. As soon as he becomes lame, his legs, which are like a doval or a belt, come out of his stomach and wrap around the waist of the passerby, and in this case, the passerby is forced to serve Dovalpa until he dies. This legend has been mentioned in the form of a story or reference in some works such as Ferdowsi's Shahnameh, Haft Peykar Nizami, A Thousand and One Nights, Ajaib al-Mukhluqat, Hamzahnameh, the story of Salim Javaheri, Safir Simorgh, Samak Ayyar, etc.In this article, which was conducted using a descriptive-analytical method and referring to library sources, after describing and describing this supernatural being, this researcher analyzed the elements in this legend and reached the conclusion that over time, the demon of death or Estuyhad became earthly and changed shape to appear in the form of a two-legged animal. Two-legged animals and Estuyhad have common features from the perspective of being a hunter or having a two-legged animal, the inevitability of the victim to obey, having sharp claws and their place in life

Keywords

• Legend'
• 'Daval pa'
• 'demon'
• 'Popular culture'
• 'Death

Main Subjects

• حماسه و اسطوره