Introduction

Riddle is an old literary genre which always originates in oral lore and in a specific cultural context. Riddles in Shȃhnȃmeh are considered to be a continuation of the riddle tradition in the Middle Persian literature and old Avestan texts. In this paper, I have studied them according to both literary genre theory and the history of literature.

Literature Review

Many scholars have written on the topic, among whom the following are more important:

Kaivola-Bregenhøj (2018) discusses different aspects of riddles as oral lore, including definition, formulae, subject, function, and etc.
Windfuhr, G. (2014-2015) specifically discusses the riddling tradition and its evolution through the history of Persian literature. A short part of his work is dedicated to the riddles in Shȃhnȃmeh.
Aghakhani bizhani and Sadeghi (2018) analyze and categorize different tests and examinations in Shȃhnȃmeh, including the examinations of intelligence.


Mokhtari, M. (2000-2001) analyzes the riddles in the story of Zȃl in Shȃhnȃmeh.
Tafazzoli, A. (2000-2001) categorizes and discusses different genres in the history of the pre-Islamic literature of Iran.
Seyed-Ghorab, A.A. (2010) examines the Persian literary riddles, “composed between the tenth and the twelfh centuries, and their link with the genre of literary description (vasf)” (p. 11). The riddles in the story of Zȃl are the only examples of this genre the author discusses.


Methodology

First, I define the concept of “riddle” regarding the theory of literary genres. Then I explain its main problem, being not inclusive and exclusive. Therefore, I modify the given definition regarding the history of literature. Attaining a relatively covering definition, I say that there are at least eight parts in Shȃhnȃmeh which contain riddles.

Discussion

A riddle as a literary genre in Shȃhnȃmeh is a verbal traditional expression in the form of questions and answers between one riddler or more and one riddlee or more, between whom there is a political or social tension. Sometimes the question is metaphorical and paradoxically or ambiguously describes something which is supposed to be guessed by the riddlee. Sometimes the question must simply be answered convincingly and reasonably. The goal is to examine the intelligence of the riddlee. This definition excludes all the practical examinations of intelligence and wisdom in Shȃhnȃmeh, simply because they are not “verbal”. Furthermore, it includes many pieces of advice (Andarz), just because they are in the form of questions and answers. This is where the two genres formally and thematically overlap. Furthermore, it’s possible to confuse the riddle as a genre with another genre called “Monazereh/Mofakhereh” (debating and boasting), regarding the form of question and answer and a competitive context. However, these three genres are categorized separately in the history of pre-Islamic literature. To avoid such confusion and to keep the well-established categorization, it’s better to redefine the riddle as an examination, whether verbal or practical, of intelligence and wisdom. A verbal riddle is what was said above. But a practical one is when a riddler does something mysterious and ambiguous and the riddlee is supposed to guess what it means. Based on the goal, regarding the context, and according to the form, this definition is more covering.

Conclusion

The pre-Islamic literary tradition of riddling has been maintained in Shȃhnȃmeh, including different examples which can be analyzed and categorized based on different approaches. A historical approach helps us study the riddles of Shȃhnȃmeh as a joint, where the pre-Islamic riddles connect with the post-Islamic ones. An approach of literary genres, however, can help us compare them to the riddles of world literature. According to my study, there are at least eight examples of riddling in Shȃhnȃmeh, some of which have formal and thematic similarities to some parts of Mēnōg-ī Khrad, a book of advice (andrz-nȃmeh) of the Pahlavi literature, and to some parts of Mādīgān ī Yōšt ī Fryān, a typical example of riddling and debating genre in the Pahlavi literature.