In Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, Esfandiyar takes a dangerous route through wolves, lions, a dragon, a sorceress, a great bird and hostile terrain to reach the fortress where his sisters are held. The journey leads from individual combat to a carefully coordinated rescue.

Persian manuscript folio with Esfandiyar in a horse-drawn cart confronting a large colourful bird beneath four columns of verse
Esfandiyar’s fifth trial, about 1330–1340, attributed to Iran, probably Isfahan. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1974.290.28. Metropolitan Museum of Art · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons.

Choosing the dangerous road

The captive guide Gorgsar describes three routes to Ruyin Dezh: journeys of three months, two months, or about a week along a perilous road. Esfandiyar chooses the shortest. Before facing its creatures he repeatedly entrusts the army to Peshotan. The first trial pits him against two enormous wolves, which he weakens with arrows and kills with his sword. At the second he fights a lion and a lioness. Prayer and the army’s arrival punctuate both victories. [1] [2]

Third and fourth: the dragon and the sorceress

For the dragon, carpenters build a wheeled wooden enclosure bristling with blades. The creature draws the horses and cart into its mouth, where the blades lodge. Esfandiyar emerges and strikes it, then faints from its poisonous fumes; Peshotan comes to him. [3] At the next trial, music and wine draw a sorceress disguised as a beautiful woman. He throws a steel chain associated with Zoroaster around her neck. Her transformations cannot release her, and he kills her. These episodes give tools and cunning a role alongside strength. [4]

Fifth and sixth: the bird and the snowstorm

Esfandiyar reuses the bladed cart against the Simurgh. The attacking bird is caught on its blades; its two young fly away, and he finishes the fight with his sword. [5] The sixth ordeal places the whole army in danger: wind and snow continue for three days and nights. Esfandiyar acknowledges that force is useless here and calls for collective prayer. When the storm clears, the troops rest and prepare water and provisions for the difficult country ahead. [6]

Seventh: the desert route reaches deep water

Gorgsar’s warnings of a waterless waste are followed by a night crossing of deep water. A leading camel becomes trapped; Esfandiyar intervenes. After admitting his hostility, the guide receives renewed assurances for himself and his family and helps the army cross. Later, when Esfandiyar describes vengeance against the enemy leaders and captivity for their families, Gorgsar curses him. Esfandiyar kills him and throws his body into the water. The episode makes the guide’s coerced service and the violence of revenge part of the journey. [7]

Entering the fortress as a merchant

At Ruyin Dezh, Esfandiyar decides that a direct assault cannot succeed. Disguised as a merchant, he brings fighters concealed in cargo chests and arranges signals for Peshotan outside. [8] His captive sisters, carrying water, approach him; Homay recognises his voice. He asks them to keep his identity secret and obtains permission for a banquet on the rampart. [9] During the attack he releases the hidden men, sends Homay and Beh-Afarid to safety and kills Arjasp. Their rescue completes the purpose of the expedition. [10]

Reading the story through its paintings

The manuscript image above shows the fifth trial in a folio dated about 1330–1340. The Met distinguishes this formidable bird from the Simurgh who protects Zal and Rostam. [11] Paintings also reshape the narrative: Marianna Shreve Simpson notes that a 1341 illustration depicts three lions where the poem specifies two. The lion and dragon scenes once occupied opposite sides of one leaf, split after the manuscript’s dispersal. Such details connect the epic’s retelling with the physical history of its books. [12]

Sources and further reading

  1. Ferdowsi, Shahnameh, Seven Labours, section 2: routes, Gorgsar and wolves; Ganjoor.
  2. Ferdowsi, Seven Labours, section 3: lion and lioness.
  3. Ferdowsi, Seven Labours, section 4: dragon, cart and poisonous fumes.
  4. Ferdowsi, Seven Labours, section 5: sorceress and chain.
  5. Ferdowsi, Seven Labours, section 6: Simurgh.
  6. Ferdowsi, Seven Labours, section 7: snowstorm and preparations.
  7. Ferdowsi, Seven Labours, section 8: water crossing and Gorgsar’s death.
  8. Ferdowsi, Seven Labours, section 9: merchant disguise and concealed fighters.
  9. Ferdowsi, Seven Labours, section 10: sisters and banquet.
  10. Ferdowsi, Seven Labours, section 12: rescue and death of Arjasp.
  11. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Isfandiyar’s Fifth Course: He Slays the Simurgh, about 1330–1340, 1974.290.28.
  12. Marianna Shreve Simpson, Aga Khan Museum, Isfandiyar’s third exploit, AKM35; discussion of AKM34–35 and the dispersed 1341 Shahnameh.